After Midnight

Yeah, the other reviews basically sum up the details on this one. However, nobody picked up on the awesomely 80's aspects of this movie.

Number one: the wraparound story: the killer has a mullett!!!! horrors! Number two: the haunted house story, shoulder pads!!!! ahhhhhh Number three: the lost girls: mini skirts, spandex dresses, teased bangs, sweaters, and yes, bangles. Terrors upon terrors! Number four: okay there wasn't anything particuarly awful about the late night caller one, well the main character's hair was pretty bad.

So all in all, After Midnight is cheesey, cliched, and not very scary, but it is lots of fun, and it was made in a decade of horrid fashion trends!

Horror anthologies are largely a mixed bag. For every spectacular Tales From the Darkside or Creepshow there is a horrible (and often British) movie like Tales That Witness Madness to drag the genre down.

The first story is a mediocre haunted house tale that didn't really impress me.

The second was about four girls who end up in a bad neighborhood and terrorized by a gas station attendant and three killer dogs. I liked this story and felt that the characters were generally interesting and intelligent, bad choices aside.

The final story is about a telephone operator who is terrorized by a psychopathic stalker. This one was pretty good as well.

The wraparound story is interesting and generally more involved than most other anthologies. It is arguably better than the stories themselves, aside from the ending which I won't spoil.

Although the stories in this Horror anthology are weak, the film manages to engage the mind throughout. The framing device used is that of a professor teaching the psychology of fear who humiliates a student during a lesson. Because of this, the wilder excesses of the teachers lessons can only be taught out of class at his home. Students relate scary tales during one such session most of which are interesting but have seriously flawed logic. Marg Helgenberger excels as the telephone service operator taking calls from a crazed stalker. The best story is the first in which a practical joke seriously misfires. The ending is surreal but is based on a hackneyed idea. The original music by Marc Donohue is excellent, especially that over the opening credits.

"After Midnight" offers interesting tales that remind me of another 80's slasher flicks such as "April Fool's Day" (the first tale), and "Girls Night Out" (the second tale).

People inside a house narrate these tales while a prowler lurks outside the place.

Anyways, the first story is pretty interesting and has a chilling climax. I didn't see that coming!. In the style of "April Fool's Day" but in this case something went wrong. The second tale is less interesting but has more action involving flesh eating dogs chasing the girls. It is thrilling and has a decent conclusion. The third one is absolutely thrilling and nerve tensing involving a psychopath.

I watched it on TNT a few years ago so my advice would be , look for this popular Anthology. You might be suprirsed to see how many people ask for the movie's title on the Horror board. It has generated a somewhat cult status.

Not the best horror anthology in the world it is interesting in one aspect...using a class in fear be the set up for the stories. Basically, a professor with a very unorthodox way of teaching has to invite those willing to a special story telling event at his house or something. Been awhile since I saw this one, so I am not all that clear about the details. They mainly have to go to his house thanks to a very shaky first day of class where the professor proceeds to show everyone how nuts he is. Well they go and exchange stories, the first one being about a couple stranded near an old house that looks typical, but has the best ending of the three stories presented. The next story has these girls getting stranded in the wrong part of town and being terrorized by a guy and his Doberman. Granted, nothing really special about it overall, but it did make for the most tense story of the three and my favorite. The final one for the most part is highly forgettable to say the least. I only remember a woman who has some sort of answering service and there was no being stranded involved here, though the female did have a bum ankle. Then the movie wraps up in a somewhat interesting and somewhat absurd fashion. Not the best, but it is entertaining enough to pass the time quite nicely.