I'm a big fan of these films about people being held captive by a group of sadistic criminals and have been known to give out higher ratings than necessary at times. The likes of The Last House on the Left, House on the Edge of the Park, Death Weekend and Fight for Your Life are the best of the 'genre', with films such as The Last House on the Beach somewhere behind. Midnight Blue is a completely obscure entry, and that's hardly surprising since it's also not a very good one, in spite of some decent ideas. The plot is really quite routine, and focuses on three female athletes who are spending their summer holiday at a beach house. They are hit on by three men, who the girls begin spending time with. The six engage in sexual relations etc and everything seems well until one of the girls goes into town with one of the men and buys a newspaper; the front page of which reports three prison escapees, and features three pictures of the same men! The men hold the girls captive in the house, but being athletes, they have a few tricks up their sleeves...
You can't expect too much deviation from the norm with films like this, but Midnight Blue is perhaps just a bit too routine for its own good. The final third does provide some entertainment as the girls turn the tables; but obviously this happened previously in superior films such as The Last House on the Left, so the film doesn't get many points for originality. Midnight Blue is rather gritty and director Raimondo Del Balzo is successful in creating a grim and foreboding atmosphere, which excellently compliments the plot. The locations used are rather bland, which isn't too surprising considering that this film was clearly a cheap production. The acting is not up too much, and the film really does lack a David Hess type figure - the guy with the moustache isn't quite up to standard. The best idea in the film features a javelin throwing lass who spearheads the revenge on the escaped convicts. This works fairly well, although again the film could have done with a bit more variety. I will say that this film is just about worth a look; but considering its obscurity, it's not really worth tracking down.
