18 & Over

This is a frustrating film. The horror film part is well acted, tense, and has good twists. But for whatever reason, there is an annoying reality show element that feels like it was clumsily added later.

The reality show-within-a-movie is a bunch of horrible social media folks and doesn't connect to the real movie in any additive way. Paris Hilton almost makes it win some irony points, but it never lands.

Keep your finger on FFWD and you can still get a decent experience out of this.

I'd love to see a 70-ish minute cut. Call it "18 & Over, The Good Parts Edition". I think I'll do a fanedit and come back to it in a few years.

I am a bit conflicted about "Alone at Night." It clearly has some problems, starting with the title itself. The movie was apparently originally titled "18 & over" and the movie itself still sports this title. The re-titling appears to be a last minute marketing change to try to convince people that the movie is different than it actually is, and it's never a good sign when a movie does that.

"Alone at Night" is the story of Vicky (Ashley Benson), a young woman who just broke up with her boyfriend and was kicked out of their New York home. She travels to the town she grew up in to stay at her cousin's house in an attempt to mentally recover, and she will have a week all alone at the house. She is also a cam-girl (her cam girl act involves putting on a purple wig), and so she figures she can spend the week camming and making a whole lot of money. And we spend the week with her as she cams, hangs around, and hears rumors of a killer nearby...

As I said, the movie has issues. She is supposed to be isolated, and yet there is a seemingly endless stream of men who just happen to stop by this distant house, and each one is more annoying than the previous. Pamela Anderson plays the local sheriff and sort of seems like she's supposed to be comic relief but never really fits. And there is a weird subplot about a strange "Pandemic Reality Show" starring Paris Hilton that we spend an inordinate amount of time watching (it's supposed to be Vicky's favorite show).

But for some reason I enjoyed it a bit more than I should have. I suspect some of that is due to Ashley Benson, who makes a very appealing protagonist. And I was able to figure out the killer from actual clues that were given, which is always nice.

Hard to really recommend it, but I sort of enjoyed it and there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes. I know that's faint praise, but still...

..this was just straight up bad. The goofy comedic relief objectively fails at the funny. The softcore setups are forced as hell. The overall acting was lacking aside from a few key moments that genuinely impressed me. Ashley Benson was a good lead except for the cringe flirty/romantic moments but I'm aware that's more than likely not her decision. The whole "reality tv" house had virtually no point being in the story. This was just a kinda cheap way to plug those influencers names. There was no real plot twist seeming you're already about 99.99999% sure who the real "culprit" is. (Spoiler: It's who you think it is) All in all aside from those very few good parts, the movie is a total skip you won't regret.

Paris Hilton is desperate for money. Pamela Anderson? Also apparently on the verge of going bankrupt. Other poorly known "actors" just vying for money. This is bad, if we could unwatch this and charge these actors for watching this trash, this should be a new way to make money. Congratulations, this was so bad, the people watching this should make money instead.

Oh right, about the movie. This is an adult movie, but without any nudity at all, hardly any harsh language. Virtually no human blood, no gore. So this is more like a PG-13 movie, but maybe the one thing that makes it over that is an additional "F" word.

Don't watch this. But you will, because I'm wrong, but then you'll finish and then I'll be right. :) Life baby!

IS IT CAMPY AND DUMB? Yes. That's the beauty of it. People don't appreciate dumb movies enough. Too many movies have to be "good" or "well-made". Those movies are fine, but bad movies are too. Treat yourself to a nice garbage movie and watch this masterpiece.

But seriously, I think that the people in the reviews saying "Pamela Anderson must be hurting for money" are missing the point. This movie is campy and fun to watch. It's silly and no, it won't win any awards. But it's a decent plot with good acting. Highly recommend.

I gave it a 6 because I mean.... It's still not a perfectly good movie....