The Dark Side of Midnight

Wow, what a rush! I've just come down from the greatest high that could ever be humanly possible! The strangest thing about this abnormal vibe that has taken over my body is the fact that I haven't even been anywhere near any illegal substances! For a shocking 90 minutes, I was trapped in a weird world that knew no classical reality. A world where the words 'talent' and 'skill' were meaningless, and the words 'pathetic' and 'awful' reined supreme! This immense 'out of body' experience started when I read the tagline 'By knife, by rope, by axe, bye bye'! It was almost as if the Mutilator's 'By pick, by axe, by chainsaw. bye bye' - which, was first released some years previous to this - had never even existed. Was I dreaming? Could it be possible that someone would have the outright audacity to go as far as to completely rip off another film's blurb? This uncontrollable feeling continued to grow stronger when I first heard the theme tune, which included lyrics like:

`There's a psycho on the run' And: `The creeper's got a pattern, he only strikes on the dark side of midnight'!

The following hour and thirty minutes left me feeling baffled and completely bewildered. It was like my sense of normality had been sharply shattered; leaving me dazed, confused and left without any logical explanation! So why did I feel so strange whilst watching this totally obscure little rarity that was an early release from the titans of bad cinema, Troma?

It tells the tale of 'The Creeper', an assassin who murdered 12 people in Detroit before heading down to a peaceful little American town to continue his bloodthirsty rampage. It opens in 'seen it all before territory' of two youngsters necking on a doorstep. The shaggy haired male -Chuck - asks if he can go inside the pretty female -Kathy -'s house, but she hastily and unwisely declines. He kisses his sweetheart goodnight and then hops into his car and heads off into the gloomy night sky. Kathy - who's now home alone - proceeds to get undressed and prepare herself for bed. Cue some carpenter-esque POV shots of the killer slowly stalking towards the house, and suddenly there's a frantic knock on the front door. She asks who it is, before opening it to confront the unknown visitor. Strangely no one is anywhere to be seen, so she takes a good look around before returning to the comfort of her cosy cottage. Once inside she hears strange sounds coming from within one of the rooms and calls for her boyfriend, whom she believes, could be playing a practical joke on her. She notices that one of the windows is wide open - as if someone has climbed in - which further provoke her suspicions. Without further a do, she heads into the room only to be grabbed by an unseen assailant and a harrowing scream echoes her apparent fear. The next morning Chuck arrives to escort the hapless teen to breakfast. He is surprised that her front door has been left open. He heads inside only to find his girlfriend sprawled across the bed, with her face severely mutilated! Now we get to meet Chief Cooper, a Samaritan like copper who has been sent in to investigate this brutal case. The coroner advises him that he should get some outside help and tells him that he has a friend, who is a renowned and well-respected criminologist. Were soon introduced to Brock Johnson who hastily agrees to help solve the sordid murderer's mysterious identity. Before long, it becomes apparent that Brock has crossed paths with this killer before and knows of his gruesome and grisly intentions. As the body count begins to mount, the two determined investigators begin to realise they're working against the clock to save not only their local townsfolk, but maybe even themselves from this twisted psychopath.

Telling you that this film is bad is easy, - It's diabolical. The most difficult task is trying to tell you exactly how awful it actually is in such a small space. Now like I've told you before, when it comes to slashers you could say I'm somewhat obsessed. I always do my best to hunt out anything even remotely stalk and slash and then I review them fairly, keeping in mind that there are most probably a lot of people in this world with the same crazy taste in movies as me. To be totally honest, if I read a bad write up of a flick, I usually take no notice and just presume that the person who wrote it is obviously not a die-hard fan like myself. I like to be able to make up my own mind because although this loveable sub-genre has got its legions of fans, it's also got a lot of sworn enemies! There have been times in the past, when I've realised that maybe I should've listened. But then again, sometimes I've thoroughly enjoyed a feature that someone else completely hated, but I guess that's just the beauty of being an individual. In this case however, I've taken those facts into consideration and still beg even the most avid follower of the splatter movie.stay away, this one stinks!

For a start, to say that this was cheap would be like saying that the royal family were 'alright for the odd bob.' - A considerable understatement! This must've been filmed on a budget that could not have exceeded $10,000. Wes Olsen wrote, directed, produced and even starred in this and I'm pretty sure that he just offered roles to his friends and family and gave them a 'good drink' for their efforts! There really is no rateable 'acting' in this flick; it's just a group of middle-aged fifteen-minute wannabes remembering their lines in front of a camera. And the dialogue.what dialogue! It's almost as if Wes had got an over-enthusiastic seven-year-old to sit down and write the script, it's atrocious! And to make matters even worse, it isn't even filmed in a passable fashion. In one bit just before a shot ends, the cameraman zooms in on Chief Cooper's face, as he does his best to look concerned over some new evidence that has cropped up. As it closes in on him, the screen begins to judder as if the guy behind the lense is having an epileptic fit! Yet another failure is the terrible editing. It looks as though someone with eyes about as useful as Ray Charles' chopped it up with a serrated kitchen knife. How could anyone have the cheek to actually release this monstrosity on to an unsuspecting public? Have they no shame?

It would have been nice to see this film succeed. I like the idea of someone using a miniscule budget to make a decent thriller. I don't expect much from a bargain bucket flick, but there are those who have managed to make an independent movie a riveting success. Look at John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN for example, even though that was made over twenty years ago, it has still never been bettered. This attempt however, can't even manage to feel realistic enough to be taken seriously. The killer doesn't look the slightest bit scary, in a fedora hat with a dark overcoat and stripped 'Dennis the mennis' style top. Why not give him a mask, or a horrendously scarred face? This guy looks more like a missing member of ZZ Top than any kind of serial assassin! I'm not saying that the director didn't try his best, there's even one short scene, where for a moment he managed to add a touch of suspense. But you shouldn't try to run if you could barely walk yet. And sadly this guy was clearly having trouble crawling!

What really was the cherry on top of the cake was the intriguing blurb that was printed on the back cover: 'Cinema audiences throughout the World have been shocked & Overwhelmed by the incredible Thrills in this year's horror Thriller original.' Talk about exploitation! I couldn't imagine a child being thrilled by this pile of rubbish. If you showed THE DARKSIDE OF MIDNIGHT to a hermit who had never left his home and had never seen any sort of horror movie or in fact any type of home entertainment. My guess is he'd be pretty glad he stayed indoors and think that he hadn't missed out on all that much. There is a place for pathetic attempts like this that have been put together with minimal thought. It's just that I don't quite know where it is. Maybe the bottom of the sea! If you're a completist or a collector then there's still no need to get a copy of this, it's dreadful and not even laughably bad.you have been warned!

The Dark Side of Midnight is one of my Favorite Horror movies from the 80's. Very Creepy with very good plot and Acting. The Movie tells a very Good Story: A Detective trying to Stop a Killer known as The Creeper (Guess how I got my name). I must tell you that this Movie is NOT scary; and it Doesn't intend to be. Yes, it is a Horror Movie, but more of a "Silence of the Lambs" type of Horror.

I would like to think that Any horror fan would enjoy and love this Film. I highly recommend that you see it.

My Rating: 10 out of 10

People who liked this movie might like: Puppet Master, Nightmare on elm street, Halloween, and Night of the living dead.

The Dark Side of Midnight,I thought was great.Don't get me wrong it's not scary or gory but I still think it's great.I love low and no budget films where creativity is nonessential and there are no polished results.

Wes Olsen was awesome as the non charismatic detective Brock Johnson,I think this movie was the basis for CSI,as Brock was so scientific in his detecting and his dialogue recitation.The way he walks,talks and runs away from danger.And the ending is priceless!!

The Police Chief was great too,although he seemed to swallow a bit of the dialogue in each of his scenes.

The Lt. was awesome too,wasn't he the singer in jefferson starship?

The Mayor,what a great mustache!!

but then again even I had a mustache in 1984,please see this film,you wont regret it....too much,aj

this movie was great. it had everything like: killing, teenage girls and mustaches, mustaches, mustaches! did i mention the mustaches? if you love to look at mustaches then buy this movie. but mustaches aside, this movie is so funny. there are some great one liners in this. DUMBEST COPS EEEEEEEVER. i dont care watch anyone says , this is not a horror film....nor is it trying to be one. its more of a suspence thriller/comedy. honestly, they couldnt have been serious about this movie. check it out.

The comments made about this movie are right on the button. It was made for about ten thousand dollars completely out of the directors pocket.

Wes olson had played bit parts on a couple of TV shows including m.a.s.h. and figured he had the knowhow required to make a movie.

I think his main problem was that he was to close to the production and could not stand back and see it as really was. His only sounding board was the camera man who was as inexperienced as he was.

The actors were all from local community theater and had no experience working in front of a camera and it shows. We worked for nothing and Wes got what he payed for. The lead actress was so embarrassed she didn't want to see the movie.

As for myself I had no thought that this would lead to anything so I just did the movie for the fun of it. The experience was worth the time it took and i would do it again, it makes a good story.

If anyone has any questions or comments feel free to email me.