#85 - The Midnight Hour - 1985

The 1st movie I chose to watch this week for my "Halloween" week was the 1985 made for TV movie The Midnight Hour. I remember watching this when it was televised when back in 1985 when I was just 9 years old. I loved this movie back then and I love this movie now. It will be one of those movies that will always remind me of Halloween time when I was a kid and I like that, actually no, I love that! Below is my detailed review.

Like I mentioned above this was a made for TV movie so there were not any big household movie stars in this film but that didn't matter. The actors in this film were good but then again this was a made for TV movie so I wasn't looking for the acting skills when watching this but more so for the fun, entertainment value. The most notable actor in this film was probably Captain Warren Jensen who was played by That 70's Show Dad Kurtwood Smith. The rest of the cast was good like I said and I enjoyed them all. There weren't really any standout performances by one single individual but Lee Montgomery who played Phil Grenville was easily the main lead in this film.


The music in this movie was phenomenal and several of the songs I heard I will always relate to this movie in particular. I am referring to the Midnight Hour track and the Bad Moon Rising track. Both of these songs will forever be embedded in my brain as "Halloween time" songs and they are two songs that I most frequently play around this time of the year. I love both of these songs! I thought the incorporation of the Midnight Hour track into the scene where they were all driving to the cemetery was very cool. This track played once again fittingly at the party later on in the film. The Bad Moon Rising song was near the beginning of the film as well and was played when the kids (they were high school students after all) were all getting ready. I can see Vinnie now reaching into the refrigerator for that ketchup to add some spice to his costume.


Another song that was creepy in this film was the "Little Red Riding Hood" song which I immediately relate to the Bruce Willis flick Striking Distance. If you've seen the film you know what I'm talking about and if you haven't too bad. haha. Go rent it. There was an oldie in there too when Phil and Sandy danced and drove around in his convertible but I cant recall the name of that tune. Last but definitely not least is the track that was played during the dance scene at the party. I don't know the official name of the song but the chorus was quite catchy "I'm dead, your dying, everybody should try and get Dead"! Nothing like I bunch of dead people dancing and singing to add some life to the party, wait that doesn't sound right?


In addition to the music there were some pretty narly looking monsters and ghouls some of which when I think back to this being a made for TV movie make me think to myself, they had some damn scary looking monsters in this movie? There was the extra large and in charge serial killer who obviously had a grudge with the town judge, he was massive. Then you had one the ever reckless wolf man creature who was one of the more violent ones. There were also some funny monsters like the one Phil hit with his card and later enjoyed his popcorn at the party. I can still hear him saying, "popcorn, gooooood"! Another funny dude was the midget monster with his square shaped noggin he looked like a mini Frankenstein. I loved his entrance to the party and when he put on the shades while sitting next to Phil on the staircase.


There were some monsters who really you could call zombies who you wouldn't know were dead at all. Obviously Sandy was one of them and was as harmless as a turtle and yes I said turtle. Everyone says fly but flies can be more harmless than turtles, think about it. Another one would have been Lucinda and she was creepy as hell. Her soft spoken voice and glaring glances were just downright spooky. One of the best scenes of the entire movie was in the wine cellar when she attacked her great great great great grand daughter Melissa. This scene had that slow motion effect that I love for added dramatics and had a very creepy background music to assist it. The vision of red wine spilling all over the place while Lucinda attacked and bit Melissa was crazy good!


Other personal favorite scenes of mine are listed below. Obviously we will start with the monsters rising in the cemetery after the group awakens the dead. This was pretty cool looking and quite realistic (yet how can that be, how would we really know?) for a made for TV movie. The special effects were much better than I expected in this film. I thought the scene where the massive serial killer kills the judge was quite frightening as was the attack by the Wolf man on the tobacco chewing dog owner outside the barber shop.


He didn't stop there either and went after Phil and Sandy in the car and ruined their make out session, how dare him! Seeing Phil's Dad the dentist as a zombie was quite scary as was the drive that Phil and Sandy made through town square. What made that drive even more nerve racking was the freakishly scary opera type singing by a guy which provided a real dark soundtrack for that whole sequence. All of this led up to a dramatic conclusion which followed Phil and Sandy back to the party house which looked incredibly haunting (loved it) and then back to the cemetery where Phil eventually successfully reversed the curse. After doing so he saw Sandy's tombstone where she had imprinted with her lipstick SM+PG, how cute! haha. After a final dedication from Sandy that Phil hears on the radio while driving home then film ends.


All in all this was a great film. Had this been a major motion picture to hit the theaters I would have easily gone and seen it or at that time begged my parents to take me. It was just a fun, entertaining, spooky, Halloween time movie that was sure to please on many levels. There was a great story, scary monsters, and funny moments as well so it was a cant miss film in my book. This one gets top honors in my book so that means an A+!