The Horror Show
The Midnight Matinee
by Justin Doescher
Oh anthologies. Even the lesser ones are fun and worth checking out as far as I'm concerned. I went into Midnight Matinee with this mindset, ready to have a good time and, in the end, my opinion of the sub-genre hasn't wavered in the slightest. Was it amazing? No, I won't say that. Did I have a good time watching it? Sure.
Midnight Matinee is structured as five short films that are connected simply by an old-timey projector welcoming the audience and introducing the stories. Usually with anthologies I will give a few examples of story plots, along with a few subjects that let the reader know the kinds of things that they should expect. In this case, however, I'll briefly cover each segment. Mainly because of the short-film feel as well as the number of stories.
The first short deals with a young couple who are about to embark on a fishing trip together. The man is planning on proposing and looking forward to the life they will have together. However, when they get out on the water, things take a sinister turn. This story is fairly straight-forward and more grounded than I was expecting. Because of this, the end did take me by surprise as my brain was searching for more out-there directions the scenario could have gone.
The next tale deals with slightly more fantastical subject matter, specifically a dating app that has dire consequences if someone is not getting the love. It's a neat concept and how it turns out is clever enough. As with other stories, it could have been more fleshed out but at the same time, it wouldn't necessarily serve the story to do so. Laying down a theme that touches all the stories, this one is a stripped down “just what you need to see to get it” kind of situation. I'm not saying this in a negative nor a complimentary way. Just stating that this is how it is.
From there we deal with a little girl who has premonitions. I won't go into any further detail since one detail means a whole lot, especially with this one. Once again, it's a bare-bones presentation with a neat little closing. From here we move to a tale that begins with the statement that the following is not a horror short. True to its word, this story deals with a young Russian man who is about to do business with a cocky blind woman. Despite its not being horror, this short was one of my favorite parts of the movie. This is despite my feeling pretty damn bad for one of the characters in the end. It's fun, I like the people involved and it is paced nicely.
Lastly, we deal with a favorite subject of many a horror fan: scary clowns. In this case, a young boy keeps seeing a frightful stranger while trying to sleep, but his father doesn't believe him. This one isn't as much about the punchy twist as it is the atmosphere and jump scare, but it has the desired effect and was a good story to close with and it helped the film end on the right note.
Overall, this is the type of situation in which I enjoyed a film for the most part but don't know how strongly I would recommend it. I'm not trying to pat myself on the back for being open-minded, but I have a passion for lower-budget indie films. Although I have suffered through some projects in which I saw zero merit, I am usually pretty easy to please in this sense, but The Midnight Matinee is admittedly devoid of anything spectacular and especially new.
The Midnight Matinee doesn't even attempt any gore effects nor does it ever get legitimately scary. It has its own value though, in my opinion. With a short running time, it's more like the movie equivalent of a novella; it doesn't feel like a short or feature length film. It's a few borderline micro-shorts back-to-back, but it's impressive that it was able to make its good ideas shine through in such a short time. For what it's worth, I had a good time with it.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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