The Midnight Matinee was written and directed by Justin Doescher and is a collection of short films much like the movie VHS. I hadn't seen anything of Justin's before and honestly didn't really know what to expect. I can say I enjoyed The Midnight Matinee as it was a quick and fun collection of short films, some definitely being better than others. Namely the opening film "Open Sea" and the ending film "Night Night." While these films each had a different story enough of Justin vision remained in each one, that had I not known before I would've been able to notice Doescher directed each short film.
Let's dive into the positives of this movie:
1. Writing- I was impressed with the stories. I thought each one was fresh and original. David Sandberg (Director of Annabelle:Creation) said his inspiration for film came from just walking around his house with his wife and asking the question "what would scare me?" I thought that these short films had that vibe to them. They were small and contained. There was nothing over the top and I appreciated that quite a bit. The second short film "Let Go" was the farthest he stretched the viewers imagination and even then it wasn't that difficult to understand or felt that far fetched.
2. Night Night- This was easily my favorite out of this collection of short films. It follows a child who keeps waking up his dad because he is watching a clown appear outside his window. His dad does not believe him and keeps sending him back to bed. I thought this short was very creative. It really played with the psychological aspect of this situation. I honestly wish this would've been the full feature film. It would've been interesting to see where these characters came from and where they are headed. I would've like the see more interaction between the clown and the child. As well as develop the relationship between the son and the bed. If this short had some back story and a plot, I could see it going pretty far.
Now this movie wasn't perfect.
1. Editing- This was by far the biggest issue with this movie I had. The editing was almost distracting from the short films at times. It had a lot of jump cuts in the middle of conversations. The cuts in this movie were made to feel like time was passing or give the essence of it but it was very abrupt. At time the cuts where in the middle of a conversation, but instead of cutting to another angle or view of the character it was a static cut. I wasn't sure if this was a stylistic choice but I found it to be very jarring and abrupt.
2. Color grading- This is another editing issue. The biggest issue I had with this movie was all in post. I understood that the movie was meant to be seen like it was from a projector. Because of this there was this kind of washed out feeling with the images, that isn't where I had issue. What I had issue with was the lack of any tonal change from one short film to another. Whenever you watch a movie on a projector you can still see color grading, even if it is washed out. I think color is important. It facilitates in how to feel with the films. If there is a collection of short films and each one looks the same visually it just starts to blend together.
Overall, I enjoyed The Midnight Matinee. I think Justin Doescher has talent and a bright future ahead in the world of film, especially with writing. I thought the short films were creative and definitely had promise. Especially the last film "Night Night". Where I think this film suffered was it's post production. When a film has choppy editing and no tonal shifts in color it can just start to feel bland. When it comes to a horror film, color is extremely important. If you watch a good horror movie like Insidious, The Conjuring or even Ouija 2 color plays a big role to help with the scares. All that being said it was still fun to support and enjoy a smaller movie, made by a passionate film maker. I am going to give The Midnight Matinee a C.
The Midnight Matinee can be found on Amazon Video.
Comments
Post a Comment