Editorials
A Halloween Party On Screen: Celebrating 35 Years of Made-for-TV Movie ‘The Midnight Hour’
Long before Disney’s Halloweentown became requisite Halloween viewing for a generation, there was The Midnight Hour. First airing on ABC on November 1, 1985, the made-for-television movie was the Halloweentown of the ’80s, a light, breezy horror-comedy that embraced the holiday in every way. It’s a time capsule movie, and its plot doesn’t make a lot of sense in hindsight, but The Midnight Hour’s earworm soundtrack, partying monsters, and Halloween revelry charms nonetheless. Especially for those that grew up with it.
The small New England town of Pitchford Cove has a history with witches. Three centuries ago, powerful witch Lucinda Cavender (Jonelle Allen) was burned at the stake, though not before creating a curse that will revive her evil once triggered. Enter high school pals Phil (Lee Montgomery), Mary (Dedee Pfeiffer), Mitch (Peter DeLuise), Vinnie (LeVar Burton), and Melissa (Shari Belafonte-Harper). They decide to make Halloween a night they’ll never forget by breaking into the local museum to steal costumes and artifacts so they can recreate a ritual in a cemetery. Melissa happens to be a descendent of Lucinda, though, and unwittingly wakes the dead. Halloween may never be the same.
Straightaway, it’s clear there are no real rules to this curse. In an extended sequence of the dead rising from their graves, no doubt inspired by Michael Jackson’s Thriller, a werewolf and a ’50s cheerleader emerge along with the horde of zombies. The cheerleader, Sandy (Jonna Lee), bears no sign of decay- she’s more of a ghost with unfinished business. There’s also Lucinda, the head witch with aims to take over the world with her evil; and the curse will allow her to do so if she can’t be stopped before midnight. She’s a witch in name but operates like a vampire for the sake of the story.
It takes a long while for anyone to notice anything is amiss. Everyone is at a historical house, partying it up on Halloween. Even as the dead descend upon it, the party-goers are none the wiser because it’s the one night of the year where the walking dead, werewolves, and vampires can blend in undetected. That allows Lucinda to turn the living guests into vampires one by one. Luckily, hope lies in Phil, the witch hunter’s descendant that initially stopped Lucinda centuries ago. The teen wants to find love, and saving the town might be the means to that end.
In many ways, director Jack Bender (Child’s Play 3) approaches this like an anthology. Juggling plots of star-crossed lovers, a werewolf on the prowl, and a vampire invading a costume party, there’s an almost nonlinear way in how the various plot threads unfold. That’s exacerbated by how underwritten many of those threads are; some simply stop. The curse itself isn’t quite fleshed out enough either, at least not to sell the stakes. When most monsters want to party, is taking over the world such a bad thing? In other words, it’s a mess.
In a very ’80s movie like this one, that’s part of the charm. That it’s made for television means that it’s a bloodless affair when the creatures of the night do attack. Still, Bender finds a particularly inspired workaround in Lucinda’s first attack on heir Melissa. While Melissa is in the wine cellar choosing a bottle for the party, Lucinda goes in for the kill. While draining her blood, wine flows profusely in the background, the visual analogy clear. They bypassed the censors, but the visual stand-in for blood is effective.
Aside from a solid cast of ’80s stalwarts and up-and-comers, The Midnight Hour boasts an impressive soundtrack. It’s stuffed with notable October (and horror) favorites like Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising,” Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” and The Smith’s “How Soon is Now?” Then there’s catchy musical dance number “Get Dead” sung by Belafonte-Harper, which also showcases the extremely bizarre ’80s costume choices by some of the guests. Seriously, I need an explanation for the football player baby.
Every generation seems to have that inexplicable Halloween favorite that doesn’t make much sense to anyone outside of it. The Midnight Hour falls in that category. It’s so of its time and struggles to find a tone. Storylines don’t amount to much, but it hardly even matters when the clear goal is having fun. It’s a Halloween party on screen, where the living and dead can celebrate freely. It’s silly entertainment and it’s hard not to bop along to its Halloween beat.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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