Movies
Midnight Son
“This slow-paced vampire film puts the boot to most (other vampire flicks) and deserves much more praise than it will get. Strangely quiet on the PR front (this came out of left field), Midnight Son is an impeccable, daring and undoubtedly remarkable debut.”
One of my favorite vampire films of all time is George Romero’s classic 1977 Martin, a film that provided the kind of “open-minded” thinking we so desperately need in the horror genre. ILM visual effects art director Scott Leberecht makes his directorial debut with Midnight Son, a pic heavily inspired by the Romero masterpiece.
With vampirism at the top of its popularity, Leberecht has the difficult task of standing out in an industry overflowing with unfocused garbage cashing in on the recent craze. Midnight Son, even with it’s independent budget and look, stands tall above most and deserves the recognition (the main reason I’ve opted to write this review instead of eating lunch).
Midnight Son, a realistic coming-of-age story, drops us right into Jacob’s (Zak Kilberg) world where, at the ripe age of 24, he’s begun noticing changes in his body. While he’s always had an intense sensitivity to sunlight, he just now develops a taste for blood. Food just isn’t cutting it anymore. During his struggle to define himself, and understand his physical change, he meets Mary (Maya Parish), a local bartender, and falls in love. Mary continually sticks by his side even through some freakish moments (like when his eyes turn yellow) and eventually gets stuck in the middle of a quagmire involving Jacob and some black market blood suppliers (played by Jo D. Jonz and the awesome Arlen Escarpeta).
The bleak, indie cinematography adds to the realistic nature of the film. It’s dark, dirty, and claustrophobic, perfectly reflecting Jacob’s internal/external torment. While not heavily soaked in blood, there are some gory moments, especially the finale that verbally had me exclaiming “OMFG.”
Midnight Son is one of those films that truly needs everything to come together in order for it to work. Kilberg and Parish’s performances are captivating, with Parish’s beauty – in a believable, not model kind of way – being impossible to look away from. The brooding score blended into the dreary cinematography gives nerve to each and every scene. Most notably is the screenplay by Leberecht that never doubts itself for a second, driving home the idea that this is real life.
This slow-paced vampire film puts the boot to most (other vampire flicks) and deserves much more praise than it will get. Strangely quiet on the PR front (this came out of left field), Midnight Son is an impeccable, daring and undoubtedly remarkable debut.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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