DVD Review: The Midnight Game

By Brad Henderson

Cover art for horror films these days can be very misleading. That could be said for every genre but I think horror is the one that stands out the most since it’s the one I’m way more passionate about. The cover of The Midnight Game is one of those covers you most certainly would look past at a rental store or Wal-Mart. It is generic and doesn’t grab you at all, even giving off a little torture porn vibe because it looks like a pentagram is carved into a woman’s back. These types of things make me want to pass but still, I will watch anything. I’ve been misled by covers before and I was definitely misled by this one.

The Midnight Game is a story of five teenagers who are having a little get-together at a friend’s house. They order pizza, have a few beers, and invite a couple of boys over to hang out. Just before midnight one of the guys tells them about this game they can play called The Midnight Game. (If you have any interest this game is a real thing and here are the rules.)

Once the game starts and the rules have been established, The Midnight Man comes out to play. I will give big props to such a small movie keeping the creepiness factor going from the beginning to the final frame. Not to crack on horror films at all but you hardly ever see films that uphold the scariness for that long without dragging. Even bigger budget films can’t do that and this one did.

Aside from the awful guitar licks that play in the beginning, the score is amazing, and once the horror starts it has this creepy piano shit that plays throughout. It’s very unsettling. Even before the kids start playing the game the movie gives you an unnerving and unsettling feeling and you just know some bad shit is about to go down.

I watch a ton of horror films and there are very few films that can do this to me. Of course there is your occasional jump scare in The Midnight Game, but it mostly relies on pure eeriness instead of high pitched screeching and loud noises now and again. The acting in this little film is really freaking good as well and the script is solid. Instead of multiple characters being assholes, we like each and every one of them and we actually care what happens to these kids. Being a huge horror fan, a film like The Midnight Game is welcome and I hope that it doesn’t get buried with the rest of the mediocre films out there.

The Midnight Game was released on DVD on August 12 through Anchor Bay.