A midnight showing of an early 1970's horror movie turns to chaos when the Killer from the movie comes out of the film to attack those in the theater.
Director: Jack Messitt
Writers: Jack Messitt, Mark Garbett
Stars: Rebekah Brandes, Daniel Bonjour and Greg Cirulnick
In the 1970's, a slasher flick was released named The Dark Beneath. The director and star of the movie Ted Radford suffers a mental breakdown and is admitted to a psychiatric ward. His doctor (Richard Magarey) attempts to cure him by showing him his movie, which he is obsessed with. Dr. Wayne (Michael Swan), a psychiatrist, is skeptical about this idea, but leaves for the night. When he comes back the next morning, its a bloodbath, however none of the bodies were recovered. The film changes to five years later at local theater where a midnight horror movie being shown is The Dark Beneath, the first time the movie has been shown since the murders. We're introduced to three of the theater's employees: Bridget (Rebekah Brandes), Rachel (Brea Grant), and Kenny (Shaun Ausmus). A biker couple, Harley (Stan Ellsworth) and Babe (Melissa Steach), arrive to watch the movie as well as Bridget's younger brother Timmy (Justin Baric) who wants to see the movie, but is turned away by Kenny because he's too young. Bridget's boyfriend Josh (Daniel Bonjour) comes and pressures Bridget into her coming to watch the movie with him despite Bridget is working; he convinces her, and they take a seat in the theater. Josh's friend Mario (Greg Cirulnick) and his girlfriend Samantha (Mandell Maughan) arrive and sit with Bridget and Josh.
Meanwhile, Detective Barrons (Jon Briddell) is looking for the notorious Ted Radford, sure he will be at the theater on the night that Dark Beneath is screening. Back in the theater, Josh's awkward friend, Sully (Michael Schwartz) arrives and sits with them. Detective Barrons enters the theater, and Kenny starts the movie. It's a black and white film similar to Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Dr. Wayne shows up to stake out the theater with Detective Barrons. Back in the lobby, Kenny goes down to the basement to retrieve syrup for the soda machine. Bridget storms out of the theater and Josh comforts her; we learn that the film reminded her of her abusive father who gave her a scar on her arm. Back in the theater, Kenny is killed by the same killer in Dark Beneath with a large corkscrew, the same weapon used by the killer in the movie. Kenny's death is shown on the big screen! Somehow the killer is putting the deaths of the people in the theater in the movie. The teens realize that he looks familiar.
The biker couple, Bridget, Timmy and Josh meet up with Mario and Harley gets ready to kill Mario for leaving his girlfriend, but Bridget stops him. They try to get the attention of a police officer outside the theater, but the officer doesn't see them; they are invisible to the officer. The killer doesn't want the officer to see them. They try to get into the projector room to turn off the movie but the door is locked. Timmy tries to climb into the room through the ventilation duct and he gets in, and just as Josh is about to be killed by Radford, Harley turns off the movie and the killer disappears. But it doesn't work for long as the film magically starts by itself, the projector just repairs itself and Radford appears and chases them all. Harley, Babe and Timmy hide in a closet but the killer breaks through the door and stabs Harley in the stomach with the corkscrew.
Bridget, Josh and Mario run to the theater where they witness Babe getting killed on the screen. They realize Radford can smell their fear. Mario runs upstairs towards the office to try the window again and finds Timmy-and Radford who electrocutes and kills Mario. Meanwhile, Josh is killed and Bridget flees. She finds Timmy and together they get sucked into the movie world where Bridget finds herself in a basement. She wanders around, finding her friends dead and chained up. The killer catches her and ties her up. He tortures her verbally and physically. She begins chanting the Lord's Prayer. He then tips her over in the bed and she shoots up and stabs him in the neck with one of the screws from her wrist shackles. She frees Timmy and they run, but the woman from the movie-the killer's mother-attacks Bridget. But Timmy stabs the mother in the back with a sickle just when Radford shows up. He chases them out of the house and Bridget sees "The End" of the movie so she throws Timmy back into the real world and Bridget is killed in the real movie-leaving Timmy as the sole survivor and the film ends as police arrive.
Cast
Rebekah Brandes as Bridget
Daniel Bonjour as Josh
Greg Cirulnick as Mario
Mandell Maughan as Samantha
Stan Ellsworth as Harley
Melissa Steach as Babe
Jon Briddell as Detective Doug Barrons
Michael Swan as Doctor Dave Wayne
Michael Schwartz as Sully
Justin Baric as Timmy
Brea Grant as Rachael
Shawn Ausmus as Kenny
James Michael Mahoney as Bobby
Kathryn Aagesen as Monica
Dinora Walcott as Lucinda
In May of 2011, a director's cut of the movie entitled "Midnight Movie The Killer Cut" was released on DVD.
Here are a few comments about this director's cut:
"The original release was fantastic, and this re-release is just that much better. The film moves at a great pace, really offers a new scenario and hits all the marks that a horror fan could want." – Horror News.net --- "Messitt gets it. Buy this movie people. Original and fun with a memorable killer. Scared Stiff Rating: 8.5/10" – Scared Stiff Reviews.com --- “The best new slasher movie that I've seen in years. Outstanding!” – Gutmunchers.com --- "Radford" should be hailed and accepted into the slasher hall of fame with such characters as Freddy, Jason, Michael, etc. - ‘Trust me you will like it’ - I say hell yes, I did... though I didn't like it, I loved it...” – TwoThumbsEightFingers --- "It's got a strong premise, a solid execution, and enough tension to keep fright fans riveted until the final twist." – DVD Verdict.com --- "A far more finished package. The kills are great, full of gore and nastiness. 3.5 beers out of 4" – The DVD Pub – Arrow in the Head/JoBlo.com --- "One of 2008's better horror films gets the director's cut treatment and then some…" – Kansas City Star --- "Midnight Movie is actually able to pump some energy into this genre." – DVD Sleuth --- "The kills and spills are super creative. Good cast, good kills, good cut." – StarPulse.com --- "This tighter, gorier version packs in improved special effects and adds a whole new dimension to the masked villain. Radford has a very distinct and menacing appearance, and his supernatural abilities to intercut between the 'real-world' and the 'reel-world' make him a terrifying new villain. The newly-revamped Midnight Move is a fun and campy throwback to the early 80's that Slasher fans are sure to enjoy!" - I Like Horror Movies.com --- "The Killer Cut is definitely the better version of Midnight Movie (not that the original version was chopped liver). Recommended." – Horror Chronicles.com --- "Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut feels like a big ol’ hug to the horror genre. – What Would Toto Watch.com --- "Worth a Mention: If you’ve never seen one of 2008′s better horror films, this is a terrific way to rectify that." - McClatchy Tribune --- "High-quality horror fun." – Go2: The Hot List --- "It's a million times better than the majority of the direct to DVD horror flicks that get churned out each and every week." – Freddy in Space.com --- "One of the coolest onscreen killers in years. Good times for sure." – Lair of Filth.com --- "80 minutes of pure slasher heaven"
