A TV station on the verge of chaos. A Halloween without a horror host, and a skeleton crew more interested in backstabbing each other than getting anything on air. This is the setup for Dead By Midnight (11 PM Central) an anthology film that takes five episodes of a web series and gives them a wraparound
Welcome to Halloween at WKIZ. When a feed hosted by the Mistress of Midnight (Erin Brown, Mother Noose Presents Once Upon a Nightmare , and a million softcore videos as Misty Mundae) kicks in from the unused studio four, there’s no choice but to run with it. But as the episodes become grimmer and start to feature station staff, it’s clear this isn’t just any spook show.
Jersey Devil reveals the truth behind what authorities believe is the work of a serial killer. Pops (Joseph Lavender), Emma (Avri Bartolozzi) and Dani (Davi Crimmins) must defeat a creature right out of folklore.
Creepy Dolls features a haunted house full of, well, creepy dolls. Ben (Andrew Puckett The Neon Dead) managed to make it out alive. But he may not be out of danger yet.
Lost Laundry is a tale of college roommates April (Melissa Oulton) and Amy (Jillian-Van Blair) and some missing laundry. Do you REALLY want to know where all those missing socks went?
Day Three. Ellie (Anissa Matlock) is rescued after being held captive for over a month. She’s also pregnant but insists the fetus isn’t human. When her demand that it be aborted is denied she needs to take matters into her own hands. But she only has three days…
Blindsided sees, somewhat hazily, Rebecca (Jenni McCarthy) staying alone at her boyfriend’s house. Her glasses go missing leaving her nearly blind as a shadowy being stalks her.
As you can probably guess by the title, Dead By Midnight (11 PM Central) doesn’t take itself entirely seriously. The one exception being Day Three which gets serious with its tale of a woman told she must carry a fetus to term. That she should treasure it even if it’s the result of rape. Of
The film could have used a bit more explanation of what was going on and how the broadcast managed to affect not just the station’s staff but viewers at home. The same could be said for a couple of the segments that seemed rushed and could have used a little more time to develop and explain what was going on.
Overall though Dead By Midnight (11 PM Central) is an enjoyable film with a bit of gore and some monster effects, (CGI, practical and stop motion). It will be playing Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Fest on November 18th. You can check for other screenings on their Facebook page.