"They thought vampires were a joke!"
It's the final day of school before the big October 31st bash at the old Cavender house. Resident brain Phil Grenville (Lee Montgomery) - who is patently good-looking even while donning the geeky specs - is preparing his class report on, rather appropriately, Halloween. The ghoulish holiday of All Hallow's Eve holds more significance to the townsfolk of Pitchford - or Pitchfork - Cove than your usual sleepy American town, Phil explains. Three hundred years ago to the day, one of the most powerful witches who ever lived - Lucinda Cavender - brought a terrible curse upon the town, releasing "all of the legendary demons of hell" and bringing "the dead with unfinished business back from the grave". And it was Phil's very own great-great-great-great grandfather, known as the Witch Hunter General, who put a stop to the madness, hanging the witch in the town square just hours later. But it isn't only Phil with intriguing ancestors. Classmate Melissa (Shari Belfonte) happens to be the great-granddaughter of Lucinda herself. If that doesn't sound like trouble enough then just you wait..
When Melissa, Phil and their friends Mitch (Peter DeLuise), Mary (Dedee Pfieffer) and Vinnie (LeVar Burton) learn that the town's Witchcraft Museum houses the authentic period outfits that once belonged to Lucinda and the Witch Hunter, they set about making them theirs for the costume party. Grabbing handfuls of artifacts from the museum's dusty old basement, the teenagers head over to the local cemetery, where they try on their newly-stolen costumes and rummage through the old trunk they found. Inside, they discover an ancient scroll, and without thinking twice read aloud the three hundred-year old curse. "Life to the dead, Death to the living. Demons arise". As the wind howls through the graveyard, the kids make a run for it, oblivious to the trail of destruction they've left behind. The ground writhes, the tombstones shake.. and within minutes the dead have exploded (and I mean exploded) from their graves.
As the annual Cavender house party begins to liven up, zombies, werewolves, and witch-turned-vampire Lucinda undertake in turning the town upside down, transforming the residents of Pitchford Cove into an army of the undead. But as the rotting corpses arrive at the party, nobody bats an eyelid - except for those who compliment the zombies on their impressive costumes! Meanwhile Phil is busy feeling rejected by Mary, who doesn't seem to even know he's alive. It is when Lucinda arrives that events really take a turn for the worst, as Melissa falls foul of her great-grandmother's sinister intentions and has the blood drained from her neck down in the wine cellar in a very creepy slow-mo scene set to The Smith's How Soon Is Now. The downfall begins here for the party guests..
Elsewhere, Phil has left the Cavender house and it seems that he isn't the only one feeling down when he notices a sullen-faced cheerleader (who he had briefly met earlier that evening) named Sandy sitting alone in the town square. When he stops to ask what's wrong, the somewhat mysterious but pretty girl replies; "everything". She explains that nothing in the town is as it used to be and Phil - who seems even more confused than the troubled girl - tries his hand at comforting her. They go for a drive and Sandy suggests they stop by the malt shop for a chocolate ice-cream soda, again baffling poor Phil, who follows Sandy's directions which lead them not to a malt shop, but a movie theatre. "Who would've believed it", the cheerleader says. "Five movie theatres crammed into what used to be the malt shop". Further puzzled, Phil wonders when on earth the girl could have possibly lived in Pitchford Cove - for all he remembers there was never a malt shop in the town. They share a dance instead and Sandy proposes they drive to the supposedly "hoppin'" Lookout Point. The romantic interlude is interrupted when the car is attacked by a wolf.. a werewolf.
Being Halloween, the police are having none of it. Phil, whose suit was shredded in the attack, pleads with the cynical officers who discuss the night's reports of zombies; husbands transforming into bats; the museum break-in and the vandalism of the graveyard. "Werewolves, zombies, vampires and little green men add up to.. lets all have fun with the cops. I got your report. Happy Halloween". It is then up to Phil and Sandy to somehow reverse the ancient curse and send the roaming evil back to where they came from. But before the night is through Phil will finally discover what makes Sandy such a curious girl.
VERDICT: ★★★★
The Midnight Hour is one of the most enjoyable made-for-television movies of all time, not to mention one of the greatest films to watch during the Halloween season. It perfectly encapsulates everything that is brilliant about the time of year: fun, mystery and fright. It has a nice familiarity too - reminding you of when you were a kid and dreamed of having an awesome adventure with your friends - very similar to the feeling you get when watching The Goonies. The film rests on the very fine line of being suitable for both adults and children and this is a rare thing for Halloween-set movies. Nobody is sliced-and-diced and we aren't bombarded with boobs, and while there are mildly sexual situations and some genuinely frightening moments (which would decidedly scare the crap out of a younger child), the film expertly spans across the age groups. From the tongue-in-cheek and madly misplaced Thriller-like dance routine to the ghastly sight of unfortunate victims being pounded on the head with rocks(!), there is something to entertain everyone, and is anything but tame for a television movie. Not forgetting the romance between Phil and Sandy, doomed from the word go and enough to tug on even the least sentimental of heartstrings.
Phil is your classic antihero; the geek, the nerd, the nobody. It just seems typical for this poor lad - who has just fallen in love and saved the world in the process (WAY TO GO PHIL!) - to discover that this incredible girl is actually one of the undead. You can't help but feel sympathetic towards the guy as he watches Sandy and the rest of her kind disappear into thin air, leaving him with only a memory of the night's unbelievable events - a memory only he can argue ever happened.
The Midnight Hour is the crème de la crème of Halloween flicks and will make you love the season even more than you already do.
IMAGES/VIDEOS: [movie clip]
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SOUNDTRACK:
01. Clap For The Wolfman - The Guess Who
02. The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
03. Sea of Love - Phil Phillips
04. How Soon Is Now - The Smiths
05. Devil or Angel - Bobby Vee
06. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
07. Little Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs
08. Get Dead - Shari Belafonte
09. Mama Told Me Not To Come - Three Dog Night
10. Sea Of Love - Del Shannon
01. Clap For The Wolfman - The Guess Who
02. The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
03. Sea of Love - Phil Phillips
04. How Soon Is Now - The Smiths
05. Devil or Angel - Bobby Vee
06. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
07. Little Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs
08. Get Dead - Shari Belafonte
09. Mama Told Me Not To Come - Three Dog Night
10. Sea Of Love - Del Shannon
