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Midnight Hour, The

OK, I must confess... I am a sentimental junkie and like the "Halloween Magic" that happens on this special night of all nights when spirits walk among us. Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, I thought it would be fitting to review a movie with it soon approaching. Sure, there are many movies I could have reviewed that would fit into the Halloween category; not necessarily depicting Halloween, but with the theme of ghosts, witches, werewolves, and vampires. I have favorites of those, but for now, I chose to review "The Midnight Hour" for the simple enjoyment of it being fun and having a place in my "Classic Hall of Fame Halloween Viewing Collection" -- for a made-for-TV movie from 1985 -- it deserves that!

The cozy New England town of Pitchford Cove is preparing for Halloween, especially a group of friends who have some wild plans to get their yearly Halloween party off to a ghoulishly hip start. Phil Grenville (Lee Montgomery), Melissa Cavender (Shari Belafonte-Harper), Vinnie Davis (Levar Burton), Mitch Crandall (Peter DeLuise), and Mary Masterson (Dedee Pfeiffer) break into the wax museum to "borrow" the vintage clothing of Phil's great-great-great-great grandfather, Nathaniel Grenville, and Melissa's just as great grandmother, Lucinda Cavender (Jonelle Allen). While rummaging through the basement, Vinnie stumbles upon an old chest with lots of neat stuff inside that would make great decorations for the party. "Oops." Melissa drops a glass jar while checking out some items on a dusty shelf so the gang gets out of there fast, but not without that treasure chest!

Once in the car, the group decides where best to open the chest and Mitch decides the only "logical" place would be the cemetery! Phil opens the chest and inside is a box containing Nathaniel Grenville's ring and a scroll with a wax seal imprint of the ring. The scroll is a curse that a witch, Lucinda, put on the town 300 years ago and a witch hunter, Nathaniel, ended before the stroke of midnight. When Melissa reads aloud what is written on the scroll, she unknowingly unleashes a curse that will have all the monsters of darkness, evil beings, and the dead walking amongst the living.

The only two who truly know the power of the curse is Lucinda, who wants to feed on the town and take Melissa under her wing and Sandy Matthews (Jonna Lee), a young, and pretty, innocent-looking soul, who wants to find some happiness from this enchanted, yet cursed night and free Pitchford Cove from the demons that have taken over.

Bushels of smoke-filled leaves envelope the dark graveyard. A big old house, belonging to Melissa's family, has all the right ingredients (people) to get this party under the spell of the ghouls, zombies, and the queen witch/vampire of the underworld... Lucinda -- A pretty good combo! -- Don't want to mess with her unless you have a trick or two up your sleeve! There is a cleverly orchestrated scene in the wine cellar with Melissa and Lucinda that plays out creepy.

For a TV movie from 1985, the costumes and make-up are snazzy and very well done -- impressive actually. Reminiscent of '80s mega-star, Michael Jackson's, awesome mini-movie "Thriller." Not too shabby at all is the music heard in this movie. There is a great collection of oldies and putting the finishing touch on all this super music is the legendary Wolf Man Jack who lends his voice as the radio DJ (now there is a treat)! There is a kooky and particularly catchy song and dance number led by Belafonte-Harper with the ghouls, zombies, witches, and partygoers as her back up dancers, which is a riot! Take this movie for what it is -- a pretty cool movie that is a lot of fun to watch that gives horror and comedy a run for its money. For any Halloween enthusiast, this is a good pick. Kick back with your candles and jack-o-lantern lit, drink some hot apple cider and munch on those leftover goodies. Halloween never has an age!

Written by: Lynda Dale MacLean

Reviewers Rating: 8
Reader's Rating: 9.28
Reader's Votes: 7

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