After Midnight

Director(s) - Jeremy Gardner (The Battery, Tex Montana Will Survive!) and Christian Stella (Tex Montana Will Survive!)

Starring - Jeremy Gardner, Brea Grant (Dexter, Beyond the Gates), and Henry Zebrowski (Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell, The Wolf of Wall Street)

Release Date - 2019

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Love will rip your heart out"

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     A few years ago I was out at a few pawn shops, thrift stores, and used record stores looking for some movies to add to my collection.  I can't recall which store I was at but I found the zombie film The Battery from Scream Factory on DVD.  It looked interesting but not something I was going to rush home to watch.  Sometime passed and I found myself sick.  I stayed home from work and took a deep dive into some movies I had never seen before.  The Battery was one of those films and I fucking loved it.  I've watched it several times since then and enjoy it just as much every time I watch it.  Sometime back Umbrella Entertainment reached out to me to review Jeremy Gardner's newest film After Midnight.  Sadly, the trip from Australia was a rough one for this release.  The disc was dislodged when shipped and suffered some serious damage.  Instead of reaching out to them for a replacement I found someone selling their copy of the film fairly cheap so I snagged it.  I know it took some time but I was finally able check it out and review it.  

     The film follows Hank (Gardner) who finds out that the love of his life, Abby (Grant), has left him when he finds a strange letter.  His simple life is then thrown for another loop when a creature starts attacking his home every night after midnight.  His friends and family is starting to believe that Abby's departure has sent him over the edge but Hank truly believes a creature is hunting him.

     I was so excited to get into this one.  The Battery is not a fast paced action filled zombie film.  Instead, it's very character driven with more time spent on the character's relationship with each other and their fight for survival more than it's focused on the undead.  It works because it doesn't give us more of what The Walking Dead.  Instead, it keeps the sub-genre intact while delivering a solid story.  After Midnight has that same slow build up as The Battery but focuses on a torn lover dealing with isolation.  It works but is a very slow watch.  The acting in this one is great.  Gardner is not only a talented director but he is a fantastic actor.  His character is very down to Earth and works with the story so well.  He has plenty of personality and delivers a fantastic performance.  Also, it's always awesome to see Henry Zebrowski in something.  It was only earlier in the year that I discovered Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell but it quickly shot him up to the top of my favorite actor's list.  His comedy is no much prevalent here.  Instead, he delivers a very serious performance showing that he is a well rounded actor.  The story for this one is a slow burning one that will lose the viewer several times before the ending.  If you stick with it the ending is worth it but it is a bit of a climb to get there.  Where The Battery had two characters that contributed a lot to the story, this one follows one person and his solo scenes do become a bit of a boring watch.  However, if you stick with it you will see the film was worth your time.  Finally, this is not a gory flick.  We get some blood, minimal effects, and a very memorable looking creature that looks very impressive.  I really liked the way they went with the creature and the make-up effects and prosthetics look good.  Overall, After Midnight is not a movie that you will watch several times but it is a solid watch fir a first time viewing.  Slow, calculating, and moody but with a great cast and a different kind of creature.  Check it out.