Dead by Midnight (Y2Kill)

Director(s) - Davi Crimmins (The Bert Show: The Sad Tale of Buster Brown), Eric Davis (Dead by Midnight (11pm Central), Hannah Fierman (Dark Circles), Greg Garrison, Melissa Haas (#PrettyFunny, Donut Ex Machina), Torey Haas (The Neon Dead, Dead by Midnight (11pm Central), Jay Holloway (Dead by Midnight (11pm Central), Jenna Kanell (Fear Haus, Deathless), Anissa Matlock (Dead by Midnight (11pm Central), and Tony Reames (Terror at Camp Creek, Sacrifices)

Starring - Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Hatchet), Bill Moseley (Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, House of 1000 Corpses), and Erin Brown (Dickshark, Mummy Raider)

Release Date - 2022

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Tagline - "Screaming online now"

Format - Screener (Online)

Rating (out of 5):

     Several years ago I was asked to review the horror anthology Dead by Midnight (11pm Central) from filmmaker and effects artist Torey Haas.  I had reviewed some of his work prior to this and he new I was a huge fan of indie starlet Erin Brown (Misty Mundae) so he reached out to ask me to review the film.  I fucking loved it and was lucky enough to snag some posters and other merch from the film to add to my collection.  Fast forward a few years and director Tony Reames recently hit me up to check out the unexpected sequel.  I had no idea that this film was in the works but I was excited non-the-less.  I want to thank Tony for reaching out to me and allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to check this one out.  

     The film follows The Temptress who hosts a streaming service called Dead by Midnight which is part of Hell's bigger plan to acquire souls.  The Temptress takes us through several segments along with the commercials that you would expect.

     Y2Kill was a lot of fun and had a lot of laughs that I was not expecting but it does fall a little short of it's predecessor.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and could see myself revisiting it as a double feature with the first but the first film is easily my favorite.  The acting in this one is great.  We get so many amazing performances from some seriously talented actors. I would be here all day talking about it if I went through each one.  Honestly, I'm impressed by the acting in this one and how each filmmaker was able to bring such amazing performances out of their cast.  The stories for this one are inconsistent but most are a lot of fun.  My favorite is the one the film starts with which is titled Hellevangelist.  It was a fantastic idea that I could see being turned into a feature length film.  I find organized religion to be extremely terrifying and this gives it a little humor and a new spin on religious horror.  I also enjoyed Jasper, Clean Ur Room, and GutCruncher but I was not a fan of the commercials and Heroes of Time.  Heroes of Time feels out of place and just doesn't match the rest of the film that well.  I can get behind a horror spin on The Guild but this one just feels incomplete.  As for the commercials, they just didn't work for me.  I didn't care for the humor and they threw the flow of the film off.  Finally, the film has a lot of blood, some great make-up effects, and some fantastic practical effects.  We also get some fun animation as well that really caught me off guard.  The deaths took me back to my childhood when I would rent straight to video horror titles at my local video store.  Overall, Y2Kill lives up to the Dead by Midnight name.  It's a great follow up to a horror anthology with some bite.  If you enjoyed the first film then you will not be disappointed with this one either.  Check it out.