Starring - John Hurley, Freddie Findlay (Rasputin, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries), and Sebastian Armesto (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens)
Release Date - 1994
Genre - Comedy/Drama
Tagline - "A 500 year old school. A prehistoric form master. ...and a 10-year old chef"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
A couple weeks ago I received The Eurocrpyt of Christopher Lee Volume 3 from my friends over at Severin Films. At the time I thought that I had only seen one of the films in the set which actually turned out to be two films when I realized one was using an alternate title.
Anyway, the one film that I had previously seen in this set was the 1994 family friendly kid's movie A Feast at Midnight. This was previously released by Severin as part of their Severin Kids line where I bought a copy for my collection. I liked the film but only watched it the one time before placing it on my shelf to collect dust. I'm glad it was included in this set which gave me another reason to revisit it
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a young boy who is sent to a boarding school where he is immediately ostracized and mocked. He is unable to make friends until he decides to turn his love of cooking into a late night meeting for his classmates. He slowly starts building friendships with his class and the school nurse while sneaking around from the dean, an angry teacher, and a cook who refuses to let students in his kitchen. **Spoiler Alert**
There is a lot to unpack with this movie but I honestly love it. The artwork infuriates me but I get why it looks like that and the title is dumb but, once again, it fits the film. I know many genre fans are going to be disappointed in it but I absolutely loved it.
The acting in this one is great. Christopher Lee once again gives us a larger than life character that I really enjoyed watching. He really got into the role and made it his own. The main cast consists of young boys with very little, if any, experience. Yet, they were able to do a fantastic job together. They made the film as fun as it was and it's a damn shame that many of them did not continue their careers in acting.
The story for this one is not what I was expecting the first time I saw it. The artwork and title makes you think that Christopher Lee is a monster snatching up students at night. However, the artwork is referencing his nickname that the students call him behind his back while the title is obviously referencing the young boy's love of cooking for his classmates at night. It's a family friendly story that I found to be very entertaining and still holds up after the second viewing.
Finally, don't expect a film with a lot of effects and fun deaths. This is a no budget kids film so we don't have any effects to enjoy. Overall, A Feast at Midnight is not going to be the kind of film that many genre fans are going to love but I found myself having a lot of fun with it. It's an amazing performance from Lee with the rest of the cast delivering unforgettable performances. I highly recommend this one even if you don't have children.
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