Any anthology will be a mixed bag, but Minutes Past Midnight has an overwhelming amount of very good horror short films as its segments.
Basically, Minutes Past Midnight is simply a collection of short horror films. And good horror short films at that. With any anthology – horror or otherwise – you’re bound to get the good with the bad. And yes, Minutes Past Midnight does feature a few segments that didn’t rock my world. However, I didn’t really think any of them were bad. That in itself is a huge win!
Also, this horror anthology featured a wide array of horror styles. We get very simple and creepy stories without any real use of effects. Then there’s the stop motion puppet horror short film, which was beautiful and pretty amazing – but more suited to children, in my opinion. Even if it was pretty creepy. And then there’s a completely batshit crazy little gem of a horror short film called Roid Rage.
I don’t know what I expected from that particular segment, but certainly not that. I went from thinking “Okay, this is just shitty acting” to allowing myself to surrender to it completely. Mini-spoiler: It wasn’t actually bad acting, it was just a super campy exploitation-style short film. It crossed the line for my funny bone a few times, but never too much. A feature-length movie would be way too much for me, though. But this was pretty perfect.
Oh, but don’t think that it was my favorite. It absolutely wasn’t, but I love the fact that it can work as part of this Minutes Past Midnight anthology. The truth is, I loved several of the segments, so I can’t really choose a favorite. And that doesn’t happen too often!
The Nine Short Films of Minutes Past Midnight
The segments – or short films – of this horror anthology are so extremely varied that it’s impossible to find a favorite. Depending on your mood, you might love one more than another. While we’ve given the Minutes Past Midnight anthology one rating as a whole, we’ll give a rating to each segment as well here:
Never Tear Us Apart – 4/5
Short and sweet… or, you know, bloody and creepy!
Awake – 3/5
Very dark and sad, but didn’t quite hit the mark for me
Crazy For You – 5/5
This was actually sweet, but also very funny, quirky, and pure murder. Left me in that sweet spot where I want more, but really don’t need it.
The Mill At Calder’s End – 3/5
We all know from The Nightmare Before Christmas that animation work really well with campy horror. This one was more of a soft horror story for kids but with some truly scary elements and truly beautiful craftsmanship. The horror part just didn’t win me over.
Roid Rage – 4/5
Umm, yeah, I mentioned this above. Sick, twisted, and absolutely amazing. Also, very unforgettable, though I kinda wish it wasn’t!
Feeder – 5/5
This has everything I want from a good short film and a good horror story. Absolutely spot on. Awesome story and perfect execution.
Timothy – 3/5
Definitely has scary elements, but didn’t work as well for me as I thought it would. Donnie Darko on crack, but not in a good way.
Ghost Train – 4/5
This was almost as sad as it was scary, but it definitely was a damn good horror story.
Horrific – 4/5
A great focus on dark comedy in this horror short, and that always works for me. Sometimes it’s the simple stuff that works the best.
If you love horror, then you’ll love this horror anthology
Really, there is something for everyone in this horror anthology. Well, everyone who loves horror movies anyway. Minutes Past Midnight is one of the most consistently good anthologies while also serving up segments of very different styles and subgenres.
Minutes Past Midnight has been out in limited theatrical release and is available on VOD from October 18, 2016. Also, it’ll be out on DVD from February 7, 2017.
Details
Director: Robert Boocheck, Lee Cronin, Francisco Sonic Kim, Ryan Lightbourn, Marc Martínez Jordán, Kevin McTurk, James Moran, Christian Rivers, Sid Zanforlin
Writer: Chris Bavota, Robert Boocheck, Lee Cronin, Collin George, Ryan Lightbourn, Marc Martínez Jordán, Guy McDouall, James Moran, Ryan Murphy, Sid Zanforlin
Cast: Arthur Darvill, Mika Boorem, Steve Wall, Jason Flemyng, Babara Steele, Owen McDonnell
Plot
As midnight falls, all manner of terror invades the Earth. Demons, cannibals, killers, ghosts and monsters swarm the world in these tales of the supernatural, the fantastic, and the just plain horrific. Featuring nine stories of horror.
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