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Released by: Image Entertainment
Released on: July 17, 2012.
Director: Scott Lebrecht
Cast: Zak Kilberg, Maya Parish, Jo D. Jonz, Larry Cedar, Juanita Jennings
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Written and directed by Scott Lebrecht, Midnight Son would be an easy film to dismiss as a Twilight knock-off but it definitely goes in its own direction and is careful enough to avoid the teen/emo clichés that have made so many vampire movies suck (See that? Clever, right?) lately.
The storyline follows Jacob (Zak Kilberg), a young man who lives his life at night due to the fact that his skin reacts to the sun. He lives in a basement apartment and makes ends meet by working as a night watchman but lately he's started to develop some odd cravings, the kind that snacks and regular food just can't seem to satisfy. Jacob soon realizes that he's turning in to a vampire - he rents Fright Night (the original, not the remake) to learn what he can and starts researching his condition so that he'll know what he will soon have to come to terms with.
When his need for blood increases, he meets a hospital employee named Marcus (Jo D. Jonz) who is able to help him out by lifting expired quantities from the hospital's supply for him but things get even more complicated for him when he takes a shining to a pretty young thing named Mary (Maya Parish). Their relationship seems ideal at first - she likes it best at night time and seems to dig his darker tendencies, but she soon starts to figure out what he's all about when they get busy and he bites her. When she realizes that something is seriously wrong with the guy she's crushing on, things take some strange turns…
The packaging on Image's DVD touts this one as a 'bold new classic' and it's not. This isn't going to replace films like Dracula or even The Lost Boys anytime soon - but it is a good movie with a smart script and some decent acting. It takes a fairly gritty and somewhat realistic approach to its subject matter that works well in the context of the story that it is trying to tell and while it might not deal in guts and effects the way a lot of horror movies do, it doesn't skimp on the blood. The film is certainly anchored in horror movie traditions even while it tries to think outside the box in terms of how it shows a vampire dealing with the same sort of real world issues that anyone would have to - keeping a relationship together, holding a job, supporting yourself, and even eating.
The acting is solid across the board, particularly from Kilberg who manages to portray his character as conflicted and troubled without coming across as too whiney or obnoxious about it. Maya Parish is solid as the love interest with problems of her own and the whole thing is shot with enough style to matter but not so much that it overshadows the storytelling. All in all, a pretty solid film that tries and generally succeeds in doing something just a little bit different with the vampire movie.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Image's 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is okay for what it is. Colors look good, skin tones nice and natural and black levels reasonably deep. Some mild compression artifacts pop up in a few of the darker scenes but other than that, there's nothing to complain about here and the movie looks just fine when you consider it was shot on video with a modest budget.
The only audio option for the feature is an English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix with optional closed captioning provided in English only. It's not the most aggressive mix but it does make good use of the various channels in your surround system when the movie calls for it. There are no issues with hiss or distortion and the levels are good. Not a reference quality mix but certainly a good one.
The main extra on the disc is a commentary track with writer/director Scott Lebrecht who is joined by cast members Zak Kilberg, Maya Parish and Jo D. Jonz for a fairly engaging discussion as to what went into making this movie. With the director and his key cast members on hand you get a good feel for what happened both in front of and behind the camera, and it's quite an active talk with some good information that covers all the bases you'd typically expect from your standard commentary. Aside from that, there's a collection of cast and crew interviews, a handful of deleted scenes and a trailer for the feature as well as menus and chapter selection options.
The Final Word:
Not the Twilight rip off that it first appeared it would be, Midnight Son is a fairly engaging take on vampirism with some good writing, solid acting and a few interesting twists on the mythology of the genre. Image's DVD looks and sounds very good and throws in a few decent supplements as well.
