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Released by: Dark Sky Films
Released on: 3/28/2006
Director: Richard Hilliard
Cast: Lee Philips, Shepperd Strudwick, Jean Hale, Lorraine Rogers
Year: 1968
The Movie:
Del Tenny's premiere film as a producer is a slick and suspenseful little thriller that borrows a little from Hitchcock's Psycho but still manages to stand out on its own enough to make it work a look. Known just as well under the alternate title of Psychomania (not to be confused with Don Sharp's insane biker film of the same name from 1971), it's a nifty exercise in black and white style that owes a bit to the crime noir films that came in the two decades prior to its release.
A man named Elliott Freeman (Lee Phillips who would work a lot in television both before and after this film) has just returned back to the United States after serving his country faithfully in the Korean War. He makes his living as a painter and his strengths lie in painting the female form sans clothing. Freeman's mind is a bit of a mess, not only has he dealt with the horrors of war but he feels responsible for his father's accidental death and as such, he's slightly off his rocker.
One night when Elliott goes out to diner with Delores (the very pretty Kaye Elhardt), the latest in his string of models, he gets into it with a biker named Charlie (James Farentino who played Simon Peter in Zeffirelli's Jesus Of Nazareth mini series!), an ex-boyfriend of Delores' who refuses to let her go. They leave and head home for the evening and Elliott is shocked to find that later that night Delores was stabbed to death and that he's the prime suspect. As Freeman sets out to find the real killer, one by one the pretty girls who live at the college dorm not too far from his studio start dropping dead and things are looking really bad for our hero. Through some ties with his sister, Lynn (Margot Hartman of The Curse Of The Living Corpse), it appears that Elliott has some connections to one of the girls there and when she winds up dead too, it won't be long before the cops come calling for him.
Lee Phillips makes for a solid lead in this one, he's channeling just enough Anthony Perkins that you can pick up on it but he does make the role his own. The supporting cast is also interesting, with a few recognizeable faces showing up throughout the film, notably Sylvia Miles and a seemingly out of place Dick Van Patten. The real reason to watch this one, however, is the cinematography. The movie makes excellent use of shadows and it's got atmosphere to spare. A few gory kill scenes and the fact that the killer wanders around in a black raincoat and hat foreshadow the giallos that would later come out of Italy (the killer in this film looks a lot like the killer in Mario Bava's Blood And Black Lace) and it makes for an interesting comparison piece to some of those films.
Dark Sky's release of the film is completely uncut as indicated by a couple of surprisingly nasty kill scenes and a spattering of female nudity throughout the movie. Those who have only seen the movie on TV might be surprised how much was removed for broadcast.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Violent Midnight hits DVD in a nice, sharp 1.33.1 fullframe transfer. Was the film originally meant to be shown this way? Good question, though probably not. With that said, the compositions don't look to be compromised much leading one to guess that maybe this is an open matte presentation? Either way, the quality of the picture is quite good, with solid contract levels, only a minimal amount of print damage, and strong black levels. There's a pretty decent level of both foreground and background detail in the picture and aliasing and edge enhancement, while present, aren't overpowering or overly distracting.
The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack is fine - it's free of any hiss or distortion and while sometimes the range sounds a little bit limited, you won't ever have a problem understanding the performers or their dialogue. Background music and sound effects are properly balanced and things sound pretty good on this DVD. No subtitles or alternate language tracks are included.
The main reason to check out the extra features section for this release is for the audio commentary with the film's producer, Del Tenny. Moderated by Dark Sky Films' Shade Rupe, it's a pretty interesting discussion that covers the origins of the film and how it was made. Tenny rarely gets off track and Rupe keeps him talking about his work and his career throughout the discussion whenever it sounds like he might be heading that way. The most interesting revelation in the track is when Tenny talks about how he actually handled directorial duties on the bulk of the movie, despite the fact that he ended up leaving Hilliard's name on the credits. He covers locations, cast members, where some of the script ideas came from and more and this proves to be a very interesting talk throughout the duration of the track.
Rounding out the supplements on this disc are trailers for The Horror Of Party Beach and The Curse Of The Living Corpse as well as a nice still gallery of lobby cards, photographs, and promotional artwork for Violent Midnight (many of which are shown here using the Psychomania alternate title). Animated menus and chapter selection are also provided.
The Final Word:
A decent horror/thriller, Violent Midnight earns itself a very respectable DVD debut from Dark Sky Films.
Want more info? Check out the Dark Sky Films website by clicking here!