Wow did this movie manage to hit a lot of pet peeves with me. It's not well acted, it's got a LOT of really convoluted and seemingly nonsensical rules, characters are wildly stupid or just immediately buy into this supernatural horror story for seemingly no apparent reason and worst of all, this seems like it could actually be an entertaining concept. I like the idea of the Midnight Man, but this delivery was awful to me. I suppose, as a caveat I should say that I didn't know until after the movie that this was based on a legit urban legend. Maybe if I'd grown up with this or ever heard it before it would've made a little more sense but even so, it doesn't change the overwhelming stupidity of these characters.

I really can't imagine ever recommending this to anyone that doesn't enjoy bad horror movies, I know those people are out there. To everyone else, there are much better movies, go watch one of them and let this slip through the cracks. Maybe someday someone will try their hand at this again and make a better version.

'The Midnight Man' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an slightly intriguing premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws those films have are present here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'The Midnight Man' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is next to nothing to recommend and it is a sleeper.

Lets start with the sole positive. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky.

Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever with very little going on worth caring about, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both dreadfully done. Not to mention a whole novel's worth of inconsistencies and continuity errors.

A lot of 'The Midnight Man' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper.

There is not enough threat here, with a not very creepy and quite derivative villain, and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, it is completely unimaginative and more odd than creepy, completely failing to show any sense of horror or creativity. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, inexperience seems to be all over the film, and the music doesn't really fit.

Altogether, another very bad film. 2/10 Bethany Cox

THE MIDNIGHT MAN is another too-dark modern supernatural horror flick which screams cliche and contrivance throughout. Some kids discover an old game in the attic and soon find themselves menaced by the titular character, who turns out to be nothing more than a regular guy in a Grim Reaper costume. This is a film that strives hard to be scary but fails at every step, instead leaving it an exercise in tedium. Cast-wise, you get turns from horror regulars Lin Shaye and Robert Englund, but even that's not enough. The ending, in which the villain goes on and on in an endless monologue, is the worst anticlimax I can remember seeing in a while.