The Midnight Horror Show

source: The Midnight Horror Show

This movie may not have the best special effects, the biggest budget or the best acting. But overall I really enjoyed it! A very original movie that was made with love. Some low budget shots may be funny but also very creepy. It really reminded me of those classic 70s horror movies like leatherface. It may not be the best movie out there, but it's definitely an interesting experience.

A deceptively complex film, played as a simple story of a murderous family using their circus show as cover for killings but featuring several sub-plots with their own story arcs. The siblings squabble, the eldest acting like a truculent teenager as his sister is the favoured child, but come together when the chips are down. The story makes excellent use of a very limited budget, although this can lead to some slightly jarring jumps in the action. A character from early on possibly uses a fake name, meaning a plot twist was not as clear as it could have been, but the end is satisfying and there is a healthy body count. The ventriloquist did not work for me. I was uncertain whether to read it as mental illness or genuine supernatural activity, and this was the most obvious nod to earlier films. The wronged girlfriend plot tried to incorporate the ambiguity of abusive relationships but was a little too glib for me. A slight hint of incest between the two most quarrelsome siblings was kept as just that - a hint - without interfering with the plot. A pleasantly 'I wonder if that is true' routine about Hitler gave me one of my few real chuckles, although the film is not without humour. Most of the budget seems to have gone on blood and imaginative ways to disguise the limited sets. Comparisons to Rob Zombie are inevitable, and it is to the credit of all involved that they achieved this for pocket money prices. Well worth a watch.

A cult carnival consisting of a patriarch, three brothers and a sister tours Britain, but when customers go missing it attracts a no-nonsense private investigator. Havoc ensues. Released in 2014-2015, "The Midnight Horror Show," also known as "Theatre of Fear," is a micro-budget Welsh flick obviously influenced by Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects" from the early 2000s. The reason I watched this Indie is because I found the trailer intriguing, which turns out to be the movie's intro. The theme song by Bobby Cole is outstanding and worth the price of admission. A fuller version plays during the end credits. Beyond the well-done opening, this is clearly a low-rent production by one-man-filmmaker Andrew Jones (producer/writer/director), which can be observed in the abysmal lack of wide angle shots. Practically every camera angle is a relative close-up, which of course saves money on locations & sets. The movie "Pathfinders: In the Company of Strangers" (2011) had the same glaring issue. If you can look past this flaw, there's enough here to appreciate for those who can handle spare-change budget flicks. Besides the superb title song, the no-name cast rises to the challenge with Jared Morgan as the ringleader and Nathan Head as the scarred clown standing out, not to mention the alluring Shireen Ashton as Venus. (Sarah Louise Madison and Tiffany Ceri are also worth a mention on the feminine front). There is a colorful sense of artistry and a dash of spirituality amidst the familial mayhem. The clown's subplot stands out, as does the ventriloquist's struggle with his brazen dummy, which is figurative of the battle within of which most people can relate. Meanwhile the gore is effective if that's your thang (not that it's overdone). I can't say the movie's very scary because it focuses on dramatics, but it works up some atmosphere and there are thrills to be had, plus the unexpected climax to the clown arc is shocking. This is a hard picture to rate because the parts that work are good to outstanding, like the music, whereas the problematic parts are pretty stark. The film runs around 1 hour, 21 minutes, and was shot in South Wales. GRADE: C.

In my opinion the best thing about this movie was the creepy puppet. Especially because he talked by himself. Lee bane did good as always and his performance was alright. Not sure who voiced the puppet but he was good. The rest of the characters were interesting in their own way. Especially the clown. Not much else to say about this film. Not all that scary. The acting was actually ok but overall not that good.

Jared Morgan plays Doctor Deimos Moreau, surviving head of the strangest bunch of delinquents you might have seen since Rob Zombie's 'The Devil's Rejects (2005)', to which this project has been compared. Amongst his crew of travelling performers are Trinculo the scarred clown (Nathan Head), Janus the ventriloquist (Lee Bane), Venus the manipulative sister (Shireen Ashton), and Apollo (Sam Harding) who can never, ever do anything right in the eyes of his family. And what a family they are. Images remain long after 'Theatre of Fear' has ended. Trinculo stooped and heart-broken like a hollow-eyed goth, after seeing his friend Jenny (Tiffany Ceri) back romancing her bullying boyfriend Vincent (Kris Richards); Janus slumped and defeated after the ventriloquist's dummy commits another grisly murder. Of course, the dominating dummy story has been done before, probably most memorably in 'Dead of Night (1945)', but it is done well here – and we are never sure how the wooden faced grinner has gained the upper hand. A genuine supernatural presence, a product of Janus' submissive mentality – or just another chapter of madness amidst this dysfunctional, murderous brood? Interesting that Janus adopts the dummy's personality (often coming out with some brashly funny lines) towards the end. Angela, who inexplicably disappears during the first act we see, has a vengeful father, who employs the services of The Duke (Kevin Horsham) to track down those responsible. Skilfully, when the family are caught by the hit-man, director, writer and producer Andrew Jones invites us to side with the depraved performers and not the intimidating good guy. A conversation between Deimos and The Duke, where they reluctantly agree they are the same because they kill people for enjoyment, is a pivotal moment in this. 'Theatre of Fear' is an intriguing, curious little gem. It is low budget, and some performances aren't as strong as they might be, and there are some sound problems – but the over-riding sense of weirdness and carnival perversion makes up for all of this. Many scenes are shot in uncomfortable close-up, often in sickly, artificial colours inviting us into a sulphur-lit intimacy with the 'freaks.' And yes, this is head and shoulders more enjoyable than Rob Zombie's film in my view.

Was drawn into seeing 'Theatre of Fear', with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing though far from original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre it fits under. 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 (though there are decent to good ones as well), made me though apprehensive. It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws present in those films are here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Theatre of Fear' is really very weak, with its infrequent decent points but with so many huge flaws and doesn't do anywhere near enough with its potential, which was quite a good deal. There is very little good here. 'Theatre of Fear' does have an eerie setting and was expecting far worse acting than what is seen here, it's not great still, somewhat over-the-top in spots, but effort to engage with what they're given to work with can be seen. The chemistry is there too and it is more natural than expected. Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. All the characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one be properly intrigued by them. There is still frustrating decision making going on but that aspect is definitely done much worse in other low-budget recent viewings, sorry to go on about this asset but it has become a bugbear of mine and difficult to ignore. Sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and the effects are laughable. Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, apparent from the very start, never recovering that interest is lost fast. The ending has no build-up and just ends ridiculously. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Thrills are none, thanks to stodginess and excessive over-familiarity, and found myself never invested in the drama, which tended to be dully paced and statically directed. A lot of 'Theatre of Fear' has really dull and going nowhere plot elements and often not so convincing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling. It all feels rather tame. Nothing freaky or interesting, no development and too derivative, while everything is unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of dread. There is nothing interesting or illuminating with what the film was trying to do and the drama is overwrought with no momentum and a lot of weirdness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting. It is very amateurish visually with its low budget being all too clear, too drearily lit and shows no care in the way it's shot. In this regard only the setting stands out in a halfway decent way. In summary, weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox

It certainly was. Avoid this film at all costs. It started off as if it might be OK it soon turns out to be far from OK.

"The Midnight Horror Show" tells a tale of a traveling family freak show that holds performances throughout Britain and uses live participants from the audience. The way it was originally advertised led me to believe the story might have been based on true events. It was not. This was like viewing a Monet: from a distance it looks okay, but up close it's a big old mess. The writer (who was also the director and producer) decided to give every character his/her own subplot and it just didn't work. The story of the ventriloquist and his dummy has been done to death, and usually in a better way than in this film. I am not really sure what the sister was supposed to do, but if her character was supposed to play the part of looking constipated, she had that down pat. You also really never find out any back story involving this family. They sorta' "are, and that's it. Rated R for violence and brief nudity, I say stay away from this one.

Really just a poor man's 'The Devil Rejects' as the plot mimics aforementioned film,deranged murderous family are tracked down by deranged murderous avenger. This is a competent film that is let down by it's low budget origins.And as with every horror film made nowadays,everything is in place for a hoped for sequel. Though I can't see it happening in this case as the DVD has ended up in the chain of Britain's 'Poundland' discount stores. The majority of the unknown cast do well,no Oscar winners but a level above the usual amateur hour players these films attract. The gore effects are well done and the sets are adequate. Basic story is family of misfits run a travelling circus that happens to actually kill people during the magician's act,thus setting up the vengeful pursuer of one of the victims. The father apparently kills because he likes it and the rest of his family just help him. But they have their problems too,brother and sister sibling rivalry,the son who plays the clown longs for true love though he is disfigured,the ventriloquist brother who is in two minds with his dummy. The same as all vents in films from 'Dead of Night' to 'Magic' amongst others. So,therefore not a bad film but I was left rather unmoved because as in the 'The Devil's Rejects' I found all the characters unpleasant and unlikeable. Bad things happen to bad people,so they say, but in this case I just didn't care one way or the other.