Minutes To Midnight (2018)

I got the chance to screen a new horror flick called Minutes to Midnight, which was distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment. Now, Minutes to Midnight hit VOD (video on demand) back in July 2018 and will hit DVD in September 2018. So, if you wanna check it out, you’ve got some options.

Minutes to Midnight is a horror/action movie that was directed by Christopher Ray. It was written by Victoria Dadi and Christopher M. Don. Minutes to Midnight has a running of ninety-one-minutes and is rated NR (not rated), but has language, violence, and nudity. Here’s what it’s about. It’s New Year’s Eve and seven friends decide to take their party to a cabin in the woods. Wondering around in the woods is also Travis Crenna who is searching the woods for his brother and girlfriend, that have gone missing. Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones wandering around in the woods. Three masked killers are on the hunt and it looks like the New Years Eve party just got a lot crazier…

As far as the story goes, it’s nothing really new or different. You have a young group of people looking to have some drinks, fun and other things… out in the middle of nowhere. So, right off the bat, Horror 101 has taught us that these folks are going to be having a really bad night, which they did. Now throw in some killers that show up out of nowhere and start killing and you have Minutes to Midnight. During the course of the movie, I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what was going on at times. So, I guess the writers did a good job at building some mystery for the story. Usually, you have an idea of why the killers are killing. Here, you get that cookie at almost the end of the movie and it felt a bit rushed, to be honest. We’ve had the whole movie to learn why and the writers sum it up with a few lines. Yeah, it made sense-ish, but the build-up wasn’t worth the payoff.

The playthrough was pretty good, and the pace of the film was good. They spent just the right amount of time during the scenes so you can take everything in, but not get bored waiting for something to happen. One of the things that kept catching my attention was Grieco’s voice. He sounded different than everyone else in the scenes he was in. I don’t know if his dialogue was recorded and added later, but it just didn’t fit.

Some of the cast is William Baldwin (Backdraft), Richard Grieco (21 Jump Street), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Viva Bianca (Spartacus: War of the Damned), John Hennigan (Never Leave Alive), Dominique Swain (Astro), Jared Cohn (Pernicious) and Christopher Judge (Stargate SG-1). First off, it was really cool seeing Baldwin, Moseley, Grieco, and Judge cause I dig those guys and because I don’t remember when the last time was that I saw Grieco in a flick. Baldwin was good, his character keeps you guessing on which side of the fence, good or bad, he stands on. The way he delivers his lines is a mix of cool and creepy, which worked for the character.

Greico did a good job, but I couldn’t tell if it was the way his character was supposed to be or if his heart wasn’t in the gig. Moseley plays a character that was kind of familiar, to me. It was like a watered down mix of Otis from The Devils Rejects (2005) and Chop Top from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). Character aside, it’s Moseley so of course, he did a good job, but he’s not really in the flick that much, so that kind of sucked. I’ve been a fan of Hennigan since back in the day when he was apart of the WWE. As of late, Hennigan has stepped away from the ring and has been making a run at acting. I gotta give props to him, his acting is getting better with each movie. Hannigan’s character gets to showcase not only his acting but his athleticness by kicking some bad guy ass with some wrestling moves and parkour, which he’s well known for. As far as the rest of the cast goes, it’s a mix of good and bad acting, but nothing that really hurts the movie.

I will say, I dug the effects and the costumes. I don’t remember his name, but the biggest of the three killers, I loved his look. I will warn you, the effects are a bit low budget, but I liked how everything turned out.