I personally never heard about "The Midnight Hour" before in my life until a couple of friends and myself chose to watch it, but apparently this little made-for-TV film has a modest cult following and I've read in numerous praising reviews that it's a Halloween favorite of many horror fans that grew up during the 80's. It's not a bad film, but definitely not too great neither. "The Midnight Hour" is mainly a comedy feature and "homage" to old zombie movies instead of a typically 80's cheese and gore movie. A group of teenagers break into a costume shop on Halloween night and steal a chest that contains genuine witchery equipment to raise the dead. They all go to a remote graveyard together for a private party and the rest of the plot writes itself. The dead are raised, all right, but there are also several alternative types of creatures coming to life as well, like vampires, werewolves and a 50's cheerleader who seemingly doesn't seem to know how she died. Slow start, with overlong introductions of unimportant characters and a whole lot of Halloween information that isn't even accurate. There's also plentiful of clichéd situations/jokes, like the zombies not being recognized or even looked at as abnormal when they invade a Halloween costume party. I reckon this is a personal favorite of many, but personally I thought "The Midnight Hour" is bit boring and pointless as the zombies never really embark on a brain-eating rampage. It's an overlong film with full-length sing & dance intermezzos, for example a video that seems inspired by Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Speaking of which, the film does have a fantastic soundtrack including horror-themed songs like "Little Red Riding Hood", "Bad Moon Rising", "Clap for the Wolf Man" and of course Wilson Pickett's "The Midnight Hour".
Review of The Midnight Hour
