The Midnight Matinee

Review by An Honest Fangirl

The Midnight Matinee is a (mostly) horror anthology written, directed, and produced by Justin Doescher. I personally love horror, and having mostly exhausted Netflix's offerings, I was excited to see something new.

The Midnight Matinee consists of five separate films, and like all anthologies, some are better than others. The last film of the series, "Night Night" was definitely my favorite. It played on one of my greatest fears, and actually made me look away from the screen because I didn't want to see the inevitable jump scare. It takes a lot to make me look away, so I have to give Doescher props for that.

Unfortunately, none of the others lived up to "Night Night." They were good stories, and there were a few ideas that I would have loved seen expanded on in a full length feature film, "Let Go" in particular. However, the execution is where this anthology falls flat. Both the writing and acting were very stilted. Most of the characters simply didn't sound like real, genuine people. The direction itself could also be a little hit or miss. Something was off, whether it was the camera angle or the composition of a particular shot. There was also this old-timey filter on the movie that made it feel like something out of the 1920s. You know, with vertical lines across the screen and little momentary blips that flashed against the screen. While I understand how it fits with the feel that The Midnight Matinee is trying to have, I personally found it very distracting, and thought that it was completely unnecessary.

There were also quite a few logical inconsistencies in the majority of the shorts. I kept thinking about them and trying to figure out a way around the plot hole, and it distracted me from the short itself. They were mostly things that I would wind up putting in my "Random Thoughts" section if I was reviewing a full length movie, so other people might not notice them. But they bugged me.

That being said, I was impressed by what they managed to do on what was obviously a very small budget. Each of the five stories are different and unique from each other, and actors aren't reused from short to short. The whole thing is only about 42 minutes long, and honestly? There are far worse ways to kill an hour. If you already have Amazon Prime and you're bored, you might as well give this a shot.

Random Thoughts 

(Kinda Spoilers? I talk more about specific details of the shorts.)

I appreciate Santiago's Kylo Ren poster. 

That clown mask was seriously creepy. 

I always knew that online dating was hazardous to your health. 

Also, that is why you read the About Us section of a website before you sign up. 

You know that you've seen too many years of Shark Week when you're pretty sure that you recognized two seconds of footage of a Great White. 

"Frances" felt a little jarring tone wise. I'm all for deception and deceit, but it felt almost out of place among the horror. 

Okay, I assume that "Premonition" was set during modern day. Who the hell still have as VHS player?

Honestly, I cared more about Riley the Dog than I did about any of the other characters.


Like I said, there are worse things to watch, especially as a horror fan. (Trust me, I've watched them.) There's no gore to speak of, and you'll probably jump a couple of times. There are worse ways to spend an hour.
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An Honest Fangirl loves superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, and really bad horror movies.