The Midnight Matinee is essentially a collection of short films with five very different stories, so there’s something for everyone. A mixed bag, but some real winners in the mix.

The Midnight Matinee is the latest project from Justin Doescher. Last year, he enjoyed a huge success with his movie The Break-In, which even won him a Sundance award.

Unlike his previous movie, The Midnight Matinee doesn’t feature just one story. Instead, we get to enjoy five very different stories.

One is even a bit more of a tongue-in-cheek mystery, but since this is clearly acknowledged, I found it a perfect horror relief.

And, of course, I mean “relief” as a trick to get the audience to relax before you charge at them again.

The full runtime is at just 42 minutes, so you just need to sit back, relax and enjoy the storytelling.

Enjoy The Midnight Matinee as pure fun!

As with any collection of short films (or anthologies, if you will), there are some stories you’ll like more than others. I certainly had my favorites and the opening story was one of them. It stars Justin Doescher himself and ticks all the boxes for me!

Since this is low-budget, there are things you must accept in order to enjoy this. The sound and scenery can be a bit lackluster. Especially in one of my favorite stories, which features a warning taped on VHS. The living room is simply to “stagey” and doesn’t seem like a real home.

Basically, you need to just ignore these details and focus on the stories.

The Midnight Matinee review - anthology with horror shorts
Maybe that’s why the first story works so perfectly for me. It’s made as a found footage story, which was taped POV. In this case, it almost needs to be very rustic in order to feel real.

Otherwise, that’s the kind of story that would feel fake.

We’re ready for more from Justin Doescher

While The Midnight Matinee is the latest project from Justin Doescher, we’re already looking forward to what he’ll come up with next. He has a very realistic and entertaining take on the horror genre and proves that if you have a story, then tell it!

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You never know if maybe you’ll strike a perfect chord. This was the case with The Break-In and there’s obvious potential in the shorts in The Midnight Matinee.

The Midnight Matinee was released On Demand on May 19, 2017. You can watch it for free when you have Amazon Prime.

Details

Director: Justin Doescher
Writer: Justin Doescher
Cast: Maggie Tehan, Justin Doescher, Shaun Woodland, Juan-Pablo Veizaga

 

Plot

A collection of short films featuring five stories of deceit, deception, and of course horror.

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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