Watch You'll Die at Midnight For Free

Pretty Good

Instant Favorite.

hyped garbage

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The director of Midnight Killer is Lamberto Bava, son of the legendary Mario. Lamberto's era was the 80's and he made several effective and fun horror films in that decade. So it is with some disappointment that I have to conclude that I thought Midnight Killer his weakest effort I have seen. It's very possible that Bava himself wasn't too crazy about this one either seeing as he went under a pseudonym.The story follows a fairly typical giallo plot-line about serial murder. It borrows a bit from other earlier films from the genre like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Torso and Tenebrae. But it never approaches the standard of any of these. While Bava does manage to generate some decent suspense at times, overall the film is a little half-hearted. Even the soundtrack by the usually inspired Claudio Simonetti of Goblin fame is a fairly pedestrian synth score. The mystery itself isn't so obvious to work out but given the insane final explanation that is not really so surprising to be honest. In fact, the final killer reveal is especially daft even by giallo standards. It actually enters into Hanna-Barbera territory! It isn't as gory as many gialli and there isn't really any nudity but there still is a mean spiritedness to the scenes with the killer nevertheless. This is alleviated somewhat though by moments that enter the truly absurd, such as a part when one of the victims tries to defend herself with a kitchen blender! This scene is agreeably moronic and at least good for a chuckle.I have to conclude that overall, while Midnight Killer has some good moments it isn't very good as a whole.

Midnight Killer is exactly what you would expect from Lamberto Bava.Full of suspense,thrills,twists,turns,red herrings.But also people (mostly women acting stupid). Some of the victims act in such an illogical manner that at one point you begin to think."Don't tell me she is that stupid.Go ahead,kill her already". The pace is really good and you are constantly wondering who the killer is. At one point you can deduce it for yourself. Although I must admit that Lamberto successfully made me doubt a couple of times. He uses some clever tricks to put you off the trail.And in this case I simply loved that.Of course the ending might be too far fetched for some especially since the explanation is fast and short.It did not matter to me since it was effective.Overall Midnight Killer is a very decent giallo that delivers.

Even with the inclusion of several red herrings and an implausible motive, I still managed to guess the identity of the murderer in Lamberto Bava's The Midnight Killer way before the end of the movie. Maybe I've just seen too many giallos and have come to expect the unexpected, but I figure that the reality is that this just isn't a great example of the genre.Nicola, a policeman who discovers his wife is having an affair, is suspected of murder after his adulterous spouse turns up dead in her shower, having been stabbed with an icepick. After another victim turns up, killed with the same weapon, things do not look good for the poor copper, and he goes to his colleague Anna, a criminologist, for help. Anna believes Nicola to be innocent and suspects that the man really responsible is in fact Franco Tribbo, a murderer who supposedly died in a fire several years before...Despite some great cinematography, a fabulous pulsing score courtesy of Claudio Simonetti, and an attractive selection of young women destined to die nasty deaths, The Midnight Killer still manages to be something of a disappointment. For a giallo, the death scenes are relatively free of gore, the story is not nearly as complex or as clever as it might be, and there is a distinct lack of nudity.Worst of all, the film attempts (very poorly) to cheat its audience: at the end of the movie, the killer is revealed to be wearing a rubber mask in order to hide their true identity—despite the fact that their face is visible earlier on in the film and is clearly flesh and blood, even scowling and grimacing during one frenzied attack.The Midnight Killer is a decidedly average effort that will be of little interest to anyone but the most ardent fan of Italian horror cinema.

Lamberto Bava's films may not have the cutting edge that many of his father's did, but the good thing about it is that you can always count on a decent thrill ride, and while You'll Die at Midnight doesn't set the genre on fire; it's a more than decent Giallo and I'm pretty certain that regular viewers will get a lot out of it. Being released in 1986, this one comes very late in the Giallo cycle although it recaptures that mysterious feel of the classic Giallo's well and the cinematography is good despite the fact that this obviously wasn't an A-class production. The plot is pure Giallo, and focuses on a murderer. We start by focusing on Nicola; a man who spots his wife buying lingerie and notices she has an affair. After arguing and almost killing her, he visits his colleague Anna, but shortly after he leaves the house; someone breaks in and murders his wife! Naturally, Nicola is the main suspect, but Anna, a psychologist, sees signs that the murder may have been committed by the so-called "Midnight Ripper". The only problem is that The Midnight Ripper has been dead for several years...The film features lots of scenes reminiscent of classic Giallo's, and many of the murders are memorable. The kitchen scene is probably my favourite, but the murder scene inside a lingerie store has a more nasty edge. There isn't a great deal of variety with the weapons, but at least Lamberto ensures that the imagery is good and the film is always at least interesting. You'll Die at Midnight is pretty short, running at around 85 minutes and this is a good thing as it means that there is little filler and the film doesn't really have time to become boring. You'll Die at Midnight has more of a range of central victim characters than many other Giallo's too, and this makes the film more interesting as the killer appears to be after each one for different reasons. Naturally, it all builds into a final twist; which although somewhat silly (as the climaxes in these films often are), it's interesting enough and somehow (almost) makes sense in the context of the film. Overall, I can't say that this is a classic example of the genre; but like Lamberto's other Giallo attempts; it's certainly worth watching!