FrightFest 2011 Review: Midnight Son

• 24th Aug 2011

Midnight Son is as far from Twilight as you can get when it comes to vampire movies. This is much more closer to the dark ambient tones of Near Dark perhaps.

Jacob Gray is a young man with a condition that repels him against sunlight, and forces him to live his time out during the night time. He works as a security guard and is generally isolated against most people.

His conditions starts to worsen as he develops a taste for blood, discovering this after cooking himself up a nice slap of steak one evening, he is drawn to the blood left in the packaging tray. It’s no mystery to the viewer what is going on, and the “V” word is even used dismissively to him from someone who learns of his condition.

But before he knows it; Jacob is having to cut deals with a local hospital worker in order to access blood. But in the interim he also meets and falls in love with drug user Mary (another lost soul). The two form a bond, slowly accepting the bumps and insecurities along the way. It becomes clear that together they make each other better people.

Their relationship is where the heart of the film lives. The dialogue is pure independent cinema, breaking out of mainstream restraints, making for a heartfelt, moving and sometimes humorous tone. There are some nice touches as well in the character, like the fact that he paints sunsets, despite not being able to be amidst the sunlight.

The film veers more towards the horrific the further he turns though and the film manages to sustain tension for all characters involved. Like Near Dark, the film takes a look at the addiction to blood like that of the junkie. It is never glorified, and is often painful. Director Scott Leberecht manages to bring every ounce of pain over in what is one of the more Dark horse titles screening at FrightFest this year.

Midnight Son is screening at FrightFest on Friday 26^th at 15.00pm and Sunday 28^th 18.45pm.

Steven Hurst