It’s New Year’s Eve and all you want to do is to have some drinks, some laughs, and some XXX fun if you’re lucky. In any other film, this would be a grand idea, but Minutes to Midnight is a horror, and everybody knows that you don’t get drunk, you don’t have fun and you definitely don’t have sex in a horror movie. Those three things are a recipe for bloody slaughter. However, if you must indulge in such activities, you most definitely don’t do them in an old, empty lodge in the middle of nowhere. Oh, you foolish people…this is going to get messy.
Minutes to Midnight is directed by Emmy award-winning, Christopher Douglas-Olen Ray, who was most recently involved as First Assistant Director on the 2018 sequel/prequel The First Purge. He has previously been responsible for a host of lower budget films such as Megaconda (2010), Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus (2010), 2-Headed Shark Attack (2012), 3-Headed Shark Attack (2015), and Mega Shark vs Kolossus (2015). Now I may be wrong, but I’m sensing a theme running through Ray’s back catalog. I was half expecting a shark-related incident to occur at some point during this movie, in fact, I was left a little disappointed when it didn’t.
Christopher M. Don and Victoria Dadi share the writing credits, that started out as an Indiegogo crowdfunding project. After recasting and rewriting, it eventually ended up with Ray at the helm and William Baldwin (sliver 1993, backdraft 1991, fair game 1995) in the pivotal role of Mr. Walters. The other significant crew members include the skilled contributions of Cinematographer Laura Beth Love who has previously worked on The Coed and the Zombie Stoner (2014), Mega Shark vs Kolossus (2015), and Sharknado 3 & 4 (2015 & 2016).
Minutes to Midnight has some beautiful camera work, and some truly stunning location shots, along with a pumping musical score from Ryan Owen Detlefsen (Guilty Pleasures 2015).
The basics of the plot revolve around a group of work colleagues and friends who all decide to have a New Year’s party at an isolated lodge in the wilderness, which unbeknownst to them was the site of some horrendous murders. Not only that, but people have recently been disappearing from the local area, never to be heard of again. With a dangerous storm heading in, you might think that the sensible option would be to move the party elsewhere, but not these guys. Nothing is going to detract them from having their fun. However, these fun-loving kids are being watched by a heavy breathing stalker and his two accomplices. These Mad Max cosplayers are crazy as they come and have a nasty taste for human dismemberment. Between the three of them, they utilize their joint skills of dentistry, trap making, finger painting, taxidermy, interior design and bow making to terrorize the party-goers.
[Related: Countdown the ‘Minutes to Midnight’ with William Baldwin. – Trailer]
The cast plays their respective roles well, but special mention for Christopher Judge (Stargate 1997-2007, Alternative Realities 2015) who is completely wasted as Ranger Taso, and the little that we see of Baldwin, who just oozes a smooth effortless talent and instantly brings a real feel of legitimacy to the movie. However, in my opinion, it’s Richard Grieco (Halloween Pussy Trap Kill Kill 2017, Art of the Dead 2018) who steals the show with a gruff and gritty performance as Sheriff Wyatt.
There is lots to recommend Minutes to Midnight to any horror fan. It may not be original, and you may be able to predict the outcome early on, but forgive its few flaws and you have an enjoyable old school blood and guts slasher movie. Nice.
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