Psychomania is a neat little slasher flick that has been unfairly maligned by its relationship to the creators of the genuinely dreadful (though entertaining) Horror of Party Beach. The film is shot in stark black and white, with a look that sometimes anticipates Night of the Living Dead and a trench-coated, gloved killer that pre-dates the giallo genre (Bava's Blood and Black Lace was a year away). The cast is also fun to watch, with James Farentino, Dick Van Patten, and Sylvia Miles soldiering away in the early years of their careers. Director Hilliard tries to include as many Psycho style camera shots as possible with quick edits and brief glimpses of blood, and there's even a Hitchcockian scream segueing into train noise! Tenney went on to produce another underappreciated film, Curse of the Living Corpse, the following year.
17 Reviews
If you can get past the spotty acting and the less than stellar production values, you'll discover an interesting early slasher.
bensonmum217 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Violent Midnight (Psychomania) is a nice little film in the Psycho tradition that, for the most part, manages to overcome the handicap of a very limited budget. If you can get past the spotty acting and the less than stellar production values, you'll discover an interesting early slasher. The script is far smarter than many films of this type. Violent Midnight actually manages to have the police believably cast their suspicion on two different characters at the same time that the viewer knows to be innocent. Lesser scripts struggle to generate enough credible evidence and circumstances to suggest one person, let alone two, is a believable suspect. And when the killer is finally revealed, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I would have never guessed the outcome.
In some ways Violent Midnight was ahead of its time. Today's audiences might find it incredibly tame, but I would guess that 1964 audiences found the sex and violence in Violent Midnight shocking. Personally, I was amazed at how effective and provocative some of the racier scenes were. As for the violence, though nothing explicit is shown as in the Psycho tradition, there's a fair amount of blood for this type of film.
Finally, I got a real kick out of the cast. My favorite cast member has to be the relatively soft and sometimes goofy Dick Van Patten in the role of the tough, no nonsense cop. Talk about working against stereotype! And to my surprise, he pulls it off. He's easily the best "actor" in the bunch.
In some ways Violent Midnight was ahead of its time. Today's audiences might find it incredibly tame, but I would guess that 1964 audiences found the sex and violence in Violent Midnight shocking. Personally, I was amazed at how effective and provocative some of the racier scenes were. As for the violence, though nothing explicit is shown as in the Psycho tradition, there's a fair amount of blood for this type of film.
Finally, I got a real kick out of the cast. My favorite cast member has to be the relatively soft and sometimes goofy Dick Van Patten in the role of the tough, no nonsense cop. Talk about working against stereotype! And to my surprise, he pulls it off. He's easily the best "actor" in the bunch.
Much More Than Just Another "Psycho" Rip-Off
ferbs5422 October 2007
A film probably better known by its alternate, later title of "Psychomania," "Violent Midnight" (1963) proved a very pleasant surprise for me indeed. The film centers around Elliott Freeman, a young, reclusive painter who won't be a free man much longer if the local police have their way. One of Freeman's pretty young models has just been found knifed to death (the picture's debt to Hitchcock's "Psycho" is fairly evident during her suggested, shadowy slaying), and before long, one of his sister's co-ed friends follows suit.... An independent production more than ably helmed by Del Tenney, this film offers any number of unexpected treats. It features beautiful and artfully composed B&W photography; nice visuals of the Stamford, CT countryside; an intriguing, jazzy score; some surprising and titillating near nudity by a good number of comely lasses; and interesting performances by its largely no-name cast. The only performers I was at all familiar with here were Silvia (sic) Miles as a blond bar floozy; TV favorite Dick van Patten as a hard-boiled cop (!); and, in his first film role, James Farentino as a randy thug who can't seem to help getting in trouble. The actress Lorraine Rogers is also very fine as a blond, aggressively lustful student. The picture concludes quite suspensefully, with the knife-wielding killer stalking a very pretty gal during a thunderstorm. The killer's identity comes waaaaaay out of left field, I must say; don't even try to guess, unless you're infinitely better at these things than I am! This film also features one of the most deliciously morbid folksingers you'll ever want to hear; a perfect accompaniment to the chilly goings-on in "Violent Midnight." And oh...a great-looking print on this DVD, from the good folks at Dark Sky.
Fun low budget time capsule
mls418211 December 2021
This film is mostly camp. In fact there is more hoochie cooch and teasing, partial nudity than any chills. I'm sure it was decadent in its day, but of course take now.
Lee Phillps and Jean Hale were both very attractive and capable actors. I can't help but wonder of this exploitation pic hurt their careers, although I doubt many were aware of it.
If you like early 60s tease and sleaze, as well as twist music, you will find this entertaining. If there are any James Farentuno fans out there, they will enjoy seeing him peeled down while in his physical prime.
Lee Phillps and Jean Hale were both very attractive and capable actors. I can't help but wonder of this exploitation pic hurt their careers, although I doubt many were aware of it.
If you like early 60s tease and sleaze, as well as twist music, you will find this entertaining. If there are any James Farentuno fans out there, they will enjoy seeing him peeled down while in his physical prime.
Low Budget and Obvious, But Fans of the Genre Will Enjoy It
gftbiloxi11 June 2007
When Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO opened the door, many other films followed, and the early 1960s saw a glut of low-budget, black and white thrillers that held scantily clad women at the point of a knife. Released in 1964, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT (also known as PSYCHOMANIA or BLACK AUTUMN) is fairly typical of the genre but better than most.
When Delores is found stabbed to death in her rooms there are two very obvious suspects: Elliot, the reclusive artist who has employed her as a model, and Charlie, her tough-guy boyfriend. After all, the two men had a bar room knife fight over her the night before! Fortunately Elliot has his half-sister, who has just arrived to attend a local all-girl college, for support. But before too long the student body becomes precisely that, and both Elliot and Charlie come under renewed suspicion.
The cast is unexpectedly solid. Leading man Lee Philips (in the role of artist Elliot Freeman) and supporting actor Shepperd Strudwick (as his attorney) both had long and respectable careers both before and after VIOLENT MIDNIGHT; James Farentino, Sylvia Miles, and Dick Van Patten would go on to notable careers of their own. Even so, there's nothing subtle about the script, which crams everything from biker chicks to college sirens into the mix, and most viewers will probably identify the killer in the first twenty minutes of the film.
Even so, and in spite of a budget that was clearly just this side of zero, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT isn't a bad little flick, and it easily holds its own with the likes of the better-known DEMENTIA 13. It will probably lack appeal for the casual viewer, but fans of 1960s B-movies will have a good time.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
When Delores is found stabbed to death in her rooms there are two very obvious suspects: Elliot, the reclusive artist who has employed her as a model, and Charlie, her tough-guy boyfriend. After all, the two men had a bar room knife fight over her the night before! Fortunately Elliot has his half-sister, who has just arrived to attend a local all-girl college, for support. But before too long the student body becomes precisely that, and both Elliot and Charlie come under renewed suspicion.
The cast is unexpectedly solid. Leading man Lee Philips (in the role of artist Elliot Freeman) and supporting actor Shepperd Strudwick (as his attorney) both had long and respectable careers both before and after VIOLENT MIDNIGHT; James Farentino, Sylvia Miles, and Dick Van Patten would go on to notable careers of their own. Even so, there's nothing subtle about the script, which crams everything from biker chicks to college sirens into the mix, and most viewers will probably identify the killer in the first twenty minutes of the film.
Even so, and in spite of a budget that was clearly just this side of zero, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT isn't a bad little flick, and it easily holds its own with the likes of the better-known DEMENTIA 13. It will probably lack appeal for the casual viewer, but fans of 1960s B-movies will have a good time.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
A bit more nudity than I'd anticipated.
planktonrules28 December 2013
While I wouldn't call "Violent Midnight" a porno film, I was VERY surprised when I tried to watch this with my family. After all, the DVD was unrated and from the early 1960s. But my wife and daughters were a bit surprised as was I when ample nudity appeared on the screen. Again and again, ladies appeared in their underwear or naked for little apparent reason. So, because of this you might want to think twice about seeing this one. It's not a bad film--but an early merging of murder and naked women--a rather disturbing combination if you think about it.
If you do see this film, you'll see James Farentino before he was a star and Dick Van Patten in his first film. It also stars Lee Philips--an actor you may recognize but definitely an actor who is relatively unknown today.
If you do see this film, you'll see James Farentino before he was a star and Dick Van Patten in his first film. It also stars Lee Philips--an actor you may recognize but definitely an actor who is relatively unknown today.
Pulpy b-movie proto-slasher
drownsoda9017 July 2019
"Violent Midnight" follows a troubled veteran-turned-artist who lives off his family's large inheritance in a small Connecticut town. After one of his portrait models is viciously stabbed to death, he, along with her abusive boyfriend, become the prime suspects.
This effort from producer Del Tenney plays out very much like the dimestore suspense novels of the 1960s, chock full of sensuality, illicit romances, and vicious killings plaguing a small town. It also shares similarities with the giallos of this era, particularly with the first-person POV cinematography of the killer, as well as the shots of the assailant's gloved hands and knife. While it has been likened to "Psycho," it is not quite as egregious a facsimile as something like, say, William Castle's "Homicidal," and is much more concerned with the romantic relationships between the characters which amp up the steam factor. There is quite a bit of nudity in the film, which is surprising for the era, and gives it an extra edge of salaciousness.
One of the film's strong suits is its stark cinematography, which reaches a zenith in the final scene, which takes place in a dark mansion during a violent thunderstorm. The black-and-white photography makes use of shadows skillfully, and the murder sequences (one in a bedroom, the other at a lake) are atmospheric and frightening. The performances here are decent for the type of film this is; James Farentino in particular gives a fun performance as a greaser who can't keep it in his pants. Sylvia Miles makes an appearance as one of Farentino's abused girlfriends.
All in all, this is a relatively amusing period picture that very much embodies the era in which it was made. It plays out like a cheap dimestore thriller paperback, but there is a nasty edge to it that rears its head during the murder sequences which makes it stand out from many of its peers. The atmospheric locations and cinematography also add a sense of foreboding to the proceedings, and the finale, as odd as it is, manages to give the audience a few small surprises. Not high art, but art nonetheless. 7/10.
This effort from producer Del Tenney plays out very much like the dimestore suspense novels of the 1960s, chock full of sensuality, illicit romances, and vicious killings plaguing a small town. It also shares similarities with the giallos of this era, particularly with the first-person POV cinematography of the killer, as well as the shots of the assailant's gloved hands and knife. While it has been likened to "Psycho," it is not quite as egregious a facsimile as something like, say, William Castle's "Homicidal," and is much more concerned with the romantic relationships between the characters which amp up the steam factor. There is quite a bit of nudity in the film, which is surprising for the era, and gives it an extra edge of salaciousness.
One of the film's strong suits is its stark cinematography, which reaches a zenith in the final scene, which takes place in a dark mansion during a violent thunderstorm. The black-and-white photography makes use of shadows skillfully, and the murder sequences (one in a bedroom, the other at a lake) are atmospheric and frightening. The performances here are decent for the type of film this is; James Farentino in particular gives a fun performance as a greaser who can't keep it in his pants. Sylvia Miles makes an appearance as one of Farentino's abused girlfriends.
All in all, this is a relatively amusing period picture that very much embodies the era in which it was made. It plays out like a cheap dimestore thriller paperback, but there is a nasty edge to it that rears its head during the murder sequences which makes it stand out from many of its peers. The atmospheric locations and cinematography also add a sense of foreboding to the proceedings, and the finale, as odd as it is, manages to give the audience a few small surprises. Not high art, but art nonetheless. 7/10.
Violent Midnight
Scarecrow-8831 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
A Korean "one-man war machine" who witnessed the loss of many soldiers in his platoon, has found his niche in art..yet Elliot Freeman(Lee Philips)is seen as the possible killer right at the beginning after his rather crazy middle-aged father is shot by someone in the bushes point-blank in the face. His sister, Lynn(Margot Hartman)was also present when that nasty incident took place and returns home after being away for 6 years to attend the Belmont School for Girls nearby Elliot's home. A psychopath murdered a former model of Elliot's and it is possible he's responsible, although, it's obvious(if you've seen your share of mysteries, it's obvious he's not the likely correct candidate to be the real killer)he's merely the fall-guy for someone else. Another possible suspect is muscle-headed studly biker creep Charlie(the chiseled, young James Farentino trying to summon Brando from "The Wild One")who dated the murdered model and the victim of an altercation with Elliot over her at a local pub. On the case is cop Palmer(a thin Dick Van Patten, speaking noir copper lingo)and his leads are few. Offered as a possible suspect is a school professor/peeping tom who likes to spy on the girls as they shower in their dorm rooms and out in the local swimming hole. Elliot has a love-interest who lives at a farm near his home named Carol(Jean Hale)whose life you know will be in peril at the end as the killer emerges with his/her mask unveiled. The real star of the film for yours truly was the sex kitten Lorraine Rogers as Alice St. Clair, the school tramp who is definitely one smokin' dame. She has a heated make-out session in the school laundry room with Farentino. With Rogers as the sex-bomb, you have Sylvia Miles, ugh, as the town ugly who is enamored with her man Charlie, although he(who could blame him?)looks elsewhere for sex. She is so in love with Charlie, Sylvia will cover up for him when the police come snooping for an alibi.
Crudely made, amateurish shocker shows that it was independently made because the editing is anything but professional. The pacing lags, yet it's sleazy enough thanks to some naughty girls who like to unbutton their tops. I've seen worse, and this film has that exploitive nature thanks to the vicious knife attacks, so it works in fits and starts. But, the film gets bonus points thanks to Lorraine Rogers..she often made my heart skip a beat.
Crudely made, amateurish shocker shows that it was independently made because the editing is anything but professional. The pacing lags, yet it's sleazy enough thanks to some naughty girls who like to unbutton their tops. I've seen worse, and this film has that exploitive nature thanks to the vicious knife attacks, so it works in fits and starts. But, the film gets bonus points thanks to Lorraine Rogers..she often made my heart skip a beat.
Yes, We Have NO Axed Murders
billoneil221 May 2015
Sinister Cinema carries this title and like IMDb, they insist it contains "axe murders galore." In fact, there is not one single axe murder in the entire film. The first murder is by shotgun and the rest are by kitchen knife and filmed in such a tame and un-graphic way as to make it sometimes unclear whether the murder actually took place.
This is an extremely low budget and amateur attempt at a murder mystery. Probably due to budgetary limitations (and the film maker's inexperience) it is shot so thin one can easily see the difficulties the editor had putting it together.
While I can forgive the lack of funds it is harder to excuse the script. You will know who the guilty party is almost immediately. Throughout the film, clues are presented in such an obvious and over-stated manner as to leave no doubt in your mind. Consequently, there is no "big surprise" when the killer's identity is revealed.
Another problem is the premise itself. The movie is clearly aimed at skirt-chasing heterosexual males who presumably accept a virtually all-female cast constantly trying to seduce the male lead. The first 14 minutes of the film are a tedious exercise in redundancy and implausibility, as our hero is flirted with by no less than six wannabe vamps.
All these things aside, there are some pleasures to be had here. Lee Phillips, while completely wasted in such a poorly written role, nevertheless is talented enough to make his scenes plausible. A young James Farentino also shows promise in an early part as a thug. Although made in 1963, there is an abundance of late 1950s mood and style on display, which would completely evaporate by the following year when the producers made "Horror of Party Beach."
A roughly-hewn, crude movie likely to disappoint you if you're searching for a forgotten-gem type film.
This is an extremely low budget and amateur attempt at a murder mystery. Probably due to budgetary limitations (and the film maker's inexperience) it is shot so thin one can easily see the difficulties the editor had putting it together.
While I can forgive the lack of funds it is harder to excuse the script. You will know who the guilty party is almost immediately. Throughout the film, clues are presented in such an obvious and over-stated manner as to leave no doubt in your mind. Consequently, there is no "big surprise" when the killer's identity is revealed.
Another problem is the premise itself. The movie is clearly aimed at skirt-chasing heterosexual males who presumably accept a virtually all-female cast constantly trying to seduce the male lead. The first 14 minutes of the film are a tedious exercise in redundancy and implausibility, as our hero is flirted with by no less than six wannabe vamps.
All these things aside, there are some pleasures to be had here. Lee Phillips, while completely wasted in such a poorly written role, nevertheless is talented enough to make his scenes plausible. A young James Farentino also shows promise in an early part as a thug. Although made in 1963, there is an abundance of late 1950s mood and style on display, which would completely evaporate by the following year when the producers made "Horror of Party Beach."
A roughly-hewn, crude movie likely to disappoint you if you're searching for a forgotten-gem type film.
That blond collage broad! What did you do with her!
sol-kay17 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
****SPOILERS**** Suffering from a sever case of post-traumatic shock syndrome due to his experiences in the Korean War Elliot Freeman, Lee Philips, took up painting to calm his already shattered nerves. Becoming a hermit Elliot saw no one but those young and shapely women who posed for him at his out of the way home in the wilds of Connecticut.
One of Elliot's models Delores Martello, Kaye Elhardt, got a lot more intimate with Elliot then posing for him in the nude. Delores had a one night stand with the highly sensitive and high strung artist and accused him of knocking her up. Elliot knowing that Delores was full of it, she had a number of boyfriends on the side, refused t marry her and threw Delores out of his studio. It's not that long after Delores was given the heave ho by Elliot that she was found brutally murdered in her furnished apartment.
A prime suspect in Delores' murder Elliot is not the only person who suspected in killing her. Delores' ex-boyfriend leather-jacket biker and collage laundry boy Charlie Perone, James Farentino, is also a person of interest in Delores' death. It seems that Charlie had it in for both Delores and Elliot since she dumped him for the great painter. It was just a few days before her death that Charlie confronted Elliot and Delores at the Pine Tree Inn where Elliot almost killed him.
With Charlie having an air-tight alibi his girlfriend Slivia, Silvia Miles, who swears that he spent the night with her at the time that Delores was murdered it's now Elliot who has a lot of explaining to do to the police. While all this is going on another young woman who had the hots for the handsome and sensitive, as well as troubled, artist Alice St. Clair, Lorraine Rogers, is found murdered in a nearby lake! In this case Elliot & Charlie both prime suspects in Alices death can't come up with any alibi's to where they were at the time of her murder!
The movie "Midnight Violence" keeps you guessing to who the killer really is always showing him from the neck on down. wearing a Bogie-like trench-coat and paratrooper combat boots the killer is always stalking women who have anything romantically to do with Elliot. It's when Elliot's sept-sister Lynn, Margot Hartmen, who together with the Freeman family attorney Adrian Benedict, Shepperd Strudwick, want to get Elliot badly needed psychiatric treatment that the killer goes into overdrive and thus overplays his hand.
psycho-like slasher film with the killer so obsessed in his fascination with Elliot that he was actually the reason for Elliot's mental breakdown. This happened at the beginning of the movie in a quail hunt that Elliot participated in after he came back from Korea. Charlie for his part turned out to be not only a man who couldn't, despite his animal-like Stanley Kowalski persona, hold on to his women but who disrespect the only one, Silvia, who could keep him from being arrested by the cops by sticking to his hair-brained alibi. There's also, in a rare dramatic Dirty Harry-like role, future comedian Dick Van Patten as the tough as nails and no BS police detective Lt. Palmer. Lt. Plamer despite his great dislike of that macho swaggering creep Charlie Perone risked his life in saving Perone's neck when he, trying to escape from the law, jumped into the lake with a bullet lodged in his leg.
We finally get to see who the killer really is but it's done in such a confusing style, with a double-twist ending, with him going into a whole song and dance routine that you soon lose interest in him together with his confusing movie ending cock & bull story.
One of Elliot's models Delores Martello, Kaye Elhardt, got a lot more intimate with Elliot then posing for him in the nude. Delores had a one night stand with the highly sensitive and high strung artist and accused him of knocking her up. Elliot knowing that Delores was full of it, she had a number of boyfriends on the side, refused t marry her and threw Delores out of his studio. It's not that long after Delores was given the heave ho by Elliot that she was found brutally murdered in her furnished apartment.
A prime suspect in Delores' murder Elliot is not the only person who suspected in killing her. Delores' ex-boyfriend leather-jacket biker and collage laundry boy Charlie Perone, James Farentino, is also a person of interest in Delores' death. It seems that Charlie had it in for both Delores and Elliot since she dumped him for the great painter. It was just a few days before her death that Charlie confronted Elliot and Delores at the Pine Tree Inn where Elliot almost killed him.
With Charlie having an air-tight alibi his girlfriend Slivia, Silvia Miles, who swears that he spent the night with her at the time that Delores was murdered it's now Elliot who has a lot of explaining to do to the police. While all this is going on another young woman who had the hots for the handsome and sensitive, as well as troubled, artist Alice St. Clair, Lorraine Rogers, is found murdered in a nearby lake! In this case Elliot & Charlie both prime suspects in Alices death can't come up with any alibi's to where they were at the time of her murder!
The movie "Midnight Violence" keeps you guessing to who the killer really is always showing him from the neck on down. wearing a Bogie-like trench-coat and paratrooper combat boots the killer is always stalking women who have anything romantically to do with Elliot. It's when Elliot's sept-sister Lynn, Margot Hartmen, who together with the Freeman family attorney Adrian Benedict, Shepperd Strudwick, want to get Elliot badly needed psychiatric treatment that the killer goes into overdrive and thus overplays his hand.
psycho-like slasher film with the killer so obsessed in his fascination with Elliot that he was actually the reason for Elliot's mental breakdown. This happened at the beginning of the movie in a quail hunt that Elliot participated in after he came back from Korea. Charlie for his part turned out to be not only a man who couldn't, despite his animal-like Stanley Kowalski persona, hold on to his women but who disrespect the only one, Silvia, who could keep him from being arrested by the cops by sticking to his hair-brained alibi. There's also, in a rare dramatic Dirty Harry-like role, future comedian Dick Van Patten as the tough as nails and no BS police detective Lt. Palmer. Lt. Plamer despite his great dislike of that macho swaggering creep Charlie Perone risked his life in saving Perone's neck when he, trying to escape from the law, jumped into the lake with a bullet lodged in his leg.
We finally get to see who the killer really is but it's done in such a confusing style, with a double-twist ending, with him going into a whole song and dance routine that you soon lose interest in him together with his confusing movie ending cock & bull story.
What?????
13Funbags26 October 2017
I saw that AMC was running this at 4:45 am today so I stayed up to check it out. Another in a long line of terrible decisions. Not only is the movie terrible, AMC had the nerve to show some stupid 15 minute compressed version that they put together. The only movie that American Movie Classics played in a week and they couldn't run the whole thing. Unfortunately I decided that I needed to see the whole thing and now I can never get that time back. At one point a guy says "She can wait, we can't. I have doctor's reports to fill out!' What?? The only thing I think I understood was that the guy's sister wanted to have sex with him and I'm not even sure about that. I have seen a lot of bad movies and this makes most of them look pretty good.
Low Budget, But Excellent
jimcarter195911 July 2021
Interesting early slasher.
Coventry9 March 2010
Right from the opening sequences already, depicting a hunting "accident" where a guy gets shots in the face, you can tell that this movie played with ideas that were far ahead of their time. Not only the plot is ambitious and progressive, but you can also clearly tell that the makers wanted to show more bloodshed and nudity, but couldn't because the year was
well
1963! Elliot Freeman is a wealthy but slightly eccentric painter in a small countryside town. His father got killed in a hunting accident and he has the notorious reputation of losing his mind from time to time. It's a little side-effect from fighting in the Korean War. Elliot's half-sister is visiting, but she stays in the nearby girl academy where all the girls have a thing for Elliot. There's also a vicious knife murderer on the loose in town and the body of Elliot's last nude model is found dead. Obviously all suspicion is drawn to him, and even he himself wonders if he's guilty or not, but there are multiple other potential culprits as well, like the sleazy ex-boyfriend, the slightly perverted biology teacher, Elliot's slick attorney and his creepy mute chauffeur. "Violent Midnight" is a strange movie with a bizarrely evolving plot, incoherent plot twists and peculiar characters. The killer always appears to show up at the utmost convenient times to make a new victim, like when all the suspects are nearby and without alibis. It's not exactly plausible, of course, but effective enough to keep the film suspenseful and compelling. None of the murders are committed around midnight, however, and the denouement is quite senseless, but you have to appreciate a low-budgeted production for trying to cash-in on "Psycho" with a much more brutal approach.
CORRECTION! No Axe Murders!
montecellic16 February 2015
I watched this film because of oddly good reviews and repeated claims that it depicted axe murders. Being made in 1963, I was curious to see how this was handled. I was in for a huge disappointment, because...
There are NO axe murders in this film. Not one. The first murder is by shotgun and all the others are via kitchen knife. Period.
Essentially, this is a mystery/slasher wannabe. The plot is very crude and amateurish--you will know who the killer is before the first five minutes of the film, literally. Even so, the film's producers plant incredibly large, obvious, deliberate "clues" as to the killer's identity two or three more times during the course of the movie.
They could have saved themselves the trouble. A child could guess the killer and the killer's motive is insanely improbable and doesn't really make sense.
Another distraction, is how ineptly photographed and lit the film is. Very bad angles, etc. make it actually difficult to watch.
And don't get me started on the script. The whole film revolves around teenage nymphets constantly throwing themselves at the male lead character. Everywhere he goes, they hit on him. This is pure fantasy on the producer's part. The only time women act like this in real life is when money is involved. Females have no libidos whatsoever in real life and do not try to seduce men everywhere they go just for the hell of it.
There are two good things about "Violent Midnight." One is lead actor Lee Phillips, who had come along way (down) since 1957's "Peyton Place." The other is James Farrentino, who is quite hot in his tight tee shirt and Brylecreemed hair.
For die-hard fans of the genre ONLY.
There are NO axe murders in this film. Not one. The first murder is by shotgun and all the others are via kitchen knife. Period.
Essentially, this is a mystery/slasher wannabe. The plot is very crude and amateurish--you will know who the killer is before the first five minutes of the film, literally. Even so, the film's producers plant incredibly large, obvious, deliberate "clues" as to the killer's identity two or three more times during the course of the movie.
They could have saved themselves the trouble. A child could guess the killer and the killer's motive is insanely improbable and doesn't really make sense.
Another distraction, is how ineptly photographed and lit the film is. Very bad angles, etc. make it actually difficult to watch.
And don't get me started on the script. The whole film revolves around teenage nymphets constantly throwing themselves at the male lead character. Everywhere he goes, they hit on him. This is pure fantasy on the producer's part. The only time women act like this in real life is when money is involved. Females have no libidos whatsoever in real life and do not try to seduce men everywhere they go just for the hell of it.
There are two good things about "Violent Midnight." One is lead actor Lee Phillips, who had come along way (down) since 1957's "Peyton Place." The other is James Farrentino, who is quite hot in his tight tee shirt and Brylecreemed hair.
For die-hard fans of the genre ONLY.
DVD Review "Violent Midnight" By Marcus Pan
marcuspan-0052421 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
DVD Review
"Violent Midnight"
By Marcus Pan
Dark Sky Films are still out there, rescuing all the crazy slasher flicks they can get their grubby hands on. This time around they bring us the Del Tenney film, "Violent Midnight". In this hour and a half 1963 film, we are introduced to Elliott Freeman (Lee Philips), a Korean war veteran with a shattered past that involves the shooting death of his father during a hunting accident, a pose painter in a small college town. When his latest model turns up dead detective Parma (Dick Van Patten) looks towards either Elliot or the model's bar-hopping ex boyfriend, Charlie (James Farentino).
When yet another local college girl turns up floating wrong side up in the local watering hole, it heats up a bit. While the police rush to find the two suspects, a third possibility in the form of a peeping tom professor crops up. As Charlie gets hauled off to the precinct, Elliot gets grabbed by his own lawyer to be committed to help his insanity plea and the peeping tom is tromping around, the climax moves to Elliot's home where his sweetheart rushes over to see him.
The rush to the end of the film where, of course, our murderer is revealed, took me quite by surprise. I can honestly say I didn't see it coming. The identity of our deranged slasher here in "Violent Midnight" was really a shock. So while cheesy as always, "Violent Midnight" delivered a good twisty ending.
Del Tenney moved on to such notable B-classics as "The Curse of the Living Corpse" and "The Horror of Party Beach", this one being his first. It's a nice addition to the B-cult collection of most slasher fans, with the added bonus of it being believable and even surprising in its mystery.
B-movie hilarity and a good ending? Wow!
--- Originally published in Legends #159. Minor edits since.
Dark Sky Films are still out there, rescuing all the crazy slasher flicks they can get their grubby hands on. This time around they bring us the Del Tenney film, "Violent Midnight". In this hour and a half 1963 film, we are introduced to Elliott Freeman (Lee Philips), a Korean war veteran with a shattered past that involves the shooting death of his father during a hunting accident, a pose painter in a small college town. When his latest model turns up dead detective Parma (Dick Van Patten) looks towards either Elliot or the model's bar-hopping ex boyfriend, Charlie (James Farentino).
When yet another local college girl turns up floating wrong side up in the local watering hole, it heats up a bit. While the police rush to find the two suspects, a third possibility in the form of a peeping tom professor crops up. As Charlie gets hauled off to the precinct, Elliot gets grabbed by his own lawyer to be committed to help his insanity plea and the peeping tom is tromping around, the climax moves to Elliot's home where his sweetheart rushes over to see him.
The rush to the end of the film where, of course, our murderer is revealed, took me quite by surprise. I can honestly say I didn't see it coming. The identity of our deranged slasher here in "Violent Midnight" was really a shock. So while cheesy as always, "Violent Midnight" delivered a good twisty ending.
Del Tenney moved on to such notable B-classics as "The Curse of the Living Corpse" and "The Horror of Party Beach", this one being his first. It's a nice addition to the B-cult collection of most slasher fans, with the added bonus of it being believable and even surprising in its mystery.
B-movie hilarity and a good ending? Wow!
--- Originally published in Legends #159. Minor edits since.
Amateurish and awful!!!
mptnla-8237021 August 2022
A very stark film with bad writing, acting, editing, scoring and everything else. Seems to be a town with only two young guys in it, and every girl in town is aggressively flinging themselves at them like a hardcore Three's Company episode. And complete with a ridiculous, ranting confession by the villain at the end. The only good thing about this movie is that it was short. Even so, a complete waste of time. Don't bother.
Hmmmm
searchanddestroy-118 January 2024
I wondered all the time what I exactly watched, a thriller or a horror film. I felt very strange. It is not bad but...I don't know, something is missing, or is wrong, something that has not its place...Maybe the characters symphony. But it brings suspense, no problem, it is tense, not boring. Unfortunately the cheesy ending is totally out of any logic, if you compare with the rest of the topic. I don't know the director nor the actors. No, I won't remind this however interesting film. I expected something far more disturbing. It is full of suspense but certainly not disturbing. I would have prefered.
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