User Reviews

Average slasher that has the distinction of being more gay themed than usual. At least it has a likable character or two to counteract some of the more superficial, horny, or bitchy stereotypes running around.

It's low on gore and actual suspense, but it's nice to see a horror film from a more gay perspective. I'm trying to figure out if it was better or worse than the similar Hellbent. The killer reveal is painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain cell and there's one death scene not performed by the killer that's super confusing and leads to absolutely nothing. They could have taken that out altogether.

I think this got off to annoying start. However, the story does unfold and good gory kills. Although predictable, it is decent installment.

As a lifelong horror fan (with a particular affinity for slashers) and a gay man, I was willing to give Midnight Kiss a shot. The Into the Dark series has been hit-or-miss for me (mostly miss), but I'm a sucker for holiday-themed horror.

Unfortunately, this has the same issues as most gay-themed movies/TV shows (namingly Queer as Folk, Looking, the Eating Out franchise, etc), which is that the characters are promiscuous narcissists who engage in recreational drug use. Yes, I understand that this is a generally accurate portrayal of the majority of gay men, but that doesn't make it any less predictable. This film is just perpetuating negative stereotypes that encourage homophobia and frankly, it's disappointing. It's a movie about despicable people doing detestable things. Even the recently-engaged couple (who I'm assuming were monogamous until this point) is willing to participate in the group's annual tradition of hooking up with random strangers, only to dispose of them like used condoms come dawn. No wonder some anonymous psycho is intent on killing them.

Having said that, the actors do an admirable job of infusing their characters with some relatability. In particular, the scenes between Cameron and Hannah (portrayed convincingly by Augustus Prew and Ayden Mayeri) came off very natural. Even if neither of these characters had any redeemable traits, I bought their relationship. These two seemed like lifelong friends and had an easy, charming rapport. Did I care if either of them made it to the end? Not particularly. But I appreciate the actors for attempting to elevate the material.

The only loose link in the chain was Chester Lockhart (Zachary), who portrays perhaps the most stereotypical character in the movie. Speaking from personal experience, a lot of gay actors playing gay characters try to play up the gayness, but it's unnecessary. Also, Zackary's wardrobe was ridiculously unflattering. The costumer must've had a vendetta against them. Thankfully, they are conspicuously absent during most of the group scenes, so we're spared from having to suffer through their stilted portrayal for too long.

Which brings me to the script. I'm aware these Into the Dark features are typically made with a quick turnaround, but another draft or two would've fixed some issues. Don't get me wrong; I love a bad low-budget B-movie. I have a fondness for cheap Roger-Corman-style productions made strictly for drive-in's, grindhouses and video stores (in particular, movies like Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Nightmare Sisters, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Slumber Party Massacre and really, anything starring Linnea Quigley or Brinke Stevens). But this film seems to be taking a more realistic approach to the story, so the whole whodunnit aspect could've used more thought. The killer's identity is painfully obvious from the get-go, despite a scene designed to trick the audience into thinking they're in jeopardy. The horror elements are also shamelessly pillaged from better movies like Psycho, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Sorority Row, Halloween II and Scream. Some may call it "homage", but I call it lazy and uninspired.

If you're looking for gratuitous male nudity and sex, you came to the right place. These guys take a lot of showers and the sequence at the nightclub basically turns into an orgy. Speaking of which, I don't really get the killer's outfit... why are they wearing a leather BDSM mask? None of the characters are established as having this kind of fetish, so it feels out-of-place.

I will say the production quality is decent and the directing is solid. From a technical standpoint, this is a well-made and cohesive movie. I just didn't find it particularly entertaining. As a gay horror fan in his 30's, I'm the target demographic for this and it just didn't work for me.

I would highly recommend last year's NYE episode "New Year, New You" over this. If you're looking for a fun New Years Eve slasher, give Terror Train (1980) a shot. It's a classic from the golden era of slashers. If you're interested in seeing a gay slasher, go watch Hellbent (4004), if you can find it.

Like the random guys the characters hook up with, I wanted to kick Midnight Kiss to the curb once I was through with it.

A group of gay friends go to a house to celebrate the happy New Year with their game "Midnight Kiss" but everything goes wrong because a masked killer is in the haunt.

I love gays as much as everyone in the LGBT community does. I'm gay, and the fact that this movie is a slasher with every character being gay was something interesting. It seems that queer is the only thing this movie has to offer.

The characters being gay are okay, but they don't seem to have more personality than who they like and who they makeout with. The only character you really care about by the end of the movie is the girl, because she seems to have real problems that don't involve sex.

This movie only has four deaths, and just one of them is really explicit and scary and it's the first death. This alone is a slasher sin. But there's a major slasher sin.

THE KILLER AND HIS MOTIVATIONS ARE QUITE PREDICTABLE AND PRETTY STUPID. I was hoping so much better from this episode but I honestly didn't like it. If this movie were full of straight people, it would be pretty much the same garbage movie but it would be so much worse because the only thing that this movie really brings to the slasher genre is the gay characters.

While I really liked the two other episodes I saw of this series ("Down" and "A Nasty Piece of Work"), this one was rather predictable and felt overly long with a lot of useless filler scenes. The characters weren't very likeable as well and overacted annoyingly.

I felt I knew who the killer was from the start and it turned out I was sorta wrong...which makes me glad.

The relationship dynamics were incredibly believable to me as I was Cameron in my little group of partiers back in the day. So the incestuous was of the relationships really worked for me.

The storyline is very run of the mill, but the acting is good even if the script could use a little work.

And kudos to Blumhouse for requiring gay actors to play gay characters.

Kind of fun and entertaining Not wildly original but fun and fresh, a bit

Couldn't even make it past 20 minutes of this. Bad acting, annoying characters. Had to switch off

This episode was just as enjoyable as some of the other higher rated episodes of the series. The characters feel real mostly and the story moves smoothly with as much character development needed to reach its climactic end. The only thing I didn't like about this episode was the fact they added as much nudity as possible that didn't add to the story. Anyone ever tell this director too much cake can give you cavities?

We all know why this episode has got the lowest rating for the series and it has nothing to do with its quality but more specifically about what is presented to us in this episode. It's 2020 so the biased ratings need to stop. Its also one of the reasons why its one of the least viewed and least rated episode of the series so let's be honest it doesn't deserve such a low rating.

While this movie was predictable, overall it was not a bad movie. The acting was pretty good. The plot was good. And it felt somewhat real. The sad part was it was easy to pick out the killer in the first bit of the movie if you pay attention.

Overall, though, it was a good movie to watch if you are looking for a gay slasher flick that is not overly contrived.

This was an hour and a half of utter crap. There's no other way to put it. The was no plot to speak of. No twists No acting. I expect far superior work from Blumhouse. The Into the Dark series was great until this stinker. Not a good start to 2020 Blum !!! I watched it all and wished I'd stopped half way through.

Out of the 4 second season episode/movies so far, the only one that has been entertaining so far is the Thanksgiving themed "Pilgrim", Uncanny Annie was weak (especially given the Halloween theme), A Nasty Piece of Work was a lame "House on Haunted Hill" (original) ripoff & now we have Midnight Kiss....

Firstly, if you like guy-on-guy kissing & sex scenes, it might bring you enjoyment of this episode that much more there's A LOT of it! There's also a lot of fluff and filler that really doesn't move the story along..it draaaaaaags. Everyone of the characters (minus the lone GIRL of the group, go figure) is a "drama queen"....ugh, what an annoying group of friends. The splatter FX looked cheap and amateur at best, and the "twist" at the end was hardly a twist at all, this episode and season so far has been dreadful! A shame too, I considered "Into The Dark" a quality show last season, with the likes of 'The Body', "Pooka!", & "Down" just to name a few..seems the showrunners simply don't care anymore.

"Midnight Kiss" is possibly the worst I have seen of Into The Dark. This movie had a good idea with having a slasher with gay people in it. But the execution is just a boring slasher with unlikeable characters. The kills are pretty bland with no creativity. The film could've have something meaningful, but the whole runtime is just people flirting, and arguing. Overall this is a terrible slasher with bad characters, a boring story, and no fun.

Poor acting performance. Bad chemistry between characters. Too much time spent in the night scene. And the killer's identity was predictable; his motivation was weak. I wasted my time watching this episode. I suggest you skip it.

The acting was meh, the actor!? oh come on i need to see good looking actor not the bad one with bad acting, and the plot so mediocre at best with silly reason behind the big reveal, overall this the second worst episode after all that we destroy, at least this runner up.

The series continues to be hit or miss in season two Uncanny Annie was atrocious but the next two were great. Logic may have dictated this one to be poor. Midnight Kiss plays like a David DeCoteau movie with a better budget and less gay sex. That is NOT an endorsement. Overacting runs rampant, dislikable characters are the rule, and the kills are rather mild. In other words, this is not good. Here's hoping February's entry is at least tolerable.

Tonight, on a very slasher Queer as Folk, the gang continue to have sex, show off buns and get slaughtered.

I'm probably wildly biased here due to all the great male nudity and slasher tropes because...this "movie" really isn't that good. It has decent acting, sets and its competently made, but the storyline(s) shoot out like firecrackers - never landing where anyone intended.

And damn it takes so long for it to be a slasher.

For the past 7 New Years a group of intertwining gay romance buddies get together to party, but 2019's finale has someone bent on crashing the party.

What a coincidence I randomly pick this "Into the Dark" "TV" movie on Hulu to watch tonight. It's right up my alley, so to speak, but unfortunately, it's so shallow and aimless in all three acts and mostly in the final third.

Hurray for team-Blumhouse for straight-up making a non-apologetic gay horror film, especially since there are so few of them. But, maybe next time we can add a few more rewrites before filming begins?

***

Final thoughts: This DID make me miss Queer as Folk, though. Wish that'd come back again.

Midnight Kiss (2019) is part of the Into the Dark collection on Hulu. The storyline follows a group of gay friends and their female friend who have been best friends for year. On New Years their known for a kissing game of concensual strangers. When one of the friends comes to the party surprisingly engaged it sets off a string of both jealousy and murder.

This movie is directed by Carter Smith (The Ruins) and stars Scott Evans (The Lively Bones), Adam Faison (Agengs of S. H. I. E. L. D), Lukas Gage (Euphoria), Ayden Mayeri (New Girl) and Augustus Prew (Kick Ass 2).

The set up and character establishment for this is pretty good; unfortunately, the film gets bogged down on the characters and their storyline instead of the horror elements. The acting is okay and fit the characters well but no one was outstanding. The first and last kills are the best and everything in between is pretty average. The killer was a bit predictable but there is an okay twist at the end that's worthwhile.

Overall this movie dragged in too many long stretches and could have been better. I would score this a 3.5/10 and recommend skipping it.

5 stars for the attempt to make a slasher featuring queer characters. Minus 5 stars for the terrible acting from some of the cast, albeit maybe that's more the writing... and for the lack of any kind of twist.

There's non stop male rear-nudity, which I'm not going to complain about... but it's very forced - just throwing it in constantly to have it.

The main plot point has absolutely no build up or background, it just gets 'revealed' at the end and leaves you sitting there like....ehhhh.

If they had built it up a bit more and had some competing motives, it may have made for more enjoyable viewing.