19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Halloween Fun!, July 1, 2002
This 1980's made for TV movie opens on Halloween morning with a paper boy preparing to go out on his route. Adding a baseball card to his bicycle spokes, he accidentally cuts his finger, and with that first tiny drawing of blood (the goriest moment in the film actually), the title "The Midnight Hour" flashes on the screen with "Wolfman" Jack's voice over, "Lookout, it's the midnight hour! Owwwooooooooooo!!!"
Our story begins here in Pitchford Cove, or "Pitchfork Cove" as the residents sometimes jokingly call it. As Phil Grenville reads his report on local Halloween history to the rest of his High School class, we are told that a witch named Lucinda placed a Halloween curse on the town hundreds of years ago, and that it was HIS ancestor who stopped it from coming true. Suddenly, Phil's friend Mitch gets the bright idea to sneak into the local witch museum to borrow costumes for tonight's Halloween party, and with his friends eager to do it, Phil reluctantly comes along. In the museum, the group of teens find an old scroll, break the seal, and find an old curse written on it. Off to the graveyard to read it allowed, just for kicks! Unfortunately, their friend Melissa is the descendant of witch Lucinda, and she reads the incantation. Thinking it did not work, the frieds head home to prepare for the party. Meanwhile, all manor of evil creatures, from werewolves, to vampires, to witches, to the bodies in the graveyard, come to life to wreak vengeance on Pitchford Cove. Many comic moments arise from seeing the regular townsfolk interact with zombies they believe to merely be people in costumes, especially at the Halloween party, but some terrifying moments occur too, because while some creatures seem to just be hanging out, the rest came to kill and spread their evil!
Amongst the horrific creatures however, a beautiful 50's era cheerleader named Sandy has also come to life, looking as cute as ever for some reason. Phil and Sandy meet on the way to the party, and while they fall in love, they also discover the evil that has the town in its clutches, and do their best to stop it before The Midnight Hour, when it will be too late!
The Midnight Hour is a wonderful TV movie from the mid 80's. I remember seeing it the first time it aired. It's corny, naturally, it's a cheezy 80's move. There are bad lines, the High School Students look like College Graduates, and Shari Belafonte, who plays Melissa, breaks out into a song and dance number at the party for no concievable reason. But in that cheezy, non-gory style of Halloween horror, it is great fun! The love story is sweet and sincere, the constant "Wolfman" Jack radio program playing spooky oldies in the background is wonderful, and the monsters are just great! Sure, the fangs look fake, you can see where the "fog" is being released from in the cemetary, and the first werewolf looks more like a guy in a bigfoot suit, but if you lose yourself in the story it's really fun and exciting and even can give you chills in some moments, when watched in the proper atmosphere of course. That's why I can't help but give this incredibly fun movie 5 stars, and rank it with my Halloween must watch films like Hocus Pocus, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Sleepy Hollow, Harry Potter, Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and the original The Worst Witch, among others!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An unnoticed great Halloween Film, November 19, 2004
Like many, I saw this movie way back in the eighties (I remember the ads saying something like "Halloween isn't over yet!" cause it was shown on November 1st). I turned it on as a lark, since I'm a longtime fan of horror movies. As stated by other reviewers, this movie was definitely influenced by the "Thriller" video (I think the same people did effects for both, but don't quote me). The plot revolves around an ancient witch-vampire's curse on the town of Pitchford Cove. It builds as the town quickly succumbs to the vampirism, almost like a virus spreading out of control. Sort of like "Salem's Lot"- your best friend might now be one of the undead! To me the standout character was Jonna Lee, who played the also risen 1950s Cheerleader. Ms.Lee had a brief career in the 80s, often playing teenage girls in movies, and TV shows like "Airwolf" and "Mike Hammer". Believe it or not, I guessed the ending when I first saw it. Still, it's not your average run of the mill movie, and deserves a place on your DVD shelf.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Soundtrack!, April 16, 2003
This is just some soundtrack information for the fans of this excellent Halloween fun flick. For some reason, the end credits do not list the soundtrack info at all, so I've had to research about the great tunes used in the film. I've received emails from Amazon customers asking me about certain songs, so I've decided to post the soundtrack here. Anyway, on with it:
The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
Lil' Red Riding Hood - Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Clap For The Wolfman - The Guess Who
How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths
Mama Told Me (Not To Come) - Three Dog Night
Sea Of Love - Del Shannon (This is the actual version used in the film)
Sea Of Love - Phil Philips & The Twilights
(This is the original version, which Sandy references as being "much more hep")
Get Dead - Shari Belafonte-Harper
Devil Or Angel - Bobby Vee (or the original doo-wop version by The Clovers)
Baby, I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis
If anyone wants to add to this, please feel free. This is an excellent blend of spooky tunes from the 50's through 80's. If you are an insane fan like myself, you'll go ahead and collect these songs to make your own soundtrack. I just thought I'd help the crazy ones along a little bit.
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