Reviews

When I found out a movie had been made about the Russian Sleep Experiment horror story, I was ecstatic. This is one of my favorite horror stories. I knew this had to be one I watched.

Immediately, the movie details from the source material focusing on the lead scientist and his interview with detectives about the experiment. We focus more on a story instead of experiencing the study. The scenes outside of the experiment fell flat for me. Neither party seemingly interested in what is happening throughout with exceptions.

The scenes inside the experiment were where the film shined. They were closer to the source, while still deviating. The acting inside of the experiment scenes were also more engaging following these 5 men and their lack of sleep.

Sadly, at the climax the movie decides to deviate entirely from the source material. If you do not want spoilers, avoid the rest of this.

Once they remove the men from the experiment that is it. The film focuses fully on the head scientist who is revealed to be the true psychopath. The film decided to ignore the source material and focus on the more boring aspect. In the original, it has a heavy focus on the last remaining survivor and their total descent into insanity. Instead, our last survivor is not insane and is just mentioned to have succumbed to infection.

Sadly, the ending of the film ruined it all for me as a fan of the source material. It was so disappointing to not see it focus on the insanity of the survivor and the effects the study truly had. It could have been so much better.

All in all, it was a solid watch. For those that don't know the original, they may like it more. In my opinion this is just another director that decided they wanted to make their own choices instead of staying true to the outline provided. A disappointing theme in modern media.

The Midnight Club, based off of Christopher Pike's novel of the same name, delivers a heavy story following terminally ill young adults meeting every night to tell stories. I have been a big fan of Flanagan's work and, while I did still enjoy it, found this series leaving more to be desired. This especially after following Midnight Mass that I felt delivered a dynamite performance from the entire cast.

The series I felt started off fantastic. The first two episodes gripped me immediately. After this, I felt it slow down in a strange way before picking back up to head into the second half. I feel the largest damper was the fact that I was expecting something different from Flanagan. When I was not given horror on every episode, I found myself confused. Mainly due to some of the stories.

The acting I felt overall was well done. It was fun to see cameos from obvious Flanagan favorite actors within the stories as well as some returning to play larger characters. Some of the acting was unfortunately not as well done and, in some scenes, was a detriment to the scene. However overall the performances were all around very well done and I could see the work put into it by the actors.

I noticed complaints about the stories and how some felt they added no value. I disagree. Each of these stories reflect the personal feelings of each teller. While they may not have had an impact on the story, this was how you were given the insight to how each one of them feel as they progress towards their inevitable death.

Finally, my largest complaint, which now seems irrelevant after looking into it, was that this series feels unfinished. Episode 9 leads us into a wild turn of events and reveals, maybe you saw it coming like me much earlier in the season. However after this, we are left to wonder the outcome as it is left behind. We see reoccurring ghosts throughout the story yet are only informed that these must be the original owners of the house in a quick shot (which is not terribly surprising again). They are even referred to by one member of the club to potentially be a type of Japanese folklore spirit that feasts on remaining lifespans but we never see them again for the rest of the series as they too are left behind. Finally, a classic season ending twist that warps the prospective of episode 9 at the end. Overall, it feels like there is more to be done in the general story. It did not feel like we were setting up for a sequel until the literal final shot. It only felt like we were leaving loose ends to rush to the end before the last twist. Flanagan has come forward and said that while this has not been renewed for another season yet, answers will come and I personally look forward to whatever it may be.

The Midnight Club was a different type of story from Mike Flanagan than we are used to from his recent works. For some that may be good, for others it may be rough. After finishing this I find myself asking questions and rethinking the story but know that the only way to find out will be to see what comes next. I look forward to his next piece and remain a fan of his horror works.