Jeremy Gardner and Co. (The Battery, Tex Montana Will Survive) have done it again with another incredibly fun, terrifying offering. After Midnight is two movies, bound together by Gardner's very tangible portrayal of a relatively decent (if somewhat self-absorbed) everyman in two difficult predicaments. The tension becomes so thick as the film progresses, I was choking on it.

The takes in this movie go on and on, but the dialogue never feels strained or forced. There is such a natural rapport between Hank and Abby. I remembered myself having that conversation. This film works hard to create it's own mythology. The underlying fears and concerns of marriage and children can be so overwhelming, is there even time for a monster? Let alone an inverted vagina dentata.

Cinematography, coloring, and music (that music), and especially the editing, all contributed to the overall success of this incredible movie. I saw Amazon negative reviews...eh, I don't want to be one of those "you just didn't get it" snobs, but if you didn't appreciate it (you can like it or not, but you can't say it is not well-made), well, I'm not going to be negative...maybe just dismissive.

Gardner, much like his contemporaries Trey Edward Shults and Ari Aster is at vanguard of contemporary American horror. These films exist at a strange crossroads of Roman Polanski, the Mumblecore (mumblegore) movies pioneered by the Duplass brothers and Joe Swanberg, and the Universal monster series. (Jesus, I couldn't sound any more pretentious if I tried.) All of O'Hanna's films to this point have been incredible.

**Update: Discounting as "fake" a review that is different from yours shows a lack of conviction in your own opinions.

Oh how I hate movie 'metaphysical thought thing' plots ..... This movie is on the same maddening level as 'Neverending' ...

The parts of this movie which pertain to actual physical events between two people left out the very representations of the romantic death between two people that the movie was trying to express ...They might have shown his memories and thoughts of all the beautiful times, then her thoughts of all of the troubling times to make the story clearer but no ... they obviously judge good storytelling by how confused the audience is !

We really enjoyed this movie.
The trailer leads you to believe it's a monster movie, but, not quite...

There's something a whole lot deeper going on.

There are a lot of deliberately paced scenes (or "slow scenes," for those who prefer more action in a movie), but those are the scenes that clue you in on what is really going on with the main characters.

Give it watch!

I was led to believe this was some great release. Even 'Rotten Tomatoes' gave it a 94!...But its amateurish junk with 70s special effects and even these are brief. Worst is, you have to pay to see it, when it should be an included 'B' film. I don't know who is giving this 5 stars...probably people associated with the production. BE FOREWARNED...before you decide to rent or buy this.

A bit of a slow burner in the best possible way, this one is totally worth the payoff--I literally jumped out of my seat and screamed at one point. Also Henry Zabrowski explains the nature of cats, so, obviously a must see. Jeremy Gardner, Brea Grant, Justin Benson, and Henry Zabrowski are as fantastic as ever. Highly recommend.

This is a romance movie through and through with some added melodrama that is just boring beyond belief. There are some hints of something that goes bump in the night but they’re short and lack much detail. The viewer is left somewhat convinced that something is trying to get into the remote house but we don’t know why, what it is or where it came from so we’re left not caring because they do nothing to heighten your interest. It’s so bad we’re even treated to a karaoke love song to a girlfriend during a dinner with friends. The couple seem to have something between little to none in common so even the romance part fails to click on all cylinders. It’s just a sappy melodrama about a big lug that’s dating above his league and the horror teases fall flat and just make you want more that you’re not going to get until the final few seconds of the movie. Those last few seconds are the only ones where this is actually a horror movie and the “monster” is a real disappointment. I’d have to agree with the negative reviews on this one and wished we had hit the back button early instead of waiting for something to happen.

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed the movie, and I truly appreciated that very little about this film was even remotely predictable. Having said that, it does also suffer not so much from a low budget but from acting that rarely rises above top-quality community theater levels. I understand that you've got a lead actor (Jeremy Gardner) who is also the writer, co-director, co-editor and I don't know what all. And his co-star (Brea Grant) has lots of experience in smaller roles (based on her imdb page), but I don't think is really up to the task of carrying a major role.

But, on to the good stuff. Hank (Gardner) is a bar owner, and frequent user of his bar's product, who lives in a run down old house in rural Georgia. He's an amiable enough guy, but certainly not what one might call a go-getter. Somehow, he's managed to land Abby (Grant), his long-term girlfriend who actually seems to be pretty well in-love with this guy. BUT there's a problem; he is commitment-phobic and eventually, it seems she has had enough and she leaves him. Hank, in his low-key way, is devastated. He drinks more than usual. He spends his days remembering (via flashbacks) the best days of his relationship with Abby. AND, as if this wasn't enough, the poor guy spends his nights on his sofa, which he has back up against his front door. Because, you see, every night a monster comes to his front door and stirs up a bit of a ruckus. He tells his friends, and of course, they are deeply skeptical. But Hank is pretty darn convinced he's got a monster problem.

The plot evolves from there, and it does take a couple of unusual twists. Obviously, I don't want to spoil anything. However, I think it's important to note that AFTER MIDNIGHT isn't really a horror movie. Yes, there may be a monster, and Hank does wander into the dark a few times, wielding his shotgun, and at these times, the movie does show its horror roots. But it's really primarily a drama with bits of light comedy thrown in. While the horror elements are not incidental, the tone of the movie 90% of the time is NOT one of a horror movie. It uses the horror elements to explore other themes, which I won't spoil for you. If you're simply interested in a good scare, go elsewhere...this film will not scare you (well, there is one moment...).

The film is VERY low budget, but for the most part, Gardner and company do a lot with a little. There is one scene between Hank and Abby, where they have a pretty serious conversation that goes on for at least 10 minutes. They're sitting in the open doorway of the house, looking to the outside. And the scene is done in one long take. No doubt this was an efficient (and cheaper) way to approach the scene...but it is also quite effective. The feeling of peeping in on a real conversation, rather than watching a film, is pretty strong. (And, to pile on a little bit, this scene might have been actually powerful if the actors were better. Gardner, for example, relies too much on taking a pull from his beer bottle, even though he handles the bottle as though it is empty. If he had simply started the scene with a full bottle and worked his way down...but no, he tips the bottle all the way back the first time he goes to it, and then does that every single other time.)

There are moments of humor throughout, mostly from supporting characters. And lots of nice atmospheric music provided by a duo calling themselves The Hummingbirds. (And the "Making of" in the extras spends a lot of time with this group's music, if that appeals to you.)

So, while hampered by amateurish touches, AFTER MIDNIGHT is still a well-written and fairly tightly-constructed (83 minutes) film that I think is worth watching for its creativity and good writing. 3.5 stars.

As the description says when his girlfriend Abby abruptly leaves he begins to be besieged at night by a creature. Sleeping on a couch that bars the door he guards the house against this intruder. During the day he goes out drinking tries to convince others about his nightly besieger and makes desultory preparatory efforts of defense. Being that this is more about the relationship between him and Abby there are flashbacks to their life together shot in a bright vivid filter I guess meant to convey nostalgia for some forgotten happiness.

It's a weird combination and the difference between night and day is well... like night and day.

Here's what I HATED about this movie; the sound mixing was done, I assume for reasons, intentionally terrible. I mostly watch a movie like this for the dialogue and for some reason in the rendering everything was loud about this movie - except the dialogue which I could not hear very well because the volume was turned down as every song or creature shriek came blasting out. I also did not like the band being put in the movie; their sound is good and I could say I like their music but because they were the loudest part of the movie I felt like they were just put in there as a favor to a performer friend. It felt shoehorned into the movie; that plus being the loudest element of the movie was disruptive to the watching. The shotgun blasts were loud, the sound effects were loud but the dialogue track was simply too low to be heard well.

I did like that it had a creature and that it wasn't CGI which would have made a movie like this completely stupid. Though the creatures presence was so secondary to the intent of the movie as shown by how he acts in the end I can only assume it is meant as a metaphor for his past relationship emotional baggage. If so, that is a likable part of the movie. I don't normally go for such stuff but the chemistry of the actors, the use of colors for night and day and the very inclusion of a monster made it at least interesting. Further that it didn't devolve into some poisonous vitriol about humanity or hatred towards relationships is a plus. It kept the tone a little light which is refreshing in this current world setting of must be Gritty, Dark, Iconoclastic and Hateful that we live in. If only it weren't so loud.