Ten minutes to midnight

Horror cinema does not necessarily need a large budget to give life to an effective and original story. Most often, it is advisable to rely on an original script that takes advantage of the available means (shooting locations, professional or non-professional actors, available technical team...). Certainly most of the time horror films like Ten to midnight is quite disappointing because it lacks most of the time a real look from a director who is experienced in the genre and who will know how to transcend the available material to reinvent the genre.

In the case of Ten to Midnight, a late-night radio host, bitten by a rabid bat, terrorizes her colleagues as she slowly turns into a vampire. Such a scenario could have made an effective closed-door thriller if it could have created a real atmosphere of disquiet and was based on convincing interpretations. Unfortunately here, the staging is totally lacking in inspiration and the lead actress, Caroline Williams (Butcher 3 (2013), Tales of Halloween (2015)) seems to be struggling to bring her character to life. The result is a total lack of rhythm and a rather important boredom leading one to wonder if it would be better to stop watching this film.

Yet the basic idea of the script was rather interesting but would surely have been better highlighted as a segment of a horror anthology film. Vampire films do indeed have real potential and in the right hands can lead to great and memorable films. Unfortunately, even though the film shows the decline of a radio host and shows that vampirism can also symbolize losing all one's energy by getting involved in her work, the story would have deserved better treatment.

Ten Minutes to Midnight
Directed by Erik Bloomquist
Produced by Carson Bloomquist, Erik Bloomquist, Adam Weppler
Written by Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist
Starring Caroline Williams, Nicole Kang, Nicholas Tucci, William Youmans, Adam Weppler, Alice Kremelberg, Greg Balla, Martin Sola
Music by Gyom Amphoux
Cinematography: Thomson Nguyen
Edited by Carson Bloomquist, Erik Bloomquist
Distributed by 1091 pictures
Release date: January 19, 2021 (USA)
Running time: 73 minutes

Viewed on January 18, 2021 (press screener)

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