Night

Welcome back readers. I got a request for a movie review by the inspiring director of said creation. With a real team effort, barely a grand in the kitty and nothing but guts and determination, this film was going to made and it was. I love that kind of filming every time. This is Night.

Um...I have to go to the bathroom now.

First time writer/director/producer Nicholas Michael Jacobs (Night) comes a twisted tale of a young girl Judy Stern (Gianna Jacobs of Night) off the streets and into his clutches. We see our man in a ski mask moving around and prepping for the evening's event. We also are treated to him grabbing a bag maybe made of fabric or plastic. Hard to say.  Bit of creeper POV shot showing her just texting, tweeting or possibly Instagram on her smartphone but completely ignoring her surroundings. Also the light source gives away where you are and who isn't with you, young lady.  Stranger Danger!!          

No sweep up and go. You get the mood of a predator stalking his prey. We take a substantial walk as he either knows her habits, routines or direction she normally travels.

About four minutes of stalking and heading up mildly lit streets, a rag makes it across the girl's face and she's his now. Shot like a found footage film, we have background noises of our abductor milling about, reaching for God only knows and for whatever reason.

With his ski mask and Dickies jumpsuit, our torturer/sadist preps the kid for the evening's festivities. Probably wants her awake to feed off her fear and make it all that much more exciting for him. 

A tad young for Saturday Night Fever.

Judy tries to valiantly escape while her captor is getting supplies or cooling off so he doesn't end her too soon but to no avail. No sooner is he roaming the kill house for her, our masked man gets a call. His girlfriend pleading to him to quit slaughtering innocents. Damn, I can't seem to keep a girl to being immature and this nut has a lady that just wants him to stop bathing in the blood of the innocent like he could quit smoking. "Honey a patch a day, and your murder lust dies down."

With six months experience, he boots up to a chat room viewing this live streaming. Umm I don't think this fits in Twitch's bylaws. Gets worse, he is taking requests on what to do with her. Yeah the real villains are the viewers you can't even see.

The sheer horror and futility in her eyes makes it creepier and yeah this feels like a dark Patreon account. That's right, donations to see some evil.

This has the same vibe of guerilla filming to the likes of Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So many desperate elements all working in concert with one another.

Technical wise, I saw our cameraman in the shadows a few times following the girl, the editing could shave down some scenes or you just do the cuts in between. Also keep in mind, I am seeing the screener and most of these may have already been tended to.  A few suggestions would be a time wipe and say get supplies earlier in POV at a hardware store and just ask the clerk to look a little unnerved, fade to a interior van driving and some eerie public domain music. Maybe to pan to a tray or cart full of torture implements, zoom to duct tape being pulled taunt, cut a dark room and muffled sobbing.

With maybe $1000 in the kitty, this is gritty, dark and your own mind starts filling in the blanks. It does give a malefic feel to the whole scenario that there would be someone like this doing a live feed giving people jollies.

Suffice to say, while I may have seen the end coming, not everyone will. Not bad first time at bat, just need a bit more technical knowledge and don't be afraid to put a translucent tarp around the camera for blood gags. Hey feel free to take a look yourselves. Night is already available for POV Horror and will be made available at Amazon Prime on March 23^rd. 

Man, this Chucky doll is heavier than I thought.