Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Ogosmith
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
KroneofThorns
Not the greatest a documentary on this subject that it could have been.But definitely worth watching. The doc lacks the energy of the films it showcases & consistency of story. One minute it's about war & politics in the seventies, the next minute it's about going to a theater with your friends. Sometimes it forgets to Super certain people and then folds back in on itself & goes a different direction with a different movie & different tastes. It seems more like a scrapbook & collection of people in that generation & less a fully realized piece of work. I expected more, got less, & recommend it for anyone studying this subject; but not serious fans of documentary films. The pace once they get to Eraserhead from then on the documentary has a good pace, but before that some of the interviews shots are bland, unmotivated & some gfx are just gaudy. Mediocre at best unless you truly love & want to learn about these films. Also the whole work keeps flashing up shots of the book it's based off of seemingly at random *.* Not my favorite, but if interested in some of the history it touches on the subject but doesn't manage the broad scope in a consistent & complete narrative
Michael_Elliott
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Highly entertaining documentary that traces the start and end of the midnight movie. El Topo, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos and Eraserhead are discussed by critics, their filmmakers and those who made them famous. The documentary does a great job at showing the appeal of these films and why they've lived on for so many years after, for the most part, they couldn't even get into theaters early on. George Romeo, David Lynch, John Waters and even Roger Ebert are all interviewed as well as others.
lastliberal
It was exciting to see the greats of cult cinema in one film - John Waters, Reorge Romero, David Lynch and others.Not having experienced the phenomenon of midnight movies, I was excited to see how those on the margins brought their works to the screen.Bizarre and surreal films like Eraserhead; black humor in Night of the Living Dead; the quirky Pink Flamingos; a surreal western like El Topo; and the drag classic Rocky Horror Picture Show were all discussed by their creators and critics.Anyone interested in the history of cinema should add this to their viewing list.
preppy-3
Absorbing documentary about midnight movies--how they started, why they existed and did so well and what killed them. It deals with six key movies--El Topo; Night of the Living Dead; The Harder They Come; Pink Flamingoes; Rocky Horror Picture Show and Eraserhead. They interview the directors and distributors of all six films and they discuss how they got them out and the reactions of critics and audiences. It also explains why these movies were only successful as midnight movies (Rocky Horror was a disaster when it came out as a regular movie).I'm old enough to remember midnight movies and how much fun they were. They're gone forever but this wonderful documentary brought it all back to me. Also there's a HUGE amount of footage from each film. Highly recommended.
