Heart of Midnight Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Heart of Midnight Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 7, 2015

1988’s “Heart of Midnight” aspires to be a David Lynch-style journey into the abyss of madness, ornamented with abstract and symbolic visuals, while performances generally float on impulse, not interested in dramatic distance. Writer/director Matthew Chapman is ambitious with the feature, slathering it with strange sights and violent sexuality, attempting to tap into something primal and surreal. However, to secure such a hazy environment, Chapman requires a precise understanding of story, and that’s the one thing missing from the effort. All the weirdness and hostility in the world can’t pull “Heart of Midnight” out of its slumber, with Chapman more connected to the execution of select scenes than the construction of a larger behavioral puzzle, providing more questions than answers in this frustrating picture.

Carol (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has a history of mental illness, trying to recover from a recent nervous breakdown. Defying her mother’s wishes, Carol travels to The Midnight, a nightclub she’s recently inherited from her late Uncle Fletcher (Sam Schacht), moving into an upstairs apartment while inept, vaguely menacing workers (including James Rebhorn) continue with renovations plans. Settling into the building, Carol is confronted with its history as a sex club, investigating its themed rooms with caution, with her findings triggering a fresh round of paranoia and hallucinations. However, threats are made real by local thugs and nightmarish visions, and while Detective Ledray (Frank Stallone) doubts her claims, crisis center counselor Mariana (Denise Dumont) tries to offer aid and comfort. Also emerging out of the shadows is Detective Sharpe (Peter Coyote), a seemingly concerned law enforcement officer who may not be the man of honor he purports to be, showing specific interest in the highly decorated rooms and Carol herself, inserting himself in her frazzled life.

“Heart of Midnight” doesn’t provide many answers, but it offers a bevy of clues. When we meet Carol, she emerges as a bright young woman overwhelmed with the responsibility ahead of her, put in charge of the nightclub that was being overhauled under Fletcher’s care, but now exists in a holding pattern as the workers wait for instructions from the new boss. However, Carol isn’t experienced in the ways of leadership, barely able to keep her own life together after experiencing initially undefined horrors, often flashing back to a memory of Fletcher offering her a pony ride for her birthday. The cops eventually expose Carol’s collection of psychological disruption, but the audience is only handed fleeting moments of disturbance in the opening of the film, observing Carol carry on conversations with herself and spot eerie occurrences around her building.

Suggestions of madness, or even the possibility of a spectral invader, are eventually cast aside for darker pursuits, with Carol soon fighting off a trio of men (including Steve Buscemi) looking to rape the young woman. It’s a horrific event that brings supporting characters into view, including Mariana, Ledray, and Sharpe. There’s also an exploration of The Midnight’s former business goal to bring kink to the masses, with themed rooms set up to explore bondage, technology, and pedophilia, revealing Fletcher to be a man capable of extreme horror. “Heart of Midnight” is primarily focused on Carol’s awakening, pursued by menacing visions and teased by sinful imagery, including Fletcher’s fondness for apples and the color red. Although Carol hopes for a fresh start with The Midnight, trying to prove her protective mother wrong, it doesn’t take long for delirium to arrive, with Chapman emphasizing the blurring of sanity throughout the effort, using such daily use items as a refrigerator and waterbed to keep the lead character on edge.

Chapman certainly has something of a vision for “Heart of Midnight,” creating a haunted house-style environment for The Midnight that’s filled with very real nightmares. The visual design of the picture favors stylish lighting and bold colors, while Carol’s visions of doom include an invading giant eye, rotting fruit, and a knife attack punching through her liquid mattress, adding to her sense of unrest. The abstract touches are acceptable, helping the movie achieve a sense of disorientation that mirrors Carol’s own battle with reality. Less compelling is Sharpe’s presence in the tale, with the cop wavering between a threat and a love interest (sharing a history of trauma with his object of desire), while his secrets aren’t as urgent as Chapman would like to believe. Not helping the cause is Coyote, who’s trying his best to make Leigh interesting and alluring. The pair shares little chemistry, and seductive scenes tend to die on impact. The rest of their dance of suspicion is carried along by suggestions of supernatural interference. While the screenplay is reaching to achieve a higher level of interpretation, it drops the ball when it comes to developing spooky occurrences.

Heart of Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Working with an intense color palette, the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Heart of Midnight" carries a strong sense of primaries, with red particularly effective throughout. The Midnight offers a range of hues, and they come through clearly and comfortably, while skintones are natural. Grain is fine and filmic. Detail is present, but this is a softly shot feature, leaving intense close-ups the most effective with textures, while club interiors and their macabre ornamentation are open for study. Delineation is comfortable, handling evening and low-lit adventures without slipping into complete solidification. Source has moments of mild scratching and speckling, and judder pops up periodically.

Heart of Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix delivers a mood of mystery, leading with an active score composed by Yanni, which provides a solid foundation of heavy synth that never intrudes on the action. Dialogue exchanges are satisfactory, handling a range of tempers and overacting with comfort, never slipping into distortion. Atmospherics for nightclub activities are welcome, adding a sense of depth and group dynamic to the mix.

Heart of Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features writer/director Matthew Chapman and actor Peter Coyote.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:20, HD) is included.

Heart of Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chapman likes to puzzle his audiences, but when it comes time to provide at least some answers concerning the history of The Midnight and its former inhabitants (along with Fletcher's ultimate fate), the payoff of the film is unfortunately diluted. Trying to put a human face on seemingly unexplainable events, "Heart of Midnight" turns into a conventional thriller, albeit one tinged with unbearably cruel motivations. The movie basically ties Carol to train tracks as it hunts for suspense, going for gunfire when the set-up demands a more cerebral finale that toys with additional lunacy. "Heart of Midnight" never comes together in a convincing fashion, but its final act offers closure to a story, whether the viewer likes it or not. Chapman is looking to create the unknown with his effort, making the sudden shift to disappointingly formulaic answers all the more irritating and needless.