Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.5

Midnight in the Switchgrass Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 28, 2021

When even the title of a film is almost audaciously reminiscent of another film, as Midnight in the Switchgrass is with regard to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil , it should probably be clear that the filmmakers were probably not aiming for anything wildly innovative. Unfortunately, Midnight in the Switchgrass has an arguably kind of amazing lack of ambition not just in terms of coming up with a fresher name for itself, but in terms of just about everything else in a story that is ostensibly based (evidently pretty loosely) on a real life case of a truck driver who in the most heinous serial murderer style abducted women and kept them captive (including in his truck), where he would toy with them like a cat with a mouse, before the expected outcome. In this regard, and kind of interestingly in my continuing series of "synchronicities" in my review queue, this is the second film I've written about in just the past couple of days that has taken a case "ripped from the headlines" and then transported it to a new locale. The recently reviewed Born for Hell probably wins the "prize" in this regard, as it took the horrifying 1965 murders of nursing students by Richard Speck in Chicago and moved it to Belfast in the 1970s, of all places (and times). Here the move is a bit more "regional", as the so-called Truck Stop Killer wreaked havoc in Texas in real life (and/or real death, as the case may be), while Midnight in the Switchgrass takes place in and around Pensacola, Florida.

Wouldn't it be great if some crime thriller with a female detective of some sort chose not to make her a damsel in distress? Well, we can all keep hoping, I guess, but Midnight in the Switchgrass kind of hilariously doesn't just make FBI Agent Rebecca Lombardi (top billed Megan Fox) the ultimate captive of serial killer Peter (Lukas Haas, arguably the film's one real standout performance), she also has a whole separate quasi-victimization in early scenes dealing with her work with her partner Karl Helter (Bruce Willis, sleepwalking) as they attempt to break up a prostitution ring. It's all just relentlessly ridiculous, though Fox attempts to toe a probably impossible line between steely cop and shrieking would be abuse and/or murder victim.

Kind of interestingly from a structural perspective, the film actually begins with a local Pensacola cop named Byron Crawford (Emile Hirsch), who has figured out something unusual is going on due to the, you know, collection of corpses that keep popping up around the city. Of course Crawford is met with resolute disbelief, but unsurprisingly the arrival of Helter and Lombardi, who see their separate investigation dovetail into Crawford's work. Meanwhile the film has been absolutely overt in presenting trucker Pete as the villain of the piece, and the film occasionally delivers its most disturbing moments courtesy of some of Pete's "handiwork". Some of these scenes can't help but evoke better "domestic prisoner" dramas like Room. That said, as mentioned above, Haas is unusually visceral in this role, and he manages to segue seamlessly between tormentor of older captive women and a nurturing presence with Pete's daughter.

The chilling aspects surrounding the character of Pete and his daughter Bethany (Olive Louise Abercrombie) definitely give this film a peculiar edge, but writer Alan Horsnail and director Randal Emmett, the latter of whom has made several of these quasi straight to video releases with Willis attached, simply don't know how to capitalize on things. Even the "interagency" drama between a local cop and the Feds as personified by the FBI would seem to have offered more meaty plot mechanics than are ever really exploited here. The weirdest thing about Midnight in the Switchgrass is how it just goes after Pensacola, literally from the first moments of some narration that begins the film. Maybe I've missed this latest "ripped from the headlines" element from our current zeitgeist, but I hadn't realized Pensacola is evidently a crime overrun hellhole.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was similarly unimpressed with Midnight in the Switchgrass. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Midnight in the Switchgrass Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Midnight in the Switchgrass is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is another film of recent vintage that doesn't seem to have much if any technical data available online, though as per my usual custom, I'm assuming this was digitally captured and finished at a 2K DI. This is a competent if never mind blowing looking presentation. There are several scenes that have been graded toward almost sickly yellows, as can be made out in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, and fine detail can struggle to manifest in several of these scenes (some of which are also pretty dark and/or dimly lit, which probably contributes to the situation). Outdoor material pops rather well, with commendable fine detail levels and a natural looking palette. I noticed no compression issues.

Midnight in the Switchgrass Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much as with this Blu-ray video element, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the disc is perfectly competent, if rarely really overly impressive. The film has some of the most peculiar source cues in recent memory (in that regard, at least Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil had the memorable musical contributions of Johnny Mercer, which this film frankly doesn't). The music does fill the surround channels convincingly, and some of the outdoor material also provides decent placement of ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Midnight in the Switchgrass Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Commentary


• Trailer (HD; 2:49)

Kind of interestingly for what amounts to a straight to video release, Lionsgate has packaged this with a slipcover.

Midnight in the Switchgrass Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Midnight in the Switchgrass is ultimately kind of sad, not just because of its derivative qualities, but because there's a rather creepy performance by Lukas Haas that might have brought the onetime child actor a bit of notice had it been surrounded by a more compelling story. Haas is arguably the best thing about Midnight in the Switchgrass, but that may be damning with faint praise, as they say. Technical merits are generally solid for those who are considering a purchase.