This
is a four-chapter horror anthology framed
by a stormy night reading of a book
called ‘After Midnight’ by
lingerie clad Nancy Feliciano.
First up is Laura Giglio who directs and
stars in ‘I Want To
Be A Vampire’.
Giglio stars a “vampire”, Sky,
who is granting an interview with cynical
journalist Tony Bork who is going to take
some serious convincing to believe her.
Would you believe a vampire named Sky?
Next up is ‘A
Moment of Darkness’
written and directed by Tiffany Warren
Yarbrough. This involved tale focuses on
the lackadaisical life of a doctor (Cindy
Osbourne), which is radically transformed
when she’s bitten by a psychotic
patient (Gina Garcia). The tale then
rapidly becomes a tale of lesbian vampire
lust and love gone awry which builds to a
harrowing climax.
Third is Isabelle Stephen starring and
directing in ‘Perfect
Subject’. Isabelle
plays a “model” that poses for
random customers for money, but no sex.
Then one day a very slimy and sinister
photographer (Rick Trembles) comes
knocking on her door…but who has the
last laugh?
Lastly is ‘No One
Else Around’
starring Heidi Martinuzzi as the last
woman on earth going slowly mad and whose
loneliness and despair is witnessed
building to an inevitable and haunting
conclusion. Each of these segments is
book-ended by Nancy Feliciano who is
harboring some secrets of her own, which
come to bear when her “reading”
is interrupted by neighbor Phil Herman.
This is a solid effort from
Falcon Video.
It is a notch above the other in the
series, ‘Around Midnight’,
primarily due to variations in the
segments, as well as having Feliciano
frame the stories rather than merely
introduce them, and a sense of humor and
whimsy which seems to be lacking in much
of Around.
The weakest segment in this outing is the
first, which could have benefited from
less tease and a more complex
plotting.
Laura Giglio is given little to
do except be sexy and reiterate the
“don’t you believe me Mr.
Reporter” schtick.
Some variation on the camerawork would
have helped liven things up a bit. And Laura,
get rid of those damn plastic teeth!
‘A Moment of Darkness’
is interesting with nice performances by
the leads (Osbourne and Garcia)
but it could have done with some major
editing, primarily almost everything
preceding the bite, which seems mostly
filler. Once the bite occurs and the
plotting kicks in things are great. Hot
ending too!
‘Perfect Subject’
is short and sweet and to the point.
Isabelle Stephen is faboo as the
model and the feel of the segment worked.
Overall it’s a great boost to the
movie. The final segment was my favorite.
Heidi Martinuzzi is awesome in the lead.
This segment is funny and creepy and just
very believable.
The final shot in ‘No One
Else Around’ was remarkable
and quite haunting.
Brava! The framing of the tales by Feliciano
is good. She is a very sexy and likeable
actress, but the final portion of the
movie’s narrative seems tagged on
and unnecessary.
It felt repetitive given the preceding
segments. We’d seen that twist a bit
too often in the previous 80 minutes.
It’s only a twist when it’s
unexpected.
There’s solid work by Martinuzzi
(make more movies damn you!) and a fine
natural performance (and an au naturale
one as well) by Isabelle Stephen.
A truly honorable mention in the thespian
department goes to angst-ridden vampire Osbourne.
Hmm. There’s some
blood, trickling bites, incineration,
drowning, and slicing. It’s really
more the concept of gore than the real
deal.
I found the last two
segments the most compelling in that
regard.
I’ll reserve judgment on Tiffany
Warren Yarbrough’s work on the
intriguing ‘A Moment of
Darkness’ until I see a
more completely edited version.
The soundtrack is mostly by
Christopher Kahler and it is fitting
and a truly versatile reflection of the
on screen doings. Well done.
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