Hey gang, Valkor here. Back to action here in MediaView and we’re putting the spotlight on to the “found footage” genre of films. Like it or lump it, they’re here to stay and while I have my favorites (V/H/S, Evidence), they’re some that are just UGH (Re-Cut, Episode 50). Next we have “Dead of the Nite”, a film from Wales that takes the route similar to that of “Chernobyl Diaries”. I thought the latter was pretty decent fare, but will this new flick follow in a similar fashion?
Dead of the Nite focuses on a set of detectives investigating the murder of a film crew who went to shoot video for their ghost reality TV series at the Jericho Manor and wound up facing a horrible death. The only link to the group is the grounds keeper who locked them in the day before (he did give em fair warning before going in). Fortunately the crew left behind plenty of cameras with footage for the detectives to sift through to find out what actually happened to them. As it turns out the reality TV crew weren’t the only ones inside the manor and it’s all about to go bad very quickly as a masked figure stalks the halls of the place. And one by one bodies start dropping right before the eyes of a detective watching in disbelief.
Dead of the Nite gets cool points for scoring a pretty twisted cameo in the form of Tony Todd (aka The Candyman and Death in the Final Destination movies). But is that enough to save this film from the TOV junk pile?
The Good:
While the idea of Ghost Hunters in search of horror through a haunted house isn’t anything new, Dead of the Nite does a well enough job of blending the narrative with the found footage. The story is tight, very easy to follow and flows well through its 90 minute run time. Performances are OK albeit cheesy all around. But I’m glad Tony Todd’s performance went above and beyond; the dude has mastered creepy and while he does ham it up a bit in this one, it still works. After that we dip into…
The Bad:
I’m sorry but a tight story with decent cameo and cheesy acting does not a film make overall. Dead of the Nite is flat out boring and uneventful – even the death scenes are pretty bland. There are some things done right with this hooded/masked figure, but ultimately I’m not impressed. And there are better stories worthy of your time.
The Ugly:
N/A
You can get a copy of Dead of the Nite now but quite honestly it’s not worth the price of admission – even if the admission is free. Sure Tony Todd gets top billing, but watching him act his way through this flavorless tripe is meaningless. So out of TOV 5 stars, Dead of the Nite gets 1 star.
