Dead of the Nite (2013)

That was an excellent one.

One of my all time favorites.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Candyman's Tony Todd growls his way through the role of Ruber, caretaker to the infamous Jericho Manor. Todd gleefully hams his way through his scenes, but manages never to send up the subject matter.Two policemen observe footage left behind by a group of internet documentary makers. They have been locked in the Manor overnight and the policemen, Detectives Anderson and Jenkins (Joseph Milson and Gary Mavers) are determined to find out what happened to them. Paul (the essential unsubtle idiot of the group), Jason, Anne-Marie, Sheila (the clairvoyant) and Amanda the hostess with ideas above her station. The cast are enthusiastic but not always convincing, which is a common trait with low budget projects like this. The characters have their flaws of course, but are never as needlessly unlikable as several other groups portrayed in 'teen' horror films.It might be easy to dismiss this as 'Blair Witch in a haunted building' - and there is a scene in which Amanda (Cicely Tennant), having been brought down to size by her experiences, records a goodbye message to her parents much like Heather did in the 1999 film - but here the protagonist is not quite spectral. Furthermore, this is not quite a found footage film. It is a film about two Detectives looking at found footage - with that in mind, the addition of jump scares and an incidental score is somewhat explained. And the reactions of Jenkins are very effective.The twist at the end also really impressed me. The reveal of the killer is very well handled, as is his habit of gently kissing his victims before they die. Good fun.

I didn't expect too much from this movie due to the low budget but was pleasantly surprised. I felt some of the acting was very good (Stuart Boother in particular was believable, fun and his fight scene was great). Others were not so good...the policemen were wooden and overacted their hearts out! The story was a good concept and the twist was believable, if somewhat predictable. This movie has the great Tony Todd and he was great as to be expected and lent a gravitas to the scenes he was in. Is this the best horror ever? Well, no! But taking into account the budget I thought it was well-made, fun, generally well acted (Tony Todd and Stuart Boother in particular) and well worth a watch. Not a gore- fest but it didn't need to be!

I'm glad I didn't check the ratings on here before deciding to watch this. 2.7/10 and a few terrible reviews. Geez. The only movies I really ever watch are horror. Seen hundreds and hundreds. I know a piece of trash when I see it. This isn't trash and is far from a 2.7. 20k budget? Would have had no idea by watching it. The plot in itself is awesome. Ghost hunt that doesn't involve a ghost but instead a killer on the inside. Pretty cool idea. A legit company and a decent budget could make a hell of a movie off that premise. Bottom line- It is certainly no GRAVE ENCOUNTERS or SESSION 9. It isn't even in the same stratosphere. However......if you dig that sort of movie then you MIGHT really enjoy this. I'd give it a 5, but I'll toss it a 6 just to somewhat offset the crazy low rating.

An important reason for me, to get the movie and watch it was Tony Todd. He is always so magnificent and when he is in a movie even in a small part, you always talk about his role. I really love some actors like him, Robert England etc and I really want to see them again, having an appearance in a movie that is more than a few minutes. So back to this movie: a film crew goes to a haunted house for their internet show. The caretaker (Tony Todd) warns them about the house and that the doors during the night will be locked. The film team doesn't listen and they want to stay in the house during the night. Alone… in the dark... In the night … no one can hear them… Lucky for us, the footage was retrieve and so we can watch what happened to them. I am really tired of the 'found footage' type of movies. When it was done for the first time you had fun watching something completely different. Now so many movies are done like this. Some are good like Rec (2007), but most of them