The Beast Comes At Midnight (2023)

Well, after some time away, I have returned with another review for MyIndie Productions’ Lake Horror Reviews. This time I had the opportunity to check out another film that has Ed McKeever as part of its writing team. If you follow my reviews here, then you may know he was one of the writers for 100 Acres of Hell (read review HERE). This time we’re not only getting Ed, but also his son Michael McKeever, as well as Jason Henne (who additionally provides some great comic relief in the role of Shawn) and Christopher Jackson (who also directs), to complete a formidable writing team. Let me tell you folks, this quartet has given us an offering of a fun werewolf flick. This excites me, because when it comes to creature features, my love is the werewolf.

The story plays out as a small Florida town finds itself the target of a werewolf. A local kid who owns a Carnival Museum with his father, starts to piece things together. With the help of four of the more popular kids in town, his dad’s friend and the Shopkeeper at the local Occult shop, will he find the werewolf and stop the killings, or will he become the next victim?

Appearing in the lead role of Tuff is the aforementioned Michael McKeever, who absolutely kills it (pun intended? I guess you’ll have to find out…) in his performance! The film also boasts a couple of living legends of cinema and personal favourites, Eric Roberts (Aftermath, The Poltergeist Diaries, Greatland, The Expendables, The Dark Knight, Runaway Train, Star 80) and Michael Paré (Kill Craft, Cursed Waters, Lockdown, Painkiller, Bone Tomahawk, Village of the Damned, The Philadelphia Experiment, Streets of Fire, Eddie and the Cruisers). Those names alone had me excited, but the talent doesn’t end there. Newcomer Madelyn Chimento (playing Mary) does an outstanding job in her first role. I can see her going far in the industry. Fellow co-stars Samantha O’Donnell (Trini), Kyle Oifer (Wes) and Dylan Intriago (Mutt), all bring their own great work to their respective roles. These four have great chemistry, so it actually feels like you’re watching a real group of friends.

The performance of Francine Wolf (Shawn’s Mom) was absolutely hilarious, and she had me in stitches. It was fantastic comedy. Barbora Sulova (Silvia) gave an awesome performance as the Shopkeeper for the Occult Shop that Tuff frequents. Then there is Joe Castro, who did double work on this film as The Beast Man and also provided the SFX work. As usual, his work is great.

As for the rest of the folks behind the scenes, everyone brought something great and you can tell as you watch it. This felt like a labor of love to me. Director Christopher Jackson took the story he co-wrote with Ed, Michael and Jason and did a fantastic job giving it life with this vision. I’ll be looking for more of his work moving forward. The eye of Daryn Murphy as cinematographer managed to create a number of beautiful shots. There really are some gorgeous landscapes in Florida, and I think he found most of them. The Makeup department of Natalia Villafana-Alpizar and Lera Juno kept everyone looking great and showed off some skill. The score composed by Chris Dudley was also fantastic and strengthened the atmosphere captured on film.