TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT (2020)

Studio:      1091 Pictures
Director:    Erik Bloomquist
Writer:      Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist
Producer:  Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist, Adam Weppler
Stars:     Caroline Williams, Nicole Kang, William Youmans, Adam Weppler, Nicholas Tucci, Greg Balla, Alice Kremelberg

Review Score:

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Summary:

On the night of her final broadcast, a bloody bat bite forces an aging radio show host to take a hallucinatory look at her life.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

A bat bites longtime radio show host Amy Marlowe on her way into WLST for her final late-night broadcast. Based on her suddenly odd behavior, station security guard Ernie speculates Amy could have contracted rabies.

Sleazy station manager Bob Collins introduces Amy’s replacement, young and attractive UC Berkeley graduate Sienna Walker. Amy bad mouths Sienna to her audio engineer Aaron.

Upset by her forced retirement, Amy rudely belittles callers during her show. Amy ends up having an angry meltdown over Sienna. Amy gets into a shouting match with Bob during a commercial break. Sienna tries to intervene. Amy bites Sienna on her hand.

Amy crawls to the bathroom where she hungrily sucks on a used tampon. Amy begins experiencing various hallucinations, including seeing Sienna going down on Bob. Amy overhears Sienna telling Aaron that Amy’s 30-year career is washed up. A hurricane outside prevents Amy from leaving the building.

Amy flashes back to when she and Bob had a brief fling when they were young. Bob gifts Amy with a silver crucifix necklace that burns her hand. Amy hallucinates Bob attacking her.

Aaron asks Amy to talk to Sienna because Sienna refuses to show her face after Amy bit her. Amy has a contentious conversation with Sienna during which Sienna seemingly morphs into a monster.

Amy tries warning Bob about Sienna’s mutation. She also tries talking to Aaron. Aaron burns his hand on a teakettle, causing Amy to salivate over his blisters. Concluding she is dreaming, Amy puts her face against the hot stove to wake up, but only burns her cheek.

Bob and Ernie force Amy to finish her show. Amy pleads for Aaron to help her, but he does nothing. Amy tells her listeners she believes she will die tonight.

Amy sees Sienna attack Bob outside the sound booth. Sienna then tears out Ernie’s throat. Sienna tries coaxing Amy into feeding on Bob’s blood. Amy instead stabs Sienna with a wooden stake that Ernie idly whittled earlier.

Amy confronts Aaron to confess his true feelings for her. Aaron pretends to be romantically interested in order to calm Amy. Amy grows fangs and bites Aaron’s neck.

Amy flashes back to her younger self on the job. A sympathetic caller compels Amy to continue bittersweet reminiscing.

Time rewinds to when Amy entered the station earlier that evening. Amy is confused to discover that Aaron is now Ernie, Sienna is Bob, Ernie is Sienna, and Bob is Aaron. Amy does her show anyway.

After the broadcast, the staff hosts a farewell party for Amy. Amy doesn’t recognize many of the guests, prompting Amy and Bob/Aaron to discuss how well a person truly knows anyone. Amy has another breakdown at dawn when the partygoers escort her into a coffin while singing “For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”

The morning producer arrives in daylight to find the station a bloody mess. A massive bat attacks the producer.

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Review:

“Ten Minutes to Midnight” sells itself to fright film fans by boasting a role that returns Caroline Williams to a radio station sound booth. Williams of course memorably portrayed disc jockey Stretch in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2” and became a B-movie celebrity because of it.

You wouldn’t be wrong to wonder, what’s the big deal? Plenty of ‘80s genre stars remain popular thanks to continued convention appearances and personable Twitter interactions. But the reality regarding many of their acting careers is that they overdraw on limited fame from a forty-year-old movie to promote DTV dud after DTV dud. Some of these folks have slummed in indie horror sewers for so long, it’s a laugh that any producer thinks viewers can still be fooled into seeing their films. When a micro-budget monster movie touts Lance Henriksen, Malcolm McDowell, and Danny Trejo above the title, you know it’s going to be trash. And I’m not even talking about relatively bigger names like those.

So if you’re a hard-to-please skeptic like me, you might see Caroline Williams’ name and “yeah, but” yourself into asking, what’s she done lately? A cameo in “Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens?” Playing ‘Peasant Woman’ in the Glenn Danzig disaster “Verotika?” ‘Nazi Mom’ in a Slayer video? Yeah, I wouldn’t be instilled with much confidence either.

Well let me tell you, Caroline Williams absolutely brings it to “Ten Minutes to Midnight.” Sure, we’re talking about a small movie that won’t be recognized outside of equally small horror circles. But Williams gives it everything she has, tapping every drop of talent in her tank to portray an emotionally interesting character who can be virulent as well as vulnerable. I can’t imagine a part better suited to her personality and I can’t imagine a person better suited for treating this role with the immense respect she does.

Williams plays Amy Marlowe, a 30-year veteran of late-night radio about to broadcast her last show. She’s not retiring by choice. Sleazy station manager Bob has a younger, hotter replacement ready to go, which makes Amy seethe with envious rage. Also driving Amy mad? A rabid bat bite she received on her way into the studio.

Amy’s anger already has her on the brink of a breakdown. Sticky pus oozing from two holes in her neck makes matters worse. To get through her farewell show, she’ll have to shake off gruesome hallucinations, reconcile with flashback ghosts from her past, and avoid the urge to feed on the increasingly appetizing blood of the crew who considers Amy too washed up to take seriously.

“Ten Minutes to Midnight” isn’t the fang-filled vampire romp you might suspect based on the premise or the poster. Scattered splatter spurts here and there. Really though, the movie is an introspection-heavy exploration of a person fighting to figure out what legacy she leaves behind during a twilight time she wasn’t prepared to face. Tasked with humanizing this aging woman grappling with changes forced upon her, Caroline Williams turns “Ten Minutes to Midnight” into a demo reel to showcase a vast capacity for crawling on floors in hungry desperation, screaming frustration during confrontational conversations, and shirking at visions that challenge her shifting conception of reality.

“Ten Minutes to Midnight” also gets a solid supporting performance out of Nicole Kang, the only key actress on The CW’s “Batwoman” incapable of annoying me on a weekly basis. Other “Ten Minutes to Midnight” actors aren’t quite as convincing. However, the entire roster is clearly up for anything as at one point, the story requires everyone to swap roles. The skeezy old man has to play the lip-pierced punker, complete with an uncomplimentary costume. The quirky security guard dresses in drag to become the stylish young seductress, and so on. Earnest effort is evident, even when it falls shy of the quality bar.

People who feel hoodwinked over how little horror the film has might find the review score a tick favorable. But Caroline Williams really does make the movie worthwhile. I also admire how director Erik Bloomquist does a lot with a little. “Ten Minutes to Midnight” is a pared down production with just five characters and one tight location. But Bloomquist packs a generous amount of intensive character drama into a tidy 70 minutes.

With such a short runtime, the film leaves viewers to fill in their own blanks on a few underserved themes regarding people who aren’t who you think they are. Nevertheless, intriguing questions are posed about how well you really know cursory coworkers you pretend to be friends with daily. Meatier messages about bucking up and marching on get more deserved due thanks to Caroline Williams’ performance. Through “Ten Minutes to Midnight,” Williams proves that sometimes, initial impressions hide more than what shows on the surface, and sometimes those people can surprise you.

Review Score: 75

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