Heart of Midnight, That Black Leather Night Club Gown

Ahhhh, the 1980s. Those of us who endured that magical decade remember browsing through Blockbuster and scoping out the neat box art on those VHS cases. Under the thriller section there was one that caught our eye...the sultry blonde with the bare-back leather party gown on the cover. Jennifer Jason Leigh...to be specific. Hence today's feature, 1988's "Heart of Midnight." Many compare it to a David Lynch film...I guess I could see that. I, however, saw it more as a Roman Polanski type film with Ms. Leigh as a similar sort as Catherine Deneuve in "Repulsion." Mentally unstable and fastly becoming more unstable...perhaps the same plight we all share.

She's totally insane but meds are helping her control violent outbursts and weird hallucinations. Carol (Leigh) is pretty though, so we pull for her. In a strategy to cure her insanity she arrives at a dilapidated nightclub (The Midnight) to take over its restoration and to re-open it. The place belonged to her Uncle Fletcher (Sam Schact) and he left it to her when he died. Uh oh...Fletch was a pedophile and much more and Carol dislikes to be touched...can you guess why? Immediately the spooky place affects Carol, strange visions and sordid memories of her and Uncle Fletcher start haunting her. Double uh oh, ghosts seem to occupy the place. It is unclear if the ghosts are protecting Carol or bent on her demise. The apparent ghosts enable Carol to be gang raped and also see to the destruction of the rapists.

As Carol is deluged with images of her uncle's pedophilia, BDSM lifestyle, and some snuff, the visions and haunting continue. Enter the apparent;y sleazy Larry (Peter Coyote). He knows all about Uncle Fletcher and he tries to romance Carol and also dive into the secrets of The Midnight. Those apparent ghosts? They are getting homicidal and some nice gore will enter the plot. Unable to figure out if Larry is a potential lover or someone to fear, Carol begins fighting unseen forces on her own armed with a revolver and her insanity. Oh yes, there will be a weird and twisted conclusion which will feature that backless, leather BDSM gown.

Could insane Carol be the malignant force causing much carnage at The Midnight? Are the ghosts merely the tortured souls of children tortured and killed by Fletcher? Would we be pulling for the bent Carol of she weren't pretty? This is a twisted and vicious tale of an insane woman and Jennifer Jason Leigh pulls off that portrayal magnificently. For some perverted carnage, some gore, and great acting see Matthew Chapman's "Heart of Midnight."