The Long Night (2022)

 

Streaming Service: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: The Long Night (2022)
Genre: Horror
Length: 1h 31min
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Sprockefeller Pictures, Adirondack Media Group, El Ride Productions, Hillin Entertainment, Well Go USA Entertainment, Shudder
Director: Rich Ragsdale
Writers: Mark Young, Robert Sheppe
Actors: Nolan Gerard Funk, Scout Taylor-Compton, Bobby Davis, Deborah Kara Unger, Erika Stasiuleviciute, Jeff Fahey, Kevin Ragsdale,  Russ Gladden, Scott Daniel, Wendy Oates
 
IMDb Blurb: A devoted couple's quiet weekend takes a bizarre turn when a nightmarish cult and their maniacal leader come to fulfill an apocalyptic prophesy.

Selina’s Point of View:
The Long Night was a chore to sit through. By 20-minutes in, nothing had happened. There had been one jump scare, and it was removed from context to be used as a transition from the boring prologue to the boring first chapter.
 
Expecting that first scene to be slow and full of conversational exposition, is a given. In any world with a supernatural twist, that’s probably what’s going to happen. I can forgive that. The 5-minute driving scene that tells us about something we could have been shown, the 5-minutes quietly walking around in nature, along with all the other moments that could have been left on the cutting room floor, added up to a whole lot of desire to fast-forward.
 
When the horror did start, it was super basic. At least when it made it sense. There were these little deviation scenes that were bizarre and, also, out of context.

 
I have nothing good to say. I even hated the cinematography.
 
Everyone knows that flipping the picture makes for an acceptable representation of the main character’s life being turned upside-down.  It’s not my favorite, but I can get passed it. This movie, however, utilized the tactic more than an entire season of Stranger Things (2016-). Usually when it wasn’t necessary.
 
Even the big unmasking scene was not shocking. Anyone watching for any length of time could have called it.
 
I’m sorry, there are better cult movies and much more interesting flicks to see on Shudder. 

 
Cat’s Point of View:
I struggled a bit while watching The Long Night. It was a compound issue, really.
 
Try as I might to maintain focus, the story didn’t grab me effectively enough to keep me invested and ward off the fidgets. I considered it a win, though, that I didn’t fall prey to narcoleptic fits during my viewing.
 
Another factor that kept me disconnected from the production was that it was hard to keep from rolling my eyes at all of the stereotypes that The Long Night leaned on heavily in regards to the South. It was as if the story fell out of the trope tree and hit most of the branches on the way down. It seemed like the production team only had an understanding of the region based on films just like this one.

 
That being said, one of my few positive notes about The Long Night was the location chosen for filming. The historical property in South Carolina which was used was actually rather stunning and The Long Night benefited greatly from its remote and eerie antebellum charm.
 
Try as I might to relate to these characters, I just couldn’t manage to invest in their plight. There were only a few really effective moments that succeeded in sparking some dread, as a horror movie should – it, unfortunately, wasn’t consistent. The film as a whole could have benefited greatly from a more aggressive edit.
 
The Long Night wasn’t the worst cult-related movie I’ve seen, but there are certainly many that are far better. 
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 36%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score –32%
Metascore – 41%
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 3.6/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating –1/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2/5
 
Movie Trailer: