Midnight Peepshow (2024)

Movie Name/Year: Midnight Peepshow (2024)
Genre: Horror
Length: 1h 33min
Rating: Unrated
Director: Airell Anthony Hayles, Andy Edwards, Jake West, Ludovica Musumeci
Actors: Zach Galligan, Chiara D’Anna, Richard Cotton, Sarah Diamond, Jamie Bacon, Derek Nelson, Jack Fairbank. Miki Davis, Ryan Oliva, Ocean M. Harris
 
Blurb from IMDb: A man stumbles across a darkly magical peepshow booth
 

Selina’s Point of View:
In some ways, Midnight Peepshow was everything I feared it would be… and yet, it’s also everything I hoped.
 
The trailer made Midnight Peepshow seem like a sexy version of Saw (2004) – which is one of the strangest comparisons I’ve ever made. It’s not exactly something I ever thought I would, or wanted, to see. Still, the trailer looked good enough that I considered putting it on my Top 20. It would have been about 21 or 22 – just missing the cut.
 
I knew there would likely be a lot of unnecessary sex scenes. The title is a bit telling. In that way, Midnight Peepshow was exactly as I feared. The sex scenes were way too drawn out, especially since they weren’t all that in depth. It was just one character bouncing on another. There was a bit of plot involved, but it was visually boring.
 
I’d also warn that there are some triggering moments among those scenes, and you should stay away from the film if that’s something that could be a problem for you.
 

What I didn’t expect was the genre of Midnight Peepshow. It was not just a horror; it was an anthology – complete with a framing device. Nothing in the trailer prepared me for that. There’s some mention in the promotional materials about there being more than one story, but not the way they were combined.
 
The genre doesn’t affect much except my perception. I happen to love a good anthology. Short stories inside larger ones just do it for me. Maybe it’s the ADHD, but I almost always wind up zoned in right up until the end. When I realized Midnight Peepshow was an anthology, I found myself giving it even more attention.
 
As it turned out, there was some real story to it all. I enjoyed each part of the ‘black rabbit’ plot, including how it was all tied together. Perhaps it got a little convoluted in the end, but even that felt like a decent conclusion. It felt as if the convolution was appropriate, for lack of a better word.
 
I enjoyed it, and I’d watch it again. Midnight Peepshow was a competent horror anthology.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 6.0/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5
 
Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
Movie Trailer: 

Anthology - Revisiting Personal Cinematic Landscape

I’ve always found anthologies to be divisive among movie fans. There are a lot of people that just don’t concern themselves with the genre at all. The only anthology flicks most people tend to gravitate toward would be along the lines of Love Actually (2003). It’s a film that flows like the recipe of a typical rom-com. The framing device is something that is only really seen for three minutes split between the beginning and the end, the rest of the film plays out as if there’s no real anthology aspect to it.
 
Most anthologies don’t tend to play to a wider theatrical audience the way Love Actually does. They often have a different writer/director for every segment. Sometimes each entry is even filmed in a different style. As a result, a lot of people tend to steer clear.
 
I tend to prefer anthologies that present themselves as they are. I like a strong framing device that’s seen several times throughout the flick, and stories that revolve around a main theme but are otherwise completely different.
 
Anthologies give a short look into the work of various artists which helps me decide if they’re people I want to see more of. An unfamiliar name in an anthology can introduce you to a whole new filmography of work. A good anthology can even lead to several introductions.
 
In my original personal cinematic landscape, I covered anthologies of both styles. I wrote about New York, I Love You (2008) and If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000) – both anthologies that exhibit the Love Actually style. I also discussed The Animatrix (2003) and The ABCs of Death (2012) which are more like the latter description.
 
There are two anthologies I’ve seen since the last look into my cinematic landscape that deserve to be added in. Both for the exact same reason: V/H/S/94 (2021) and The Mortuary Collection (2019).
 

The V/H/S series is pretty well known. Most of the movies in it, however, aren’t all that memorable. Even those that have decent reviews tend to get lost to history. Still, the found footage VHS tape framing device – especially for the horror genre – is a stroke of genius. I think that’s the reason the series has had so much staying power over the years.
 
V/H/S/2 (2013) was the first of the series that I greatly enjoyed, but it wasn’t until V/H/S/94 that it had any effect on the way I perceived anthologies.
 
Each of the various stories in V/H/S/94 kept me glued to the screen. Even if they hadn’t, though, the framing device had its own interesting story with its very own twist. It was so interesting that it held up to the short stories being told throughout the rest of the flick.
 

In The Mortuary Collection that twist in the framing device is more pronounced. In fact, I’d say the framing device is the best story told in the entire film. It’s so memorable that I can replay it in my head scene for scene even though I’ve only seen it once, several years ago. (I looked it up to see if it really was something I remembered scene for scene – and it is. So, I’ve seen it twice now.)
 
The framing device being its very own story in an anthology is something I believe could heighten the popularity of the genre. It feels less like someone sitting there telling tales than other anthologies with the same style tend to. It becomes almost like a game to try and figure out how each short ties together – on their own and within the frame.
 
It’s even better when the framing device has that ending twist that turns everything on its head. It elevates even a mediocre anthology into something worth watching – and recommending. I hope to see a great deal more of that in the future.