You've heard of films made in eight weeks? Six weeks? Four weeks? Two? Over a weekend? Six months later, Russo had his rough cut. The film stock tended to arrive three cans at a time, and irregularly, and somehow Russo - with a little help from his friends, including special makeup effects artist Tom Savini and MARTIN star John Amplas - managed to keep things moving forward over a leisurely pace. Sherman of Independent-International who offered him that same amount (as well as free 35mm film stock, the free use of an Arriflex camera, and the services of actor Lawrence Tierney) in exchange for the US distribution rights. He was initially approached by an investor who offered him $35,000 toward a production he then approached Samuel M. Based on a "best-selling" novel by Russo (which I suppose means it's the best-selling of his many novels), MIDNIGHT (whose working title was THE CONGREGATION) is the story of Nancy, a teenage girl who runs away from home to escape the overbearing sexual advances of her patrol cop step-father, hitchhikes a lift to Florida with two guys who are stealing food from convenience stores along the way, and ends up running afoul of a family of Satan worshippers trying to revive their dead mother with sacrificial blood while unwittingly camping on their woodsy property.įor all I know, this out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire story may be a real page-turner, but the film Russo made from it rolled out slowly. Romero's team could conjure up with Romero himself off the playing field. Deal me in.Īs signalled by Russo's proprietary credit, MIDNIGHT is an example of what George A. (Unlike today, when most of the straggling survivors run the same multi-million dollar blockbusters that are playing indoors elsewhere.) I remember being seduced by Independent-International's radio campaign, which was not quite Brother Theodore but approximated that same wavelength: "MIIIIIIIIDNIGHT! When the DEAD drink the BLOOD of the LIVING!" intoned a raspy voice. Written and directed by the co-author of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, John Russo's MIDNIGHT was one of the last films I remember seeing at a drive-in, when drive-ins could still be trusted to present real, honest-to-goodness drive-in movies.
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