My Take: Though uneven, the positives strongly outdo the negatives.
From the opening scene, where Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd sing the title song (Midnight Special), and then.... Well, anyway, this is a really neat fantasy/horror anthology film. The film is directed by four really talented directors. John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller remake original hit episodes from the original Rod Serling TV series, and ironically, the lesser directors (Dante and Miller) outdo their masters. Here's the summary of the four tales and the prologue.
Prologue: Passenger Dan Aykroyd asks the driver (Albert Brooks) if he wants to see "somethin' really scary", and gets more than he expects when he pulls the car over. A good start, especially when the two start discussing famous 'Zone' moments. Feel the nostalgia yet?
Segment 1: Racist Vic Morrow insults a Jew, a black and orientals and gets karma, the hard way. Pretty good, but still far from the later segments. Mostly memorable for its unfinished helicopter scene which went wrong, resulting to Morrow's untimely death. Now that's REALLY SCARY...
Segment 2: Oldies from a retirement home experience a magical rejuvenation. Scatman Crothers charms, but for Spielberg's skill, we expect more than a tame, almost harmless piece. Jerry Goldsmith does provide a good theme for this lackluster segment. The least of the bunch.
Segment 3: A young school teacher (Kathleen Quinlan) is on her way to meet her fiancée. But she accidentally comes across a Damien Thorn-like boy who keeps a couple of secrets, and an "addiction" to cartoons. With this one (a more elaborate version of one of the more memorable 'Zones'), the film is shaping up a little.
Segment 4: Neurotic, white-knuckle air traveler John Lithgow sees a gremlin-like critter doing terrible things with the planes engines on a stormy night flight. Definitely the best of the four. Spooky, well-acted, with some rather effective camera and special effects work, it's a little masterpiece of its own.
Overall, an uneven yet entertaining trip back to the days of creepy, more creative horror. It's no longer scary on this generation, and it probably wasn't that spooky back then (Save the prologue's finale and the final segment), but the movie still works, despite its glaring errors.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.
From the opening scene, where Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd sing the title song (Midnight Special), and then.... Well, anyway, this is a really neat fantasy/horror anthology film. The film is directed by four really talented directors. John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller remake original hit episodes from the original Rod Serling TV series, and ironically, the lesser directors (Dante and Miller) outdo their masters. Here's the summary of the four tales and the prologue.
Prologue: Passenger Dan Aykroyd asks the driver (Albert Brooks) if he wants to see "somethin' really scary", and gets more than he expects when he pulls the car over. A good start, especially when the two start discussing famous 'Zone' moments. Feel the nostalgia yet?
Segment 1: Racist Vic Morrow insults a Jew, a black and orientals and gets karma, the hard way. Pretty good, but still far from the later segments. Mostly memorable for its unfinished helicopter scene which went wrong, resulting to Morrow's untimely death. Now that's REALLY SCARY...
Segment 2: Oldies from a retirement home experience a magical rejuvenation. Scatman Crothers charms, but for Spielberg's skill, we expect more than a tame, almost harmless piece. Jerry Goldsmith does provide a good theme for this lackluster segment. The least of the bunch.
Segment 3: A young school teacher (Kathleen Quinlan) is on her way to meet her fiancée. But she accidentally comes across a Damien Thorn-like boy who keeps a couple of secrets, and an "addiction" to cartoons. With this one (a more elaborate version of one of the more memorable 'Zones'), the film is shaping up a little.
Segment 4: Neurotic, white-knuckle air traveler John Lithgow sees a gremlin-like critter doing terrible things with the planes engines on a stormy night flight. Definitely the best of the four. Spooky, well-acted, with some rather effective camera and special effects work, it's a little masterpiece of its own.
Overall, an uneven yet entertaining trip back to the days of creepy, more creative horror. It's no longer scary on this generation, and it probably wasn't that spooky back then (Save the prologue's finale and the final segment), but the movie still works, despite its glaring errors.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.