For the run-up to Halloween I decided to check out one or two of the more obscure films that are sitting – still sealed – on my DVD-shelf. The following specimen is a 1-Euro bargain bin find that has been so cheaply produced that it did not even have an English audio track, only the German dub.

Soul’s Midnight is a horror B-movie that mixes vampires with elements of those Satanic ritual films of the 1970s and 1980s (fittingly, there is a prologue taking place in 1975). That mixture gives the film a bit of a “classic” feel, but at the same time makes it also feel quite generic. The film was written and produced by Brian and Jason Cleveland, and directed by Harry Basil.

It’s 2005. Charles and Alicia are driving into Guthrie, Texas, where Charles apparently just inherited a house and a small business from his recently deceased father. Which is all the more surprising as he never met his father, and as his late mother had always claimed that his father had died before his birth.

Still, it is a welcome break for the young couple, as Alicia is pregnant and Charles has recently lost his job. His father’s business partner, Ramos, booked a room for them in Guthrie’s surprisingly luxurious Borgo Hotel. But things are not as rosy as they seem, and very soon weird things are starting to happen… (insert your own mysterious music here…)

The film’s lore is a bit odd and ambitious, going all the way back to St George, the dragon slayer. The problem with this is that this sort of premise would normally call for an Eastern European, Caucasian, or Middle-Eastern location, but (out of convenience, I assume) this film takes place in Nowhere-Ville, USA.

Still, the location matters little, as most scenes take place inside the Borgo Hotel, which is represented as a 1920s marvel – old-fashioned and lavishly extravagant. I am not sure where this was filmed, or if some or all of the interiors were on a soundstage (the bar scenes most certainly are), but it all looks great.

The hotel comes complete with an eccentric owner, the elderly Simon Drake, whose young and hot wife/girlfriend Iris performs a burlesque show at the hotel’s bar.

Simon, Alicia, and Charles are the film’s three main characters, with Iris and the town’s priest being the two major supporting characters. Other supporting characters are the aforementioned Ramos (Miguel Pérez) and the hotel’s seemingly blind receptionist; and – to a lesser degree – the caretaker of the inherited house as well as two altar boys.

The entire cast are doing a good job, which is almost unusual for this type of film. Joe Nipote (priest) is especially convincing. The film’s biggest asset is veteran actor Armand Assante as Simon, “flanked” by Lucila Solá as Iris and Elizabeth Ann Bennett as Alicia, who are both very attractive and are employed in this film in a very sensual manner. Robert Floyd manages to convince as Charles, even though he is burdened with the typical bland-white-guy role one often finds at the centre of these outlandish stories.

There are minor plot holes in this film, but they are not important since the whole plot begins to solely revolve around a ritual. And, as I said before, it all is rather generic at that point. You know how it is: if you have seen one Satanic ritual, you have seen all Satanic rituals…

On top of Iris’s burlesque performance, the film also feature one or two almost proto-pornographic scenes which probably contributed more to the film’s R-rating than blood or violence.

This is certainly a bare-bones, lower-budget production, with shooting reportedly being completed in just two weeks, but nothing here feels rushed. Apart from good sets, there are also very solid props and costumes, as well as make-up and practical effects that are certainly “good” by B-movie standards. Where the film falls a bit short is the music, as the score sounds very generic.

Soul’s Midnight is not exactly my taste, and certainly nothing new and exciting, but it is a very solid B-movie with very few missteps and a not-too-long running time of ca. 90 minutes.

Rating: 5 out of 10.