Erik Bloomquist is known for Long Lost (2018) and She Came from Woods (2017), and here he as a director with Carson Bloomquist as his co-writer has come up with a new vampire flick, Ten Minutes to Midnight which released on VOD this 19th January. The story is about a late-night radio show host Amy Marlowe (Caroline Williams), who doesn't even know that today is her last day in this workplace. She has given almost 3 decades to this job and has a kind of sour relationship with her boss Robert (William Youmans). Thanks to an alert about a violent hurricane, no one is allowed to go outside that night and when Amy enters through the door, she is bit by a rabid bat and now all the office staff are stuck in that building for that night.
There she meets an elegant woman Sienna (Nicole Kang), who is going to replace her when she's gone and Amy doesn't like her and in the middle of a radio program, the name of the program is Ten Minutes to Midnight, Amy bit Sienna in the wrist which gradually changes her into something else, developing hunger for blood and flesh. Mainly the film focuses on Amy and the nightmarish condition of her when she starts to show the symptoms of rabies.
She is afraid of water, she is hallucinating, and finally, in the climax, she becomes what she was becoming slowly. Erik Bloomquist and Carson Bloomquist did nothing different in setting up his charterers on the same floor for a night with an excuse for the horrible weather outside. B-horror movie fans have seen this many times and the good thing is that we are not fed up with it. This works only where the characters have been established properly rather than presenting them as a messed up one with uncountable problems in his/her life.
Here we do not know who Amy is as a person but her relationships with her boss and his work partner Aaron (Adam Weppler) are reasonably well depicted. Her feeling of insecurity with Sienna is fathomable but with Aaron, it's kind of contrived, that's what I felt. It doesn't contribute anything to the story nor presents anything solid for Aaron or Amy. It also brings up the issues and obstacles that women are facing in their workplace, like age discrimination or sexual harassment.
The cinematography by Thomson Nguyen works sometimes in creating the creepiness and chilling effect with dark rooms and halls but that fails to create the desired impact. With dreamily showcasing the insides of Amy with terrific lighting, the results are not satisfying. The claustrophobic feeling should have been strong, the uneasiness and the feeling of 'something is wrong' is what it's devoid of.
Caroline Williams and Nicole Kang are the only ones who are in the strong form here, but I have to say Caroline sometimes goes overboard with her loud act and appears artificial but she's the one who carries the whole film in her shoulders and overall did a fine job. Adam Weppler was also earnest as Aaron whereas Nicholas Tucci was irritating and unnatural.
With limited bloodsheds and gore, it doesn't even impress in that department also and the background score fails to evoke the chilliness that it should have. Overall, Ten Minutes to Midnight has the potential to be an extraordinary psychological horror film that stands against some relevant women issues but it sinks in every aspect nevertheless it can be enjoyed in the first watch but has got nothing fresh to offer.
Rating:- 2.5/5
Now available via Video On Demand.
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