Source: IMDb
Length: 10 minutes
Number of Ratings from IMDb: Less Than 5
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Robert M. Snyder [Midnight Confession, Reaper Madness]
The short begins with a young priest setting up his side of the confession box, getting ready for what he believes to be another long night. Little does he realize that that may be his last night to bother with such trivial problems. We then cut to our other character:
A trouble-looking man, who is running through the church cemetery to get to the chapel, but before he can reach it, he faints. He does manage to wake up before nightfall, however, and makes his way into the church.
Meanwhile, our young priest is reading a book, but even so, he can't force lustful fantasies from his mind. Probably wishing he didn't become a priest, he beings to drown out his sorrows by drinking, but can't get far before the man comes into the confessional and wants to make a confession.
Not in the mood to talk with another people, he tries to get the man to leave, but after he realizes it's a lost cause, he switches to his priest mode and attempts to counsel the lost soul.
While the man is talking about how he feels about God and questions why he is suffering as he is, the priest mechanically answers the man's inquires, sounding both forlorn and bored with his profession.
He won't be bored for long, however, because as the priest continues speaking, his fate may rest on the outside of the church.
While the priest is droning on about how God's will cannot be known by any but Himself, through the confessional window jumps the man, now a werewolf, and immediately attacks the priest.
After a shortish struggle, the priest finds himself outside, the werewolf not in sight, and he takes a look at his wounds.
His injuries are pretty critical, but they are about to get worse, as the wolf man jumps him again, taking a chunk of flesh off of his chest.
After swiping at him a few more times, removing an internal organ or two, the priest manages, despite the pain he's in, to back away. The werewolf again follows and strikes, but this time, the young priest manages to use his crucifix to stab the monster a couple of times.
Will it be enough to finish off the beast? Apparently, yes. The short ends ambiguously, however - we are unaware of whether or not the priest himself was infected, and whether or not he too will become a wolf at the following full moon.
Midnight Confession was a pretty unique short, in my opinion. It has the feel of an older, perhaps 1970's, werewolf movie. The special effects and make-up are not amazing, but it was indeed a damn good attempt. The acting is iffy at first, but I feel it picks up pretty quickly, and after a little, there's no problem there. Even the music has a relatively authentic 1970's feel to it.
The only issue I had with the film was the fact that there were a few scenes in which the audio was a bit low in regards to the music. If you try really hard, though, you should be able to understand what the characters are saying. I do wish it were a little easier, though.
The short could have been a bit longer, with a bit more story, but for what it was, it turned out to be pretty good.
Found another review of this short here, and he seems to be in agreement with me. I'd highly recommend this one.
My rating: 7.5/10
Here is the IMDb page, should you be interested.
Next time, on Beyond the Darkened Door:
A twenty-minute short from 1953 - narrated by Orson Wells.
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