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Heart of Midnight

Play trailer Poster for Heart of Midnight R Released Mar 3, 1989 1h 33m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 1 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A young woman who is getting back on her feet after a mental breakdown, Carol Rivers (Jennifer Jason Leigh) discovers that her late uncle has left her a rundown nightclub. Carol decides to renovate the venue, but, in the process, uncovers dark secrets about the club and her dead relative. After a series of disturbing events, Carol becomes increasingly unstable, but she finds some measure of comfort in Sharpe (Peter Coyote), an enigmatic older detective.

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Much of Heart of Midnight is simply silliness, devoting itself to a series of false alarms in which strange noises mean nothing and Carol always is having to calm herself after her imagination runs away with her. Rated: 2.5/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (11) audience reviews
Steve D Jennifer Jason Leigh is great and the story keeps you guessing. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Carol (Jennifer Jason Leigh) has had more than one nervous breakdown, which immediately qualifies for her to be the heroine of a female-centric giallo. Now, she's inherited the Midnight — a broken-down club that for some reason is continually being remodelled despite the fact that the neighborhood that it's located in is shady at best — from an uncle that she doesn't remember. Her mother (Brenda Vaccaro!?!) just wants her to sell the place, but Carol doesn't just decide to reopen the place, she moves in and discovers that the Midnight was once the kind of club that people visit to take care of some very special needs. On the first night that she stays at the Midnight, three men break in thinking that she wants them to. While the two white men assault her — including Steve Buscemi — the black man amongst them tries to stop them, which means that the cops shoot him, making this the sole moment of reality in a movie that exists in another plane. The cops learn of her mental illness and start to not believe her, yet promise to send Lieutenant Sharpe, who she thinks is Peter Coyote, but he's perhaps a ghost inside the club? Who can say — all we know is that the real cop is soon killed by something inside the haunted bar. By the end of this, Carol starts to realize that what she is seeing are the past memories and things that happened inside this club, moments trapped inside these walls that she must move back to heal herself. Also — Frank Stallone shows up! Writer and director Matthew Chapman should make more movies. He hasn't directed since 2011's The Ledge but he has written a few scripts. That said, the great-great grandson of Charles Darwin seems busy writing books and being the founder and president of ScienceDebate.org, which advocates that presidential candidates hold a live debate solely dedicated to science and technology issues. I love that so many reviews complain about how odd and how hard to understand this movie is. When viewed when wearing black gloves and through a glass of J&B, it perfectly adds up. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Nothing can be said but this movie is art, it left me with questions and few answers. This movie was surreal. It is my new favorite film and it might be yours as well. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is what I wanted Lost Highway to be. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Peter Coyote's senseless character drove me away. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a very strange psychological thriller. Jennifer Jason Leigh gives a fine performance as a woman teetering on the edge of insanity and the supporting actors are a colorful cast of characters. There are some strange scenes that seem out of place with the rest of the movie but the story comes together nicely in a strong finish. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Heart of Midnight

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A young woman who is getting back on her feet after a mental breakdown, Carol Rivers (Jennifer Jason Leigh) discovers that her late uncle has left her a rundown nightclub. Carol decides to renovate the venue, but, in the process, uncovers dark secrets about the club and her dead relative. After a series of disturbing events, Carol becomes increasingly unstable, but she finds some measure of comfort in Sharpe (Peter Coyote), an enigmatic older detective.
Director
Matthew Chapman
Producer
Andrew Gaty
Screenwriter
Matthew Chapman
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co
Virgin Vision, AG Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 3, 1989, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 29, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$71.1K
Runtime
1h 33m
Sound Mix
Surround