genowhirl After watching this anthology, I had to rate it rather high. What launches this upwards is not the stories per se, although they are each very interesting and entertaining, but it's the way they were executed. Top-notch acting, editing, and sound. Not to mention the fact that they really do well to play on suspense. Last, but not least, all of the stories were cleverly crafted into events that could actually take place in real life and happen to anyone.In the opening sequence of the film, the professor speaks of the psychology of fear and how fear arises when we feel a sense that something could actually happen to us. The three tales to follow play off of this concept well. Brief Synopses and Descriptions:1. Frame - "Psychology of Fear" (Ramy Zada) - After a rather ballsy, overbearing, unethical, and possibly borderline insane classroom lesson on fear, Professor Edward Derek invites several of his students to his house to delve deeper into the psychology of fear. Throughout the night, the group regales each other with scary tales. At the same time, a mischievous student who was humiliated in front of class plans to enact his revenge upon the professor. This makes for one of the craziest and most unexpected finales around at the end of the film. Even if you hate the rest of the film, the final moment alone is worth sitting through to the end. 2. "The Old Dark House" (Marc McClure) - In this tale, a young couple are having dinner to celebrate the boyfriend's birthday. The girlfriend decides they should take the scenic route home. Along the way, their car breaks down outside of a large, old, dark house. When they decide to venture inside, they get separated and quite an interesting twist of fate awaits them at the end. This one plays heavily on suspense until it finally delivers a rather surprising turn of events.3. "A Night on the Town" (Judie Aronson) - In this tale, 4 teenage girls are trying to get into adult clubs. Upon being rejected, they search for a new club to try and get into but end up landing in the wrong side of town. Lost and confused, they walk into a gas station where they are met with a rather scrappy looking man and his 3 Doberman which proceed to terrorize the girls. This one plays a lot on adrenaline and intensity. It's the most intense of the three tales and is a fun ride all the way to the end. 4. "All Night Operator" (Marg Helgenberger) - In this tale, a woman arrives to take the night shift at an all night telephone operating service. She begins to receive strange calls from a man who appears to be stalking a woman who also uses the same telephone operating service. As the night unfolds, he begins to stalk the phone operator as well. This tale is a bit of a suspenseful thriller as it puts you on edge. You get a good sense of the stalker creeping closer and closer until the final moment, and what a great final moment it is. There's a good energy in this one for sure. Finally, the movie ends in one of the most ridiculously unexpected ways that makes virtually no sense in the best way possible. It's so over the top that you can't help but love it. That is, until it finally concludes and does make some actual sense haha. Overall, the movie is incredibly entertaining and really increases its effectiveness by crafting the stories around realistic events and settings. Each story immerses you in a creepy, suspenseful, exciting reality, and because of this, it's easy for the tales to suck you into them. It's got that 80's feel too with the acting, lighting, sound effects, and music. A dark atmosphere pervades the entire anthology and really gives it that edge.

callanvass (Allison's Story) It really is a shame that After Midnight could not follow up to such a promising beginning with the wraparound story. I found the opening to be riveting and downright chilling. The "Psychology" of fear class (Creepily played by Ramy Zada) was very inventive and managed to grip me by the balls. Let's just say it had a scene that involves a gun, and I did NOT expect it. This would NEVER happen in a movie today, I don't think, especially for what was revealed seconds after the stunt. I truly thought I was in for one of those underrated gems. Sadly, once the stories began, it went awry and I was thoroughly disappointed. I'll review the stories for you down belowThe first story is called "The Old Dark House" and stars nobody in particular special. A couple gets stranded on a road that goes to nowhere because of a flat tire. They decide to enter the premises for help. Unfortunately for them…it turns out to be haunted. It's a rather dumb story, that tries to be more light hearted and amusing than anything else, but it wound up annoying me when all is said and done. It all turns out to be some dumb prank. The husband (unbeknownstly) is in store for a surprise party, but they take it too far, and the husband inadvertently decapitates his wife¾*The second story is called "A night on The Town" It involves four pretty young girls who unwisely run out of gas in the ghetto area. The story isn't actually that bad, and is probably my favorite out of all of them. It certainly doesn't hurt that you get to look at the drop dead gorgeous Judie Aronson either. It has some suspenseful dog chase sequences, and I dug how it was presented. I did feel the ending was a tad anti climatic though. **1/2The Third story is called "All Night Operator" It starts the beautiful Marg Helgenberger from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She makes for a very effective lead, but the story is average at best. The caller is obnoxious. Just get over it already, and get laid! The constant calling got a bit redundant by the end, and once again. The payoff was very lame**Also, what the hell was with the ending of the film? That was some really convoluted stuff…Final Thoughts: It wasn't terrible, just highly disappointing after such a great wraparound story. I was gonna bump this up to 5.0, but it doesn't quite deserve that. The stories are mostly mediocre, aside from "Night on The Town" and the ending is ludicrously silly. You can do much better with anthologies4.8/10

Scarecrow-88 Unspectacular anthology where students swap "spooky" stories at the home of their weird Psychology professor. Another student, seeking revenge for being embarrassed in class, plots to get even with the professor.Psychology professor Edward Derek(Ramy Zada, whose freaky eyes propel his performance) has a notorious class where he challenges his students in regards to their worst fears. He uses a self-assured jock as an example, with a gun to his head causing him to urinate in his pants. Derek must cease to teach his class in the methods he planned thanks to the jock's snitching to his superiors, so he invites anyone to join him in a real lesson in the "psychology of fear". Student Allison(Jillian McWhirter, as unremarkable in performance as the film she stars)is really shaken by Derek's class, their meeting at his home, and what the future holds for all concerned.The stories include a husband and wife's intrusion within an "old dark house" in search of a phone because their car has a flat(..the house is notorious for murders), four teenage girls terrorized by a hoodlum and his ferocious, blood-thirsty mutts, & a telephone operator's dangerous situation with a psychotic stalker who doesn't like being lied to.The finale will remind many of Dead of Night in regards to the central character's ominous feelings of potential peril and how the stories soon intertwine for her. Good to see Marg Helgenberger as the crippled telephone operator attempting to flee on crutches within an apartment complex from her ex-husband Alex Rosenberg. The entire cast besides her did little to impress me(..not that what I feel matters anyhow)and the stories are a little lackluster. Despite violence in each tale, Jim and Ken Wheat's After Midnight is far from graphic. Good production values, though. Luis Contreras, as yet another foul Latino hood, out to kill the teenage girls, is memorable even though he checks out much too soon. I must say that I got a good giggle out of the result of the first tale where the husband responds towards who he percieves to be a crazed killer with a sword he finds not knowing that it was an elaborate ruse, a victim's head coming clean off in the process!

encyes They say that a student is only as good as their teacher. If this is true, then we the viewer as student have failed miserably. This hilariously dated 1980's film on a college class facing fear straight-on is interwoven with poor 'horror stories' and is mediocre at best. Overacting, clichéd scenes, and 80's fashion fail this film. If you lived the 80's then this may be a fun albeit painful remembrance for you. If not, then you'll cringe not at the horror stories but of the hair and clothes of the actors. There's plenty of other anthology movies out there that far surpass this film. A nude scene here or there might have moved the film to the head of the class, but there is none of that, and without it - and more importantly real writing - this movie flunks for the term.