Review: Before the Night is Over

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Before the Night is Over

Directed by Richard Griffin

Scorpio Film Releasing / The Reasonable Moving Picture Company

74 minutes, 2020

www.facebook.com/NightIsOver/

When I talk to fellow genre reviewers, one name consistently comes up on the top of the directors’ list, and that’s Richard Griffin. His large body of work https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1075618/?ref_=tt_ov_dr covers a large swath of styles and genre categories, which seem to come in waves. There was a horror phase followed by one of broad sexual/sensual comedies. After a couple of years, he has headed back into making a thriller, and I find it hard to control myself getting ready to watch it.

Samatha Acampora, Victoria Paradis, Bruce Church

If I were to break this film down into its most primal descriptors, they would have to be “languid” and “gothic.” Remember when Southern-focused releases like Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) and, well, Frogs (1972) were more common, with big mansions, accents that make y’all wanna hush yo mouth, sugah, and evil doings were hidden by “the scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh / Then the sudden smell of burning flesh” (quote from Abel Meeropol’s 1939 song, “Strange Fruit”).

Like a Bob Fosse dance number, every shot and move made by the cast seems nearly choreographed, with hands and faces in the forefront. This is quite effective for the “languid” part. It also makes for fascinating watching of the actors as they move around the screen, or even if they are sitting still, there is still the precise motion that is almost hypnotic, which works for the “gothic” intonation.

Atmospheric

As for the basic set-up of the story, listen here chile: when we are introduced to petite Samantha Pearl (Samantha Acampora, who is also known as a spirited Rocky Horror Picture Show reenactor), her parents have recently passed on, and she’s been taken in by her aunt, Blanche DeWolfe (Lee Rush), who owns this here bordello that is filled with men, and also caters to men. Similarly in charge is the “prickly” Ms. Olivia (Victoria Paradis, reminding me of the Miss Hardbroom character from the British “The Worst Witch” programme). These are the only three women in the film. Also helping to run the bordello is the intense and towering Ambrose (Bruce Church, who just keeps getting better every time I see him).

Samantha also is having visions that are silent, fuzzy and in slow-mo (again, “languid”), where she can see violent events that have occurred in the house recently. Oh, and did I mention that there is also someone in a cloak and cowl running around hitting customers on the noggin’ with various instruments until they’re on the rainbow bridge with Jeebus? And what’s in her mother’s diary that the aunt is keeping from her, and what’s with the mysterious locked room she’s not allowed to enter? It’s a mystery that’s bound to get ramped up and involve Samantha (again, “gothic”). Well that’s why y’all are here, ain’ it?

Much like Cinderella, Samantha’s role in the “house” is to be the maid. Of course, this gives her access to everything and everyone there, so like the nanny in The Innocents (1961), as we follow her around, we get to learn as she does just what is going on up in here.

Like Griffin’s earlier film, Long Night in a Dead City (2017), the atmosphere and structures around the story are part of it, even the incredibly accurate, stylized and yet ugly wallpaper. There is a persistent mood that runs throughout, giving the actions of the characters more gravitas. There also deserves a nod to John Mosetich’s excellent cinematography and Margaret Wolf production design for the way this is all displayed to us.

This film is a fine summation of a few of Griffin’s earlier works, combining the supernatural (though technically he is not a “horror” director), homages to some of the Masters (see below), and the abundance of the male form in various shapes and sizes. There is a lot of nudity in here in a coin flip of the usual all-women-and-no-men. Penii abound, and yet the story warrants it. If you’re a Neanderthal who is indoctrinated in not being used to this, get the fuck over it. This film is too beautiful to miss.

There is a bit of violence here, but relatively mild with little blood; however, the tension is definitely there as murders are committed and a mysterious presence overhangs the bordello that Samantha tries to get to the source.

It’s easy to see the influences and reflections of earlier classics that I could list, but I don't want to give too much of the story away.

My only complaint is that it’s a relatively short feature. There is much more I would have liked to be flushed out a bit, though I don’t feel cheated at all. Honestly, this is true of most Griffin films; I just want them to keep going. That says a lot about this release, as well.