‘When the night ends, hell begins’
Night’s End is a 2022 American horror film about an anxious shut-in who unwittingly moves into a haunted apartment. He hires a mysterious stranger to carry out an exorcism which unfortunately takes a horrific turn.
Directed by Jennifer Reeder (V/H/S/94 ‘Holy Hell’ segment; Knives and Skin; Signature Move; Accidents at Home and How They Happen; lots of shorts) from a screenplay written by Brett Neveu.
Produced by Neal Edelstein, Brett Neveu and David E. Tolchinsky. Executive produced by Reeder and Shudder’s Emily Gotto.
The Crow Island Films-Institutional Quality Productions movie stars Geno Walker (Later Days; Animator), Lawrence Grimm (Chicago Med), Daniel Kyri (Chicago Fire), Theo Germaine (The Politician) and Morgan Reesh (Blood Below the Skin).
Our review:
The first twenty minutes of Night’s End are intriguing enough. Unfortunately, the plot soon descends into a seemingly endless array of uninteresting online video chats.
Geno Walker is fine in the lead role and his inner turmoil is relatable. Some of the relationship drama is vaguely involving but most viewers will be expecting a greater degree of horror. And the film fails to deliver on that. Worse, there are some shoddy effects at the climax and a feeble ending.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES & MANIA
Other reviews:
“Even though it only has an 82-minute run time, the film still feels too long and there isn’t enough story in there to keep you hooked. Director Reeder does the best she can to make the film visually interesting, which is a challenge with the majority of the film taking place in one location, but the problems with the story and the script hamper what she was trying to achieve here.” Entertainment Focus
“Working from an ultra-low budget director Jennifer Reeder and writer Brett Neveu, Night’s End is a very niftily constructed thriller that has a genuine sense of creeping dread helped no end by a very effective sound design and shadowy visuals. Walker is excellent in a subtle performance…” Film News
” …although the film is short, it consistently goes nowhere, with characters bringing up aspects of their lives and the tragic history of the apartment that also has no bearing on the story at hand. Then there are comically bad special effects during the climax, which are at odds with the otherwise grounded approach to the material until the third act. Night’s End is competently crafted but makes for a woefully boring, pointless story with little scares.” **/***** Flickering Myth
“Bringing to mind a few other films from recent years (most obviously Host and The Cleansing Hour), Night’s End at least tries to give you familiar scares within slightly different packaging. It is unfortunate that it doesn’t really succeed, but there are certainly a few good moments along the way, in the scare department and in the performances…” 6/10 For It Is Man’s Number
“Just one sequence with someone visiting Ken, even if they only got as far as his front door, might help sell the world of the film as one that could exist. Kept confined to computer screens and pretty much the same static set-up means that boredom creeps in early and with no place to go, Night’s End quickly becomes very very tiresome.” The Hollywood News
“The climax is simultaneously the stunning peak of the horrors, and also the source of major frustration. It features a super annoying video-glitching with a strobing effect that simply drove me crazy […] Still, the good most assuredly outweighs the bad. The ending is dour and tragically entertaining enough to work.” Josh at the Movies
“The film stays almost entirely within one room of the apartment, which has a lot of ominous tells (newspaper taped over the windows, stuffed birds, an all-liquid fridge, gro-lamps), and Reeder gets into Ken’s obsessive rhythm with drinks and an exercise device that might also be an implement of torture. The manifestations, CGI-assisted but with some nice lurking figures, are hokey, but the jitteriness feels real.” The Kim Newman Web Site
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