''Heart of Midnight'' is an American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by Matthew Chapman and starring

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough as Stacy Hamilton in '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). Sh ...

. The story follows a young woman with a troubled past who has a hard time dealing with the reality of her new surroundings. The original soundtrack for the film was composed by

Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthan ...

and it marks one of his first major recordings.

Plot

Carol (

) is a young woman recovering from her recent, although not the first, nervous breakdown. She has just inherited "Midnight", a defunct nightclub in a now seedy neighborhood, from her mysterious uncle Fletcher ( Sam Schacht). Against the advice of her mother Betty (

Brenda Vaccaro Brenda is a feminine given name in the English language. Origin The overall accepted origin for the female name Brenda is the Old Nordic male name ''Brandr'' meaning both ''torch'' and ''sword'': evidently the male name Brandr took root in area ...

) to simply sell the property, Carol not only commits to reopening the club, but moves in as well. As Carol settles in, she discovers oddly designed rooms and whole sections of the building, soon realizing that the club was a brothel, catering to clients with sexually perverted tendencies. On her first night in the empty club, 3 men outside the building spot Carol through the window. Watching her change into a dress, the men observe the front door open. Taking it as an open invitation, the 3 enter the building and find Carol alone. While 2 of the intruders take turns raping Carol, the third thwarts the attack, and allows Carol to escape. Police arrive, and shoot the one who thwarted the attack. In the aftermath, the police learn of Carol's psychological history, and begin doubting her version of the events. The police tell Carol that she will be contacted by Lieutenant Sharpe and dismiss her. Shortly after returning to the club, she finds another uninvited man (

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cro ...

) waiting for her. Begging him to tell her that he is Lieutenant Sharpe, he reassures her that he is. He also proves to know much about Fletcher and the club. Although he is more sympathetic than the other police, his revelations of Uncle Fletcher lead to Carol angrily ejecting him from the building. Mysteriously, a bike falls down the steps, nearly hitting him. Soon after the visitor leaves, another arrives - this proves to be the ''real'' Lieutenant Sharpe. Speaking with him over the intercom, and not knowing that the visitor is a completely different person, Carol angrily tells him to leave. Sharpe begins to leave, but is then drawn into the building. Following a sound, he enters a room, and is killed off-screen. The man who identified himself as Lieutenant Sharpe returns, and he sparks a friendship with Carol, who remains oblivious to his impersonation. Over dinner in the club, "Sharpe" tells Carol about himself. He also drugs her. Later, the Police return to the club. Searching, they find 2 boys hiding in a space in the club, but narrowly miss discovering the corpse of Lieutenant Sharpe. The police are as skeptical as ever to Carol, especially when she describes having dinner with Lieutenant Sharpe, who is married. Even after the unwelcome intruders leave, mysterious sounds continue to reverberate through the club, while Carol begins experiencing mysterious visions. Coupled with her continuing discovery of hidden spaces in the building, Carol is forced to confront repressed memories of Uncle Fletcher, and the possibility that some of her experiences are more than just memories.

Cast and characters

as Carol Rivers *

as Sharpe / Larry *

as Betty Rivers * Sam Schacht as Uncle Fletcher * Jack Hallett as Lawyer * Nicholas Love as Tom *

James Rebhorn James Robert Rebhorn (September 1, 1948 – March 21, 2014) was an American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays. At the time of his death, he had recurring roles in the series '' White Collar'' and ''Hom ...

as Richard * Tico Wells as Henry * Steve Buscemi as Eddy *

Frank Stallone Francesco Stallone Jr. (born July 30, 1950) is an American actor and musician. He is the younger brother of actor Sylvester Stallone and has written music for Sylvester's movies. His song " Far from Over" appeared in the 1983 film '' Staying Al ...

as Ledray *

Denise Dumont Denise Dumont (born 20 March 1955 in Fortaleza, Ceará) is a Brazilian television and film actress. Selected filmography * '' Filhos e Amantes'' (1981) * '' Rio Babilônia'' (1982) * '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (1985) * '' The Allnighter'' (19 ...

as Mariana * Gale Mayron as Sonny

Release

''Heart of Midnight'' opened in Los Angeles and New York on Los Angeles March 3, 1989.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics with some praising the filmmaking and acting while others criticized the storytelling. Film critic Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' awarded the film two and a half stars out of four and proclaimed that "Chapman is a better director than he is a writer" as well as concluding that "I am not sure he knows where he's going with this film, but he gets there in style."

Ebert, Roger Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

Heart Of Midnight
''

'', March 3, 1989. Accessed October 8, 2008.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' stated that "the dialogue is clumsy and the suspense is nil" and gave his reason for this by explaining that Carol is a "young woman who may or may not be crazy. This gives the director license to be bizarre without having to justify anything." Canby, Vincent
Heart of Midnight (1989)
''

'', March 3, 1989. Accessed October 8, 2008. ''Variety'' magazine noted in its review that the "performances are strong all around, particularly by Leigh and Vaccaro."Heart of Midnight
''Variety'', January 1, 1988. Accessed October 8, 2008. Hal Hinson of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' noted that the storytelling is "haute macabre and hopelessly silly" but, at the same time, admits that "Leigh is a marvel."Hinson, Hal
Heart of Midnight
''

'', March 6, 1989. Accessed October 8, 2008. In spite of the generally agreed upon consensus that the story of the film was flawed, it still won the Best Film award at 1989's

Festival de Cine de Sitges The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost i ...

References

External links