- Director : Rich Ragsdale
- Actors : Scout Taylor-Compton, Nolan Gerard Funk, Jeff Fahey, Kevin Ragsdale, Deborah Kara Unger
- Studio : Well Go Usa
- Media Format : Subtitled, Widescreen
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Run time : 1 hour and 32 minutes
- Release date : April 5, 2022
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
There have been enough
home invasion films released in the last two decades to establish the tropes of
the sub-genre, and The Long Night contains many of them. A couple travel
to a remote location before they are trapped in a home by invaders, who seem to
have the ability to enter the house any time they want. Phone lines don’t work,
pets are early victims and warnings of violence to come, and the sudden arrival
of additional visitors leads to their demise. The Long Night adds in
occult and supernatural elements, but it is far from the first home invasion
film to do this. It isn’t even the only home invasion film I watched this week
to use this hybrid revision.
The Long
Night begins with an oddly disjointed introduction to Grace (Scout-Taylor
Compton), a New Yorker who knows little about her parents or childhood in the
south. After receiving news from a man claiming to have information about her
family’s disappearance, Grace travels to visit him with her boyfriend Jack (Nolan
Gerard Funk). Upon arrival, they discover an empty house, but let themselves
in. This decision proves unwise when a cult appears after sundown, surrounding
the house and leaving pentagram markings around the property.
There isn’t much
subtlety in The Long Night, but the narrative still drags. This could
possibly be due to the familiarity of the tropes being used, which do little to
revise or add new elements to the conversation. Up until the nonsensical twist
at the end, The Long Night plods along predictably without successfully
capitalizing on what makes home invasion films terrifying. Even the sudden
arrival of the owner’s brother (played by Jeff Fahey) doesn’t add much excitement.
The film plods along too quickly, while wasting opportunities in the process.
The result is a film that feels both rushed and boring at the same time.
The Long
Night is well shot, but this doesn’t matter when the script feels
incomplete. Much of the movie just kills time until the final twist reveal, not
providing the audience with reasons to care or be entertained. It doesn’t help
that the characters are poorly developed. We get slight conflict after learning
that Jack didn’t stand up for Grace when introducing her to his parents, a
sequence inexplicably missing from the film. This conflict goes nowhere, and just
feels like an obligatory trope borrowed from countless other home invasion
films. Otherwise, there is absolutely no development of characters and relationships
in the film. This just leaves numerous sequences watching the protagonists
freaking out about the invaders, but the dialogue is as obvious and uninspired
as the plotting.
The Blu-ray
release includes behind the scenes features, breaking down three elements of
the film: the birthing sequence, the look of the film, and the score. There is
also a commentary track from director Rich Ragsdale, along with his short film,
The Loop. The Loop has no connection to The Long Night,
but it is a mildly amusing short film with more potential than the feature.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 6/10
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