A college professor teaching a course called "The Psychology of Fear" brings his students (including a psychic) to his home, one dark and stormy night to tell scary stories. The first involves a young couple whose car breaks down by an old, abandoned house. The second has four trendy teenage girls getting lost in a bad part of town and chased by a pack of vicious dogs. Last, a woman on crutches confronting a stalker at the answering service where she works the night shift.
**_Entertaining enough late 80’s horror anthology_**
A professor at a university in Los Angeles takes an unorthodox approach to teaching his students about fear, which leads to a reprimand by faculty authorities. So he invites the students to his private abode to conduct further experiments, which leads to three frightening tales being shared.
“After Midnight” (1989) is one of those thriller/horror anthologies, like “Trilogy of Terror” from 14 years earlier with its memorable “Amelia” segment (the one with the terrorizing Zuni doll). This movie by the writers of “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4” includes four vignettes, if you include the frame story, which is creatively called “Allison’s Story” (sarcasm). It’s ironic that this turns out to be the best tale of the four and the flick would’ve been better if it just focused on it, fleshing out more details. Ramy Zada is great as the creepily charismatic professor. Still, the other three stories are a’right and have their points of interest.
Speaking of which, Monique Salcido (Lisa) stands out in the female cast in her form-fitting yellow dress, followed by Judie Aronson (Jennifer), both from the segment “A Night on the Town.” Marg Helgenberger (Alex) is also of note in “All Night Operator.”
It runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles, including the Stimson House, and nearby Malibu.
GRADE: B-