Classic is key, folks. I love when film-makers attempt and succeed in making movies that look and feel like titles from The Golden Age of Horror – the 80’s and 90’s. I wasn’t born yet or old enough to experience these movies in theaters, like some of you did, so seeing them on the mini-screen now gives me an insight into that past-time. Nite Nite, a new short film from Maximeise Productions, certainly falls into this category, which is great because it’s set in 1985. The production team pulled out the stops in creating a three decades past atmosphere that made me smile and think, “this is cool.” I’m giving acknowledge to the prop, make-up, and music departments, specifically, because the phones, the clothes, the high ponytail, the musical scores, etc worked in an enriching, homey and nostalgic way. Plus, the plot that revolved around a young babysitter putting her charge to bed for the night, only to listen to his fearsome stories of monsters under the bed, is another key factor in this movie’s good fortune. Nothing says 80’s like a scared babysitter!
Written, directed and produced by Chad Meisenheimer, Nite Nite was executively produced by Jonathan Robinette, with Niklas Berggren serving as cinematographer, Alyse Kollerbohm serving as editor, and Evan Oxhorn crafting killer scores. It stars Tommie Vegas, Brady Bond and Sarah Rhoades. Tommie Vegas is emerging as a popular horror actress with three short films and one feature on her resume, and another five in various levels of production including sequel Another Evil Night. Nite Nite is my first introduction to her talents, and I have to say I just about loved everything about her. Her look is unique and will easily blend into whatever role she’s given, antagonist or protagonist, and she has an equal amount of acting chops that’ll ensure that she plays each role to its finest. I can see why she’s becoming so popular in the independent horror circle. And for Brady Bond being such a young man, he pulled off a worthwhile performance here that rivaled Tommie’s. They had genuine chemistry here, as friends, and it helped to sell the short. Well done, casting directors.
It’s funny. When I received my screener of Nite Nite and saw that it was only 3.5 minutes long, I didn’t think I was going to have much to say. Three paragraphs in and I can still rave about it. The camera work was crystal clear, the CGI was minimal and decent, the one-sheet is retro as Hell. The only gripe I have is with the ending. I feel like viewers will be cheated out of a proper horror film ending, but I can’t tell you much more than that for fear of spoilers. I don’t know what the plan is for this short film, but I hope it’s sent to various film festivals throughout the year and then debuts online Halloween 2018. It would do well during that time of the year, or even included as a segment in an anthology film. Whichever way, I deserves to be seen. It’s smile inducing, suspenseful, well-produced and old school horrifying. Well done, Chad Meisenheimer.
Final Score: 8.5 out of 10
