Midnight movies at SIFF are generally an experience - especially if they are thriller/horror movies. There’s just something about standing in line with a group of people long after the sun comes down waiting to be scared out of your wits.

The experience was enhanced by an order of Frites. We chose the Andalouse sauce. As a general aside, this was a good sauce, but not quite as good as I’d hoped. But back to the movie.

Last night’s midnight movie was Them.

I like a good horror movie. Well, I like it if you define like as ‘holding onto my boyfriend’s arm for dear life while cutting off his circulation and cringing’. Still though, I do enjoy the genre. This movie, however, was a few good horror/thriller scenes and some pretty people intermixed with a whole lot of downtime and a whole lot of “why the hell are you doing that?!?” moments. There wasn’t anything wrong with the movie, but it just wasn’t great.

So, should you see it? After all, it’s playing again Sunday at 9:30 at the Neptune.

Well, the best thing I can say about this movie is that there’s a 15 minute short film that shows with it. This short film is just about worth the price of admission alone. The Eyes of Edward James is a creepy, tense foray into the hypnosis of Edward James. We see his wife’s murder through his eyes, though as the film progresses, we see that things are not exactly as they seem. If there is any way you can see this short film, please do. The cinematography was excellent, the drama was practically “edge of your seat nail biting suspense” and the writing was exquisite. I alternately wanted to see this made into a full length movie and didn’t want it to go on a second longer because it was perfect as it was.

There are still tickets available for Sunday’s showing.

Them (Ils)/The Eyes of Edward James
Sunday, May 27th
9:30 pm
Neptune