Indie shocker The Long Night is a movie that attempts to be the pinnacle of modern horror. Taking influence from "elevated horror" like Ari Aster's work and fun B-movies, The Long Night tries to blend the two subgenres perfectly; however, it often feels like it's juggling too much. Yet, the movie is a thoroughly entertaining horror romp with creepy set pieces and a dedicated cast. If The Long Night leaned into its B-movie elements, it could have been a modern-day classic.

The Long Night tells the story of Grace (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Jack (Nolan Gerard Funk), a yuppie couple who travel to the country to find Grace's birth family. Grace and Jack arrive at a large mansion where Mr. Caldwell, a man Grace enlisted to help her find her family, is nowhere to be found. After experiencing several strange occurrences while staying in the home alone, Grace and Jack decide it's time to leave. However, when they exit the home they see a demonic cult standing on the lawn. As the situation escalates, the young couple will have to fight for their lives. The truth of Grace's birth may hold the key to their survival.

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The Long Night is frequently frightening, especially when the film's bad guys are on screen. A bit reminiscent of the baddies in The Strangers, the villains of The Long Night are clad in ritualistic masks made out of what seems like animal skulls and are genuinely menacing. On top of having effective villains, the film's lead actors do a stand-up job at conveying the horrors they're facing. Scout Taylor-Compton, a memorable scream queen who portrayed Laurie Strode in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween, does impressive work. She shows the audience a damaged character who doesn't realize the trauma that exists inside her. While the screenplay doesn't go as deep inside the character's psyche as it could have, Taylor-Compton still manages to bring Grace to life.

Although The Long Night has a simplistic setup, it overly complicates its structure by adding multiple chapters and applying impressive yet unoriginal overhead shots of a road. Instead of trying to be a certain kind of horror film that it naturally isn't, The Long Night should have owned itself. The movie feels like a scary yet simple home invasion flick for its first two acts. However, it builds itself up like it has a ton to say when, in reality, it doesn't. It would have been at its most effective if it leaned into the sheer horror of its setup instead of searching for deeper meaning.

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The film changes in its third act, adding in surrealist imagery and bizarre reveals. Also, certain timeline events are strangely skipped over. For instance, during the opening of the film, Grace and Jack discuss going to meet Jack's parents in the Hamptons. After a title sequence, we see this already happened offscreen. Similar occurrences happen throughout the movie. It feels pointless to suggest something is happening and then just skip over it. The Long Night still feels more like entertaining shock value rather than meaningful storytelling.

Having said this, The Long Night is still a creepy, well-shot midnight movie that would be great fun to catch in a drive-in with a large audience. The ending also elevates the film, taking it from an enjoyable yet generic horror film and morphing it into a trippy occultist romp that feels Rob Zombie-lite. However, the movie struggles at times to find its voice by taking influence from too big of a variety of films. However, its ending helps pull the experience together as a memorable horror film that creates the stuff of nightmares.

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