Although producer Del Tenney has not made a lot of pictures, his name is synonymous with b-movies and for bringing the world The Horror at Party Beach. Tenney is also responsible for I Eat Your Skin which was the notorious double-feature companion piece to David Durston's I Drink Your Blood in the 70's. Although these movies are more likely to be seen at a bad movie night than a retrospective of classic cinema, Tenney's first film entitled Violent Midnight is a fun, low budget shocker that combines a good script with exploitation elements to bring something that both b-movie and thriller fans should appreciate.

Lee Philips stars as Elliott Freeman, an artist who is brilliant, yet somewhat antisocial. He lives in a big house and had models come over to pose nude so that he can paint them. His latest model Dolores (Kaye Elhardt) has decided she wants to have more than a working relationship with Elliott even though she is involved with the town thug Charlie (James Farentino). In a calculated move, she has the two of them meet in a bar where Elliott's violent side comes out during an altercation with Charlie. Later that night, Dolores ends up dead. All eyes turn to Elliott but he still manages to continue painting, start a relationship with the girl next door, and help his sister get enrolled in the local female college. We see Elliott struggle with his past demons and Charlie struggle with his current ones while the cops try to figure out who is murdering people in their small town.

Philips brings a lot to the character in that he simply looks guilty both in his features and mannerisms. He has a shifty and awkward demeanor that makes you question his innocence from the beginning. I spent a lot of time deciding if he was a tortured artist, a psycho, or a psycho tortured artist. Farantino's Charlie is a much simpler character as he is more of a basic hoodlum than a crazy person. There are a number of other questionable characters including the resident bad girl who wants Elliott but is rejected, Elliott's lawyer's mute chauffeur who looks capable of murder among other things, and a voyeuristic teacher who likes to watch the schoolgirls when they are either swimming or prancing around their dorm rooms in their underwear. Tenney does a good job of shifting the focus from one character to another and leaving us guessing until the end. Although he is only formally credited as a producer on the film, Tenney is rumoured to have come up with the story with his wife and also taken on most of the director duties even though other people are credited.

I enjoyed the soundtrack to the movie which incorporates jazz into the mix as well as an extremely dark acoustic song entitled "Black Autumn". I dug this song but I can't imagine partying it up in a bar like the characters in the film if the female singer on the stage was uttering lyrics like "come my love and see me die". Philips acted for a few more years and then went on to do a lot of directing for TV as well as On the Right Track with Gary Coleman. Farentino has enjoyed a long career as a character actor and is probably best known to genre fans for Dead & Buried. You can also spot Dick Van Patten ("Eight is Enough") as the detective and Sylvia Miles (Midnight Cowboy) as the resident drunk who is pining for Charlie. The back of the DVD calls this movie "Psycho-esque". I do not think that this is the best adjective other than the fact that the movie was made a few years after Hitchcock's classic and that it involves murder. Otherwise, it does not bring to mind Tony Perkins, Janet Leigh, or chocolate syrup in showers. It is, however, a good mix of noir, exploitation, and suspense with a dash of early giallo thrown in. (Josh Pasnak, 1/16/11)

Directed By: Richard Hilliard.
Written By: Robin Miller.

Starring: Lee Phillips, Shepperd Strudwick, Jean Hale, James Farentino.

aka: Psychomania.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: The black and white transfer looks fantastic for a low budget film make in the early 60's. Crisp with good contrast.

Extras: First up, we get a commentary with Tenney and a moderator. This starts out strong with a lot of information on making a film in that era but loses steam as time goes on. The moderator asked a lot of questions that made me feel like he was not prepared and was trying to fill time. We also get a short photo gallery and a couple of trailers.