MIDNIGHT SCREAMS
2026 · 10m
Directed by Sean Menendez
After hitting something in the dark on their drive home, a couple must claw their way out of a bloodbath.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A couple-in-peril premise is horror 101, but Menendez doesn't seem interested in subverting it—just executing the mechanics with competence, which is precisely the kind of consensus-safe horror that puts me to sleep.
Menendez demonstrates solid command of genre vocabulary and tension architecture; the film situtates itself cleanly within the contemporary elevated-horror lineage, though it doesn't quite argue for its own distinct voice within that tradition.
The real work happens in how Menendez uses darkness and sound design to collapse spatial orientation—that specific choice to withhold visual clarity forces the audience to navigate dread the same way the couple does, and it's a small restraint that makes the whole thing breathe.
Reviews
MIDNIGHT SCREAMS is a full-throttle, no-brakes tribute to 70s/80s retro flair and raw intensity. A relentless piece of practical-effects horror that blending stylish genre homage with pure nightmare fuel.