Let’s start by stating the obvious: Against the Night is a horror film so riddled with clichés, plot holes, and questionable decisions, it makes a shaky-cam “found footage” movie feel like Citizen Kane. It’s a ghost hunting romp that never quite figures out what it wants to be—an alien invasion flick, a haunted house mystery, or a low-budget CSI episode with a side of methamphetamine. In the end, it achieves none of these, leaving only confusion and regret, like a bad date that ends with you asking, “What the hell was that?”
Written and directed by Brian Cavallaro, Against the Night (also known as Amityville Prison—a title so vague it sounds like it was generated by an AI trying to cash in on 90’s horror nostalgia) follows Rachel (Hannah Kleeman), the sole survivor of a disastrous ghost-hunting excursion at the abandoned Holmesburg Prison. After her friends are picked off one by one by a figure in a hazmat suit, Rachel is interrogated by Detective Ramsey (Frank Whaley, who looks like he wandered off the set of a much better movie). Rachel tells her story, and as the pieces unfold, it becomes evident that this is a film that mistakes absurdity for suspense.
Plot: A Shambling, Stumbling Horror Movie With Zero Direction
The plot of Against the Night is a horror smorgasbord, blending ghost hunting, alien abductions, and meth labs into a slurry of “Why did I waste my time?” It starts with a classic “group of friends decide to go to a spooky, abandoned place” setup, which is so tired at this point that it’s practically its own genre. The fact that the group splits up and starts exploring with all the reckless abandon of teenagers in a slasher flick just adds to the film’s willingness to be a stereotype.
Then the group meets the big bad: a gas-masked, Hazmat-suited figure (later revealed to be an alien, because why not). Who is this mysterious figure? Why is he in a prison? Is it a ghost story, a serial killer story, or just a man who got lost on his way to Breaking Bad auditions? The film doesn’t bother answering any of these questions, opting instead to throw in as many horror movie tropes as possible—abandoned places, dead drug dealers, confused characters, random jump scares, and a climax so absurd that the word anticlimactic doesn’t do it justice. Against the Night isn’t a horror film—it’s a series of questionable decisions wrapped in bad lighting and even worse writing.
The Characters: More Disastrous Than the Plot
Ah, the characters. The backbone of any film… except, in this case, they’re more like the backwash of a bottle of cheap vodka. Rachel, played by Hannah Kleeman, is the requisite “final girl” who looks completely out of place as the sole survivor of a group of complete idiots. She spends most of the movie running around the prison, talking about things that don’t make sense, and having hallucinations about aliens and ghosts that appear to be held together by bad special effects and even worse storytelling. But hey, at least she doesn’t make it worse by screaming her head off every five seconds. Instead, she chooses to give us the look of someone who’s trying to remember if they left their oven on.
The rest of the cast? They are an ensemble of characters who couldn’t be more one-dimensional if they tried. Sean (Tim Torre), the ex-boyfriend, is introduced as if we’re supposed to care about their relationship, but it’s clear he’s just there to serve as a red herring for the eventual carnage. There’s also Hank (Luke Persiani), the wannabe filmmaker who does more damage with his “ghost hunting video” than any of the actual supernatural forces. Seriously, if this movie was a documentary, it would be about the worst ghost-hunting team ever assembled.
Then there’s Detective Ramsey (Frank Whaley). Ah, yes, the grizzled detective with a badge and a lot of unanswered questions. Whaley looks like he’s had a much better career than this film, but here he is, locked in a boring interrogation room asking the most basic of questions. If you were hoping for some actual detective work, think again. Ramsey’s investigation is about as fruitful as trying to find water in the desert—at least he gets to look confused while the plot hurls nonsensical twist after nonsensical twist his way. He’s just another victim of Against the Night‘s lazy writing.
The Horror: More Laughable Than Scary
Now, let’s talk about the horror in this horror movie. Does it succeed in scaring us? No. Absolutely not. In fact, it does the opposite. It’s like watching a horror movie directed by someone who’s only seen Scream once and didn’t understand it. The gas-masked killer who’s supposed to be terrifying isn’t even as intimidating as your uncle in a Halloween mask. The ghostly sightings are less frightening and more like a bad acid trip. And the big twist (which we’ll get to in a second) is so convoluted that you’ll need a flowchart just to track what’s happening.
You think the film is building to a creepy climax, but instead, it ends up in a heap of absurdity. The final revelation is that the killer is—wait for it—an alien. Yes, an alien. A ghost-hunting, hazmat-suit-wearing alien. This is the kind of plot twist that not only defies all logic but also all good taste. If you’re not chuckling at this point, then you might be too emotionally invested in a film that never deserved it in the first place. Against the Night doesn’t scare you—it just makes you ask, “Why didn’t I just watch Scream 2 again?”
Cinematography and Special Effects: Is This a Comedy?
Let’s get to the real question: how does it look? The answer? Terribly. The cinematography in Against the Night is about as well thought-out as the plot. The lighting is dismal, the shaky-cam gives you motion sickness, and the special effects are so laughably bad that you’d swear they were done by a middle school student in their first year of film school. The gas mask? It’s less sinister and more like something you’d find at a Halloween store at the last minute. And the alien reveal? Let’s just say it’s about as convincing as a rubber chicken in a science fiction film. If you’re looking for a horror film that’ll give you some serious nightmares, look elsewhere—this one will give you a headache and a new appreciation for actual horror movies.
Conclusion: Against the Night Is A Horror Movie You’ll Want To Forget
In conclusion, Against the Night is a masterclass in how not to make a horror movie. It’s a jumbled mess of horror clichés, bad writing, and laughable special effects that fail to deliver any of the scares it promises. The characters are as forgettable as the plot, and the twists are more likely to make you roll your eyes than gasp in shock. If you’ve ever wanted to see a film that tries to combine ghost hunting, aliens, and meth labs into one disastrous package, then Against the Nightis your movie. But for the rest of us? It’s a hard pass.
Verdict: ⭐ out of 5 stars—because even aliens wouldn’t want to be associated with this one.
