Horror Fans Are in for a Long One If They Watch the Derivative The Long Night
Rich Ragsdale’s The Long Night holds the unfortunate distinction of being a movie most horror fans have seen without pressing “Play.” Even worse, it’s almost a futile act given the film’s lack of energy or desire to differentiate its out-of-towner thrills. Writers Mark Young and Robert Sheppe prove they’ve seen horror tales with big houses, tense couples and ghoulish threats a-knocking; the problem is that they offer bland renovations to its skeletal narrative beyond the barest bones. The Long Night’s understanding of horror genre fulfillment is nonexistent, no more satisfying than rice cakes with a little red food coloring splashed on to mimic spooky decorations.
Grace Covington (Scout Taylor-Compton) and her partner Jack Cabot (Nolan Gerard Funk) are on a mission to locate Grace’s estranged parents. These Manhattan slicksters travel from New York City to a southern plantation house where they’ll stay. Upon the first night’s fall, things get weird when a cult in black robes and animal masks appears outside. Nobody’s moving; they just stare inside at Grace and Jack. There’s your horror.
The Long Night is a play in multiple acts; subheadings appear like “The Committal” or “The Encounter” to mark separate chapters. We’re stuck with Grace—a transplanted local who returns home in search of answers—and the standoffish Jack as he barks over the phone at employees, asserting his businessy importance. Trapped by ominous figures standing in place, Grace keeps succumbing to visions of hissing snakes, blasphemous seduction and brimstone. And so scenes stammer on, with Jack frustratedly muttering about escape plans before Grace falls into another screaming fit when she awakes from more nightmares. The film is, at its best, a repetitive chore that presumes simply featuring secret societies and scared characters is enough to frighten us.