Day 9 - Midnight Offerings (1981)

 Day 9 - Midnight Offerings (1981)

PLOT - Vivian has magic powers. She doesn't hesitate to save her boyfriend David from failing in school by murdering teachers. However, David has gotten tired of her and is putting his charm on a new girl in school, Robin. Robin discovers that she also has magic powers, and it comes to a mental showdown between the two women over David.

LOWDOWN -  I first heard about this movie when I bought it last spring at a bootleg table at HorrorHound. Looking at the strange cover, I decided to do a blind buy and shortly after once I was home after being in a car for 24 hours straight and came down with a lovely stomach flu, I decided to lay in bed and pop in movie in. I mean what else makes somebody feel better when their puking than a bunch of teenage witches?

To me this was The Craft, before there was The Craft. I adore 1970's and 80's made for TV movies. ABC and CBS had their fair share of awesome titles that came out that still surprise me were aired for television due to the subject content. With a coast side setting, and Ms. Melissa Sue Anderson, right before she stunned everyone from straying away from her good girl image on Little House when she played in the highly underrated slasher Happy Birthday To Me. For fans of Anderson, I highly recommend this title. It's pretty strange seeing her as the villain but she does such a great job at doing it. In fact, dare I say it she might be one of my all time favorite female villains of all time? 

Telling the story of two teenagers with special powers who go head to head at a local high school. One that is the new girl, trying to slowly learn how to control her second sight, and the other a black magic worshiping crazed girl with a serious case of PMS. All over a guy, the two begin to slowly show their powers and as accidents and the body count raises, both know it's only a matter of time before they have the ultimate showdown. 

I highly enjoyed Midnight Offerings. With the classic feel of the early 80's, and a wonderful storyline, I feel this made for TV movie was very ahead of it's time. Taking classic elements and shaping them into their own, it's very rare that I like a movie with such young actors, but this movie stood alone. With a great script, and pretty good effects for the time this is the kind of made for TV movie I would LOVE to see remade in modern times. I'm not the biggest fan of witches, in fact even though I live close to Salem MA, I find almost everything about them a little done to death. Still, between Lords Of Salem, and the newest season of American Horror Story coming out, I can't help but enjoying Midnight Offerings even more.

A huge highlight is the female villain's mother. A helpless housewife who once possessed the same power her daughter now has and is using for evil. I really loved the scenes at home, and how you learn that the mother gave up her power years ago and when she became pregnant with this daughter, her last child in fact she didn't even want her and it was her husband that talked her into keeping the baby. I really loved the scenes of the father who's so blinded by his love for his daughter, unable to see how cruel and awful she really is being. I liked how he explains all the other children who are now off and grown up have done nothing for their life's and that this daughter is the first one to show a promising future. How he can't see that she's using these powers to get ahead in life, and hurting others in the process. I loved the scene between mother and daughter in the kitchen with the drinking glass and how it all ends up building up to the showing climax.

The other scene I really love is when both teenage girls so head to head at school in the woodshop. Pieces of wood and power tools go flying and trust me it's awesome.

So if you want to gear up for the next season of American Horror Story that's going to air tonight, go pop in Midnight Offerings, a truly awesome tale of teenage witches who will kill anyone who gets in their way!

4 Stars!