What if Sauron had won in Lord of the Rings? That seems to be the central—if unofficial—premise behind Midnight Chronicles, a low-budget fantasy film which is apparently based on a role-playing game of the same name. I don't know anything about the game, but fans of fantasy films and literature will have no problem identifying a familiar genre setting with all the expected features—elves, orcs, evil sorcerers and brave rebels, horrible monsters, etc.The difference is that this time around, our main protagonist is one of the bad guys. Mag Kiln (Charles Hubbell) is an evil priest of Izrador, a fallen god cast out of heaven for his crimes. (Just keep thinking Sauron and you'll get it.) Mag is sent to a backwater village to finish building Izrador's temple. But the village turns out to be a hub of rebel activity and, possibly worse, even haunted by supernatural beings Mag knows nothing about.Anyone thinking of renting this flick needs to know certain things going in. First off, it's extremely low-budget. The action scenes are not very well staged and there aren't many of them anyway. Most of the plot is carried forward by dialogue, so if you're expecting a lot of bloody sword fights you'll be disappointed. And the climax—if you can call it that—is a serious letdown. Presumably this is the first in a series of films, which isn't mentioned anywhere on the DVD cover, and so the ending leaves the viewer with more questions than answers.But for all that, I enjoyed watching Midnight Chronicles. For one thing, it's clearly a real labor of love for Christian T. Petersen, who not only wrote the script but directs the picture as well. The story takes itself seriously, where many films of its kind succumb to campy self-parody, and the cast uniformly keeps a straight face. The film is also surprisingly well-written. The dialogue is exactly like reading a fantasy novel, and helps set just the right tone. Costumes and set design are also surprisingly good considering the obvious lack of funds, and the wicked orcs are especially well-rendered.The actors are mostly unknown, but for the most part they do well. Charles Hubbell is very good as the "evil" Mag, who may be on the verge of a crisis of faith (one would hope so!). Dawn Brodey is a lovely assistant to Mag named Chazura, and Sam Landman adds some color to the narrative as Mag's sarcastic sidekick, Kruce.Despite its weaknesses, I look forward to future installments in the Midnight Chronicles, assuming this film does well enough to generate a sequel. It's not for everyone, and can come across as a poor man's version of The Lord of the Rings, but fantasy fans looking for something different should check it out.

This fantasy movie is set in a world where the bad guys won. Consequently, most of the running time is describing what the bad guys are doing. Good guys also appear, but they are not the main characters. This whole set-up is a refreshing break from the whole lot of other genre movies clinging to the hero all the time. It's a shame that apparently many reviews are rather negative because many people wouldn't want a picture outside the frame of the usual clichés. The effects and acting have the quality of a TV series, not a zillion dollar blockbuster, but since we all watch TV series, too, I don't think that should be much of a problem. I enjoyed the movie - except the sudden ending, without a sequel for me to see. The makers of such movies deserve more praise, I'd say.

First thing i did after watching this movie was go on the internet to see if it actually was the pilot to Midnight the series i'd been watching. Unfortunately this wasn't the case which has left me with a very unsatisfied feeling. You do get a good introduction into the world of Midnight, but when you feel the story is just about to take off the ending credits start playing. I just hope the makers of this movie see the actual potential of the story and decide that they have made a pilot after all and not a film that has to carry its own weight. The acting actually wasn't too bad and the sceneries combined with the computer generated settings gave the movie an authentic feel.

Let's start this off with a disclaimer: I am not a professional movie critic. I do not have a degree in fine or preforming arts, and I am in no way involved with the motion picture industry. What I am is a fan of fantasy and science fiction.After watching the latest travesties put forth by the SciFi (sorry the SyFy) Channel, I find this film refreshing.The costuming and cinematography were quite good. The feel of the movie was vaguely creepy and medieval. The intentional under-use of fantasy race main characters was also greatly appreciated.The acting was surprisingly good considering. In looking at the closing credits it looks like they hit up every community theater, ren-fest and college theater department in WI and MN. There was plenty of decent acting in this movie. Academy award no, good, yes.There were even decent special effects. Cut people bleed; monsters sounded creepy; magic was understated but you could tell it was in use. For a film that was not of a 'Hollywood' budget it came together quite well.Now for the only 2 things that I had a problem with. The title and the script.The script manged to keep me involved without being heavy handed on the morals, and it did manage to portray other races as being different and definitely not human without being campy. The feel that most of the characters didn't know what was going on was at first a little trying, but then it helped me identify with the characters. However, the dialog could have been a bit more polished. For example, a dwarven tunnel reference did nothing to help the story and took away from the feel of the movie. Also, the hero's back story was a little weak (but then again there wasn't really time).The title? 'Midnight Chronicles' is a good title but 'Midnight Chronicles – And so it Begins' would have been better.This brings me back to the opening night of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I was sitting in front of a group of stoned rednecks and as the credits rolled one exclaimed: "Tha's it?!?! Whur's da res' of it?!?!" I can now understand his confusion. While just about anyone who can read knows that The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of books, there is no such well known fact about the Midnight Chronicles. However as an hour into the movie there was still back story emerging, I can't say I was totally surprised by the huge number of plot lines that were still open at the end.Overall, this movie is better than most fantasy movies made in the Hollywood and SyFy machines. Perhaps they could learn from this film. If you like fantasy movies you will like/love this one. If you are expecting explosions, sex, or a conanesque slaughter fest give it a pass.I look forward to the sequel!