A Midnight Kiss From Carter

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The first time I noticed that the cute neighbor boy from The Virgin Suicides had turned into MNPP Fave Jonathan Tucker, Grown Ass Man, was in Carter Smith's 2008 horror flick The Ruins, a film that remains here eleven years later tremendously underrated. And not just for the gift that is Jonathan Tucker, Grown Ass Man. Smith's film is trauma in celluloid form -- it underlines in thick red marker all of your absolute worst fears about the fragility of your own body, and then tendon thin line separating us from just a pile of meat on the floor. 

It's the body horror of Cronenberg mixed up with a slasher flick about Ugly Americans -- the most important subject of Aughts Horror -- with a whiff of Climate Change to boot. It's like a well-acted well-written and beautifully-shot version of M. Night's The Happening. It's surreal and terrifying, and also Jena Malone gives one of the great horror performances of its decade in it. Am I still talking about how good The Ruins is? Well The Ruins is fantastic.

But a good question at this point would probably be, why the hell am I rambling about The Ruins? Because I just found out that Carter Smith has a new project coming out next month! Mind you this isn't Smith's first work since The Ruins -- if you've never seen his ultra-creepy and gay horror flick Jamie Marks is Dead from 2014 I recommend seeking that out as well; I didn't love it as much as The Ruins but here five years later the film has lingered, and it seems a little ahead of its time with its explicitly queer horror content. (For more queer horror content I recommend you check out Smith's Instagram, which is off the hook.)

Anyway Carter Smith has directed the latest episode of Hulu's monthly Into the Dark anthology series, which offers up a new holiday-themed chapter each time around -- Smith's is called "Midnight Kiss" and is New Years themed, dropping onto Hulu on December 27th. (Last year's New-Years-themed episode was directed by Always Shine director Sophia Takal, and I reviewed it right here.) It's also about gay folks! It stars Scott Evans and Augustus Prew (both of whom I just saw playing boyfriends in NewFest's opening night flick Sell By; see some photos I took of them at the premiere right here) and here's how BD describes it:

"In the episode, “A group of longtime gay best friends and their resident fruit fly head to a beautiful desert home to celebrate New Year’s Eve. One of their annual traditions is to play “Midnight Kiss”, a sexy but ultimately dangerous challenge to find that special someone to help you ring in the New Year. As friendships have grown strained with secrets, jealousy and resentment, the group faces another challenge when a sadistic killer wants in. Relationships are put to the test and truths are revealed as the night turns into a fight for survival.”"

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