Review - TF8 - Night Kaleidoscope MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW Review

Original Article by Midnight Horror Show http://www.midnighthorrorshow.com

A Fantastic Cinematic Approach to Vampire Films

Vampire films in the horror genre have been done many times over the years. You have everything from “Nosferatu”, “Dracula”, “Van Helsing”, and “Interview with a Vampire”, which are more standard vampire stories, to more types of vampire films like “From Dusk ’til Dawn”, “Underworld” and “Blade” that take on a different approach.

The fact of the matter is that it’s hard to get excited for vampire films anymore because Hollywood has done them to death. “Night Kaleidoscope” is a nice break from familiarity. The story follows Fion (Patrick O’Brien), who is a psychic investigator who takes a special drug to see visions, as his power is depleting, and this ability is becoming more and more dependent on it. He is tracking down two vampires Carrie (Kitty Colquhoun), and Lewis (Jason Harvey) who he has been seeing kill people in these visions, and seems to always be one step behind them as they terrorize the city of Edinburgh.

There is a lot of really strange imagery while he is having these visions, and it really adds to the immersion of the film. A girl named Isobel (Mariel McAllan) joins Fion after escaping to help him take on the vampire couple. Grant McPhee directed, produced, and did the cinematography for this film. No stranger to directing films, and even having worked in the camera department on some notable films like “World War Z”, and as a digital imaging technician on the show “Game of Thrones”, it’s safe to say that McPhee knows how to capture a scene. And it really shows in this film. The cinematography in “Night Kaleidoscope” is great. There is a really unique and artistic feel to the film that is definitely accentuated by this.

Some fantastic lighting and an extremely good synth soundtrack from Alec Cheer helps paint a really atmospheric picture. There is also definitely an essence of horror style from the 70’s and 80’s, and some artistic expression that benefits from it while still keeping it modern.

Final Thoughts: “Night Kaleidoscope” has a lot of great cinematography, fresh imagery and an awesome soundtrack. It was nice to see a vampire film go out of the comfort zone of modern horror that so many vampire films seem to be stuck in. Excellent work by everyone involved. I will say that upon the first watch, it was a bit hard to follow, but that doesn’t detract from the overall experience at all, and hopefully McPhee keeps up this momentum and brings us some more horror films in the future. “Night Kaleidoscope” is available now on amazon to rent or buy.