Reel Review: Midnight Peepshow

A twisted, dreamlike anthology exploring the sinister side of lust and greed, “Midnight Peepshow” is the antidote to Valentine’s schlock.

Ah, Valentine’s Day. For some, it is a sweet confirmation of tender feelings, a dozen roses, and handmade cards. For others, it is a cheap marketing scheme to sell confections, a heap of money, societal pressure, and a manufactured deadline to level up your relationship.

But for our kind of people, it just isn’t love unless there’s a little bit of pain.

Every rose has its thorn, after all. And, anatomically speaking, there’s no point to a heart without a little bit of blood.

For those people, there’s Midnight Peepshow, a stylish, gory, and sexy anthology that’ll make your toes curl.

Graham, a drunken, despondent businessman, wanders alone amongst the streets of Soho. He’d blown off the conference he was at, flinching when a friend mentioned his interest in the “Black Rabbit,” a site on the dark web that is the stuff of sordid legend.

Graham craves something — perhaps drugs or more whiskey — until he spies a building marked Midnight Peepshow in a hidden-away storefront at the end of an alley, the glow of the neon sign drawing him like a moth to a flame.

The peepshow is an old-fashioned place where you pay your money and look through the open viewing slot.

A girl dances sensually in the room. But this girl will reveal more than her body. And the matting of blood on her hairline-we find out about that, too.

As Graham peers through the slot, we enter our first story. He’ll soon learn each of the rooms has its own girl, each with her own gory tale, and each takes place on Valentine’s Day.

“Personal Space” centers on a home invasion that is not all it seems. “Fuck Marry Kill” tells the story of a twisted game show that has shades of the SAW franchise in its deliciously wicked premise. And “The Black Rabbit” finds a woman whose taste for danger takes her further than she ever wanted to go.

As Graham learns more about the women, he finds the tales circling ever closer to his own life until he, too, finds himself caught in the snare of The Black Rabbit.

Each of these stories revolves around sex, death, and money.

In the tradition of the best film anthologies, the individual segments — directed by Andy Edwards (Punch), Airell Anthony Hayles (Werewolf Santa), and Ludovica Musemeci and written by Edwards, Hayles, and Jake West — feed into and enhance the wraparound story until they are all part of the same cohesive universe.

A great aid to that is the gorgeous art direction, which blends the cheap glow of neon against the stark brick and concrete of abandoned buildings, the blood red turning inky black as our characters cringe in the shadows.

The anthology shares just the right amount of story overlap, keeping each story distinct while teasing out hints of the larger mythology. The bunny ears on the black dildo were a particularly ingenious touch, as was the nod to Playboy Bunnies in the final room.

There are many twists and turns in Midnight Peepshow, but it has the heart of a dark fairytale, where desperate people make bargains they don’t fully understand, and guilty and innocent alike are ground under the bootheel of greed.

But like every peepshow, if you want to look, you always have to pay. And the Black Rabbit takes all kinds of payment.

There is an aspect of dreamlike fantasy akin to Twin Peaks or Donnie Darko, keeping the film lighter and more fun than its subject matter would suggest. It also stars horror icon Zach Galligan, best known for his work on Gremlins and Waxwork.

If, like Graham, you find yourself idly roaming the streets this Valentine’s Day, you will be rewarded with a trip to the Midnight Peepshow; just follow the Black Rabbit.