MIGHTNIGHT PEEPSHOW focuses more on bloodshed than erotic thrills

Midnight Peepshow
Directed by Ludovica Musumeci, Airell Anthony Hayles, Andy Edwards, and Jake West
Written by Andy Edwards, Airell Anthony Hayles, and Jake West
Starring:  Richard Cotton, Miki Davis, Sarah Diamond
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Available on Digital and on Demand February 13

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Midnight Peepshow may suggest a thriller filled with deep, dark, dirty sexual fantasies, but this anthology film delivers more violence than sex. The stories are loosely connected around the Black Rabbit—a dark web site that involves people filming sexual fantasies for profit. (Trigger warning: several episodes depict scenes of non-consensual sex.) 

But Andy Edwards, Airell Anthony Hayles, and Jake West, who co-wrote and directed the various segments—along with Ludovica Musumeci, who directed the framing storyline—are not delving too deep into the characters’ psychology. This approach allows viewers, like the film’s protagonist, Graham (Richard Cotton), to become immersed in a world that is both seductive and dangerous. 

Midnight Peepshow opens with a “wraparound” episode that introduces Graham as a businessman who is drunk and broke—his wallet is stolen in the opening scene. Borrowing some money from his friend Miles (Mark Hampton), Graham procures some drugs and enters the titular establishment where a sex worker, Alice (Roisin Browne) wants to show him something. She then recounts a story, “Personal Space,” where she and her husband David (David Wayman) are victims of a home invasion. When Joe (Ocean Harris) pulls a gun and ties David to chair he makes David watch Alice have sex with the intruder. Things go sideways, but a flashback provides some backstory that sheds light on what is actually happening. 

“Personal Space” is not the strongest entry in the film, but it sets the tone—attractive actors role play a frightening and sexualized scenario. Alas, there are moments that strain credibility, which take viewers out of the film. This is the biggest flaw with “Midnight Peepshow.”

The second segment, “Fuck Marry Kill” has Helen (Miki Davis) trapped in a room with three men, each tied to a chair. They are her ex, Chester (Derek Nelson), as well as Maxwell (Jamie Bacon), a yoga instructor she cheated on Chester with, and Liam (Jack Fairbank), a stranger. Helen has to fuck one guy, marry another, and kill the third within the allotted time, otherwise all four of them will die. The segment plays out with some humor, despair, and forced sex, but the morality at play does not quite provide the tension it might. It is certainly watchable, but it might work better as a story than a film because the actors are all performing broadly. 

The last segment, “The Black Rabbit,” is the strongest. Here Graham’s backstory is revealed as his relationship with his wife Isabel (Sarah Diamond) gets spicy when he pays her money for sex. However, as Isabel continues to insist on compensation, Graham gets frustrated, and she leaves him, eventually entering a secret lair where Isabel finds herself in over her head. 

Midnight Peepshow delivers some cheap thrills, but they mainly involve bloodshed. The sex here is largely unerotic, and the nudity, which includes a full-frontal shot, is almost exclusively male. The filmmakers are more focused on creating twisted tales about dirty money and naughty behavior than turning on viewers. And that is fine. The stories are not uninteresting, and the film provides some style even with its low budget. 

However, this would have worked better as an anthology series and not a feature film. And trivia fans will appreciate that Zach Galligan, from Gremlins, is featured in the cast as the “Game Master,” a disembodied voice who instructs the players in the “Fuck Marry Kill” sequence. 

Give the promise here Midnight Peepshow comes off mostly as a tease.