What
do the Florida Everglades and Hendricks County, IN have in common? You can find
some nice homes in both locales, but the neighboring population is sparse. That
makes them prime spots for nefarious goings-on. Brett Potter & Dean Colin
Marcial “document” spooky incidents in both respective regions in the upcoming
web series, The Midnight Service,
which screened as part of N.O.W. [New Online Work] Showcase A at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
As
Josh Meek explains in episode one, “Pizza Delivery,” he did not want to make a delivery
at the end of long dark stretch of rural road, but he reluctantly did so at his
boss’s insistence. When he arrives, he finds the house empty—or is it? What he sees
could have been a scene out of Lost
Highway, except tighter and more focused. At just four minutes, Pizza
Delivery is in fact super-focused.
The
second episode screened, “Home Invasion” is twice as long, but its basic
premise could support an entire feature film. One night, comedian Kat Toledano
was housesitting in the Glades when a small-time local felon tried to violently
break-and-enter, but he suddenly just up and vanished. About the same time, a
park ranger in Everglades National Park observed a strange phenomenon from his observation
station. Could these events be related?
Toledano
is pretty funny playing it straight as herself, but the real stars of the show
are the creepy ambiance and Brian McOmber’s massively eerie music. You can
think of Midnight Service as the old Unsolved Mysteries TV show reconceived
for post-Scream generations. It has
an ironic sensibility, creating situations that clearly imply the work of some
sort of uncanny agency, while scrupulously maintaining its ambiguity.