Review for Pray for Morning

(Originally posted on fight-evil.com)

*This is my first-time viewing of the film*

This movie feels a bit longer than an actually is. While clocking in at a normal 90 minutes, Pray for Morning suffers from various problems that seem to drag the movie out.

In it, a group of friends breaks into an old hotel, which has been uninhabited for at least thirty years, and is the scene of brutal deaths that took place years past. Not a bad plot, but not overly creative either. Truth be told, I can't even describe all the problems this movie has, but believe me, they're there.

Firstly, it takes a little while for each of the eight main characters to get fleshed out, meaning that before that happens, we're left with pretty much interchangeable characters. Even toward the ending, though, none of the remaining characters stood out. The constant teleportation got a bit annoying (especially when one of the characters keeps insisting they're just lost - as if popping up in a room on a floor you weren't on seconds ago isn't an indicator of a bigger problem than being lost), but that's marginalized a bit by the fact that the malevolent spirit they're facing was a magician in his previous life.

Elements of the movie fall flat, and this is most clearly seen in the final twenty or so minutes, in which a plot twist arises, followed by an explanation of something that doesn't make much sense. Not to say that answers weren't provided, but I felt as though I was missing something.

Just to note, the movie isn't a terrible one - there are some decent scenes, even some more experimental scenes, that stand out, despite the low budget (through most of the film, a bright light represents the spirit of the magician). That said, just like most of the characters in the film, Pray for Morning just comes across as bland. A mostly forgettable experience, all-in-all. Robert F. Lyons and Udo Kier do well in their respective roles, at least. 5/10.