[Film Review] The Long Night (2022)

The Long Night tells the story of Grace, played by Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1 &2), as she travels back to her childhood origins in the south of America with her boyfriend. Once there, they encounter strange and ominous goings on involving a prophecy fulfilling cult. 

Directed by Rich Ragsdale and written by Robert Sheppe and Mark Young The Long Night is a dark and eerie tale of a young woman who seems to feel misplaced in the world of her New York wealthy boyfriend and is searching for her home in the form of trying to find out information on her birth parents. Heading down south, Grace and boyfriend Jack begin to sense the uncanny and find themselves the objects of a terrifying attack by skull clad cult members. As the night continues, Grace must find the strength within to fend off the violent group and go head to head with their psychotic leader.

Drawing on a heavy influence of the southern gothic subgenre of horror, The Long Night relies heavily on it’s bleak and ominous visuals. The mise-en-scene of the film is expertly put together with a perfect blend of daunting landscape paired with unnatural lighting set against the dark of the night. The short running time works to the film’s advantage. Whereas a lot of folk horror tends to draw out tension to an almost tedious point, The Long Night compact everything without the feeling of being rushed. The story is set up quickly and the action occurs rapidly, drawing the viewer’s attention instantaneously.

The downfall of The Long Night lies in its lack of folklore when it comes to its demonic subject. For folk and occult horror to truly have any sort of serious creep factor, it needs to have a solid folkloric backbone from which the evil element comes from. Unfortunately for The Long Night, whether due to time constraints or otherwise, the demon stance seems a bit flimsy and like an afterthought. However, the actors involved give an outstanding performance especially Scout Taylor-Compton as a frantic yet ballsy Grace and Silent Hill’s (2006) Deborah Kara Ungah as the stone cold maniacal leader. 

The Long Night is a gloomy and foreboding atmospheric set piece with traditional yet not entirely tired folk horror visuals. It preys on everyone’s basic desire to know from where they came and also the need to feel like they belong somewhere. With a little more emphasis on the demonic, this film could be uplifted to a highly regarded Midsommar (2019) or Hereditary (2018) status. 

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