Stop me if you've heard this one before: A group of sexy young people go into a haunted building on a dare, they joke about finding something in there, hear some noises, then they start actually getting picked off one by one.
Against the Night hits every single beat you expect, and a couple of ugly notes I didn't. Hank (Luke Persiani) convinces all the friends at a housewarming party hosted by Rachel (Hannah Kleeman) to go help him stage a fake ghost-hunting documentary at an abandoned prison in town. (This is after he's surreptitiously filmed two partygoers having sex, and then showed that footage to everyone. Classy guy.)
Thus, they all set out, armed with GoPros, night-vision cameras and digital room thermometers. They idiotically split up, find themselves trapped in different areas of the prison, and then the body count starts rising. Even though we've seen this a million times, Against the Night is still somewhat engaging, even if the characters are poorly defined and some of them deserve to get bumped off by Whatever That Thing Is.
If this movie had done anything slightly original with its premise, it wouldn't be a waste of time. But its only distinguishing characteristic is its demeaning attitudes toward women. Nearly every woman's body is objectified, with the women laughing off the comments. Two characters make out solely to give Hank "something to watch later on." The movie likes to think this is all just naughty fun, but it's actually pretty gross.
If you're looking for a spooky movie to watch this Halloween about sexy young people and/or haunted buildings, luckily there are dozens of others to choose from, and most of them won't leave you feeling like you're surrounded by douchebags.
