10 TO MIDNIGHT

10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983)

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Screenplay by William Roberts

Story by J. Lee Thompson

RECOMMENDATION BY

JUSTIN HUGH DICKINSON

In one of the seemingly endless cop thrillers made by that '80s dream team that was Charles Bronson and J. Lee Thompson and produced by Cannon Picture cousins Golan & Globus, this has all the basic ingredients of these types of films. Charlie plays his usual cynical, bad-ass role, (that by this time he could play in his sleep). As Leo Kessler, he is teamed with his new by-the-book partner Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens), and is trying to be a good father to his grown daughter Laurie (Lisa Elibacher from Beverly Hills Cop). Of course, there's a psycho-killer, Warren Stacy, (Gene Davis) on the loose in the city murdering women.. Naturally, this gives Kessler no choice but to break police procedure in order to catch him. Obtaining evidence in an unorthodox fashion against the killer allows Stacy to walk. Now Stacy plans on getting back at Kessler by targeting Laurie.

This killer's M.O. adds an interesting touch to this well-worn formula. During the day he appears to be someone you would not give a second thought to, but inside he wants to kill. He makes obscene phone calls to his would-be victims using a fake Latin accent that is reminiscent of Don't Answer the Phone. At night he dresses in Member's Only jackets, jeans, cowboy boots, and goes hunting after pretty women. The aforementioned "interesting touch" is that once he finds his prey, he takes all his clothes off and chases after them. He doesn't even wear shoes.

A neat touch is the scene where Stacy is following a specific girl to kill. The girl is with a friend and they go to a movie. Stacy shadows them carrying an extra pair of clothes that he stows in an air vent. He watches the movie, then when the girl gets up to go to the restroom, he kills her, switches clothes, and returns to his seat making sure people saw him enter the theater when the lights went down and when they went up again. Pretty good alibi. I might be a bit hazy on parts of that segment but that is the gist of it.

There is plenty of nudity and blood in the film, such as when a girl is being chased through the woods you see bush and I am not talking the surrounding foliage here. (Don't you miss the sex, violence, and rampant female nudity of non-watered down '80s movies?)

The acting is not as bad as one might initially suspect. Of course it helps to be a Bronson fan going in. He has played this type for so long by this point, but he seems to be having fun with it saying lines such as "I hate quiche." , "Cole slaw makes me sick." Stevens is fine as well, though on a couple of occasions I expected the veins on his forehead to pulse like in The Fury. Lisa Elibacher is gorgeous as always and does a good job with what little there is for her to do. As the killer, Gene Davis came off as a bit stiff, yet ultimately believable. In fact the first time I saw this I thought Davis' acting was so one-dimensional and wooden that he was horrible in the role. The second time I watched it, I picked up on the fact that he was playing this character completely in a screwed up way, dislocated from everything and everyone in his mind. I saw what he was doing and I think his acting portrayed that. Watch his delivery and see if shades of John Amplas' performance in Martin do not come to mind.

Perhaps the wildest scene comes at the end when Bronson's daughter is being chased down the street with the naked killer running after her American Psycho style, sans the chainsaw and trainers.

All in all, this is one of Charles Bronson's more watchable Cannon films. Not his sickest or nastiest (such as The Evil That Men Do or Kinjite), but a cool movie filled with 80's nostalgia that packs a bit of a punch for its off-the-wall weirdness. Also appearing are Wilford Brimley, Kelly Preston, Ola Ray, and Geoffrey Lewis

This is a film fit for a lazy Saturday/Sunday morning. And definitely is essential in any Charles Bronson marathon that one plans to hold.