10 to Midnight (1983) Reviews

• Effective thriller

  Renaldo Matlin2003-10-03

  One user comment sums this movie up as "standard fare"?! When push comes to shove there really isn't anything standard about "10 to Midnight." The villain is a young, deeply disturbed man who turns on by knifing people to death in the nude, and needless to say the movie is filled with a large amount of nudity. The hero is a veteran homicide detective who decides to stop at nothing to get his man, even if it means fabricating evidence. The latter part is portrayed by the grand-daddy of all tough action heroes, Sir Charles Bronson (OK, I know he wasn't a Sir, I just wanted to see how it looked :) Compared to most of the other movies Bronson did with director J. Lee-Thompson here he really turns in a memorable performance as detective Leo Kessler. Take for instance the scene where he finds the chief-suspects electric vagina, the look on Bronson's face is worth the price of admission alone! And the interrogation scene later where Bronson confronts the suspect with his sex toy: priceless! The finale deserves notice for being both disturbing and downright scary, with it's echoes of the real-life Richard Speck-massacre in 1966. If you are a Bronson-fan you are almost guaranteed to like "10 to Midnight", one of his best from the 1980's.

• This is NOT a "Death Wish" rip-off

  anfinke2005-06-09

  A very solid movie! Charles Bronson is absolutely great in this film. The fact that the killer was a handsome guy really emphasized that he was a sociopath and all around creep (smart character development). Lisa Eilbacher is damn cute! A good psychological action/thriller! I do not understand why people consider this a "cheesy?" movie or a "rip-off" of Death Wish. Leo Kessler is a hardened cop. Paul Kersey was an architect who took on the role of vigilante after a life changing event. The two characters really aren't that similar at all. I wonder what Lisa Eilbacher is up to nowadays.

• A Gripping Film, Charlie Never Let's Down

  ed562005-01-04

  From the director who brought us The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear in the 60's, comes this interesting and suspenseful cop thriller. Charles Bronson plays a veteran cop who's with a young idealist cop is after a very smart and dangerous killer who likes to slice pretty and innocent chicks. The most interesting aspect of the film is that we know from the beginning who the killer is and for the rest of the film it's a mind game between Bronson and the killer who knows very well how to manipulate the system. This is definitely not to the squeamish one's because this is fairly a brutal film but from the intelligent kind. I'm familiar with Bronson's works and this is surely his best from the 80's. Anyone who looks for some highly entertaining film shouldn't miss it. Never mind the user's ratings because it's one of those underrated gems. Recommended

• Bronson ! Bronson ! Bronson !

  PeterKurten9112005-08-25

  you'll have to forgive me for that outburst of enthusiasm, but there really is no other way i could be summarizing this comment. It's not a Charles Bronson vehicle, because it has a lot of good elements by which this movie could still work very well if Bronson weren't playing the leading role. Kevin Bacon look-a-like Warren Stacy as the psycho killer switches swiftly between cruelty and self-piteous anxiety, with a funny Hispanic accent. which makes the dirty talk he delivers a treat. The manhunt and the killings are well interwoven until the finale, which would look fine in a slasher flick if only it were gorier. That resemblance - together with the hard-boiled style of action film-making nowadays replaced by bullet-time and the soundtrack - gives this movie that cool 80's feeling so refreshing to a child of the 90's. Charles Bronson is in great shape as the investigating detective, possibly because he sort of reprises his signature role, Paul "Death Wish" Kersey. On one hand his position as a law enforcer gives him more tricks to keep up his sleeve (such as planting evidence), on the other he's obliged to catch psychopaths by the book. However, he wouldn't be Bronson if he didn't book the book in the end and solved the case with a .38 solution. We end the movie by staring into the barrel, which brings me to my biggest frustration: we didn't have to wait 90 minutes to see Bronson take out scum like that in Death Wish. Give me a good investigation any time, but don't leave it to born gunslingers such as Bronson or Schwarzenegger.

• Filthy crime thriller is one of Bronson's best from '80s

  paul_johnr2005-09-16

  After grossing millions of dollars as a 1970s icon, Charles Bronson appeared in 'Death Wish II,' which began his tenure with Cannon Films and redefined him as a low-budget action star. Bronson became a sizable draw amongst exploitation fans, particularly at second-run movie houses, on cable television, and in the home video market. Besides the Death Wish series, he maintained his presence in films such as '10 to Midnight,' 'The Evil That Men Do,' and 'Murphy's Law' for over a decade. '10 to Midnight' is perhaps the best film of an association between Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson that lasted from 'St. Ives' in 1976 until 'Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects' in 1989. Thompson, best known for 'The Guns of Navaronne' and 'Cape Fear,' also made a cycle of low-budget films in the '80s that included 'The Evil That Men Do,' 'Murphy's Law,' 'King Solomon's Mines,' and 'Firewalker,' starring Chuck Norris. Despite their better days having passed, '10 to Midnight' is a riveting film that comes early in Bronson and Thompson's exploitation output and features some of the talents for which they're remembered. Rehashing ideas from 'Dirty Harry,' Bronson plays Leo Kessler, a Los Angeles detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a secretary and her boyfriend. Thanks to an unpleasant opening sequence, we already know that a handsome but deranged man named Warren Stacy (Gene Davis) is the culprit. It seems that Warren has major issues with women; he doesn't have much luck in getting dates and when he does spend time with a lady, things don't get very far. Stacy exacts his revenge by hunting these women down and impaling them with knives. Of course, Stacy is a hard suspect to nail because he commits the murders while fully naked, making blood quite easy to get rid of. He's also an expert at constructing alibis; on the night when our secretary and boyfriend are murdered, Stacy makes himself visible in a movie theater shortly before and after the killings occur. With the police on his tail, Stacy becomes a 1980s Macbeth, plotting against everyone connected to the original victims. Kessler and his young partner McAnn (Andrew Stevens) are desperate to put Stacy behind bars, especially with Kessler's daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher) targeted as a friend of the deceased. The courts are keeping Stacy free on a lack of evidence and Kessler must finally resort to extralegal measures. '10 to Midnight' uses the elusive killer theme championed by Alfred Hitchcock. Unlike other Cannon films in which Bronson is the lone point of interest, '10 to Midnight' alternates nicely between the warped deeds of Stacy and the anxious police work of Kessler. Gene Davis is a solid presence throughout, displaying enough menace in his role to coexist with Bronson. A script by William Roberts and Thompson gives unusual depth to Bronson's character. Bronson is also helped by a respectable supporting cast that includes Andrew Stevens, Lisa Eilbacher, and Wilford Brimley (as Captain Malone). Stevens complements Bronson as his partner, the son of a teacher whose intellect Kessler views as a hindrance. Geoffrey Lewis is excellent as Dave Dante, Stacy's repulsive trial lawyer who knows all the shortcuts of our court system. Kelly Preston has a small role as one of Laurie's roommates (under 'Kelly Palzis') and Robert F. Lyons is featured as a Los Angeles prosecutor. '10 to Midnight' offers ideas similar to 'Dirty Harry,' in that American justice is full of loopholes used by criminals. The film takes a brief look at our courts and how a police officer must actually break the law in order for justice to be served. The film does everything in its capacity to ram this point home: besides Stacy mutilating women in the nude (requiring a few odd-angles), Kessler interrogates Stacy with a sex toy found in his apartment and obscene phone calls are made to Kessler's daughter in a mock-Spanish accent. '10 to Midnight' has given TV editors added job security over the years; television broadcasts are edited so heavily for the nudity, violence, and foul language that much of its impact is lost. Instead of being hampered by cheap production values and technical work, J. Lee Thompson plays off these weaknesses to give '10 to Midnight' an added seediness. Much of the film takes place in drab, confined locations with poor lighting; combined with Adam Greenberg's soft-toned photography, '10 to Midnight' has an unremitting gloom that adds to Stacy's menace. The film also runs a concise 102 minutes and displays Thompson's gift for pacing. '10 to Midnight' is a procedural with scarce action, but the film never drags; Thompson uses flashback, alternating viewpoints, and periods without dialogue to maintain suspense. The soundtrack by Robert Ragland has a 1970s feel that only enhances the dismal setting. '10 to Midnight' is available on a budget DVD from MGM Home Entertainment. The disc offers both widescreen and standard format in mono audio with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish; 10 to Midnight's theatrical trailer is included as a lone extra. Picture and audio quality are fairly good considering the low budget that Thompson originally worked with; there is occasional grain but few artifacts and Robert Ragland's quirky music comes through nicely. While vulgar, violent, and in poor taste, '10 to Midnight' is a highly effective thriller, arguably Bronson and Thompson's strongest outing of the 1980s. It doesn't rank anywhere close to their previous films, but '10 to' is nevertheless intense, well-written, and memorable. *** out of 4