Night of the Wilding

I must confess that I did rate this movie as a 1 for being "awful", but "awful" in a good, humorous kind of way. What makes this movie somewhat odd is the fact that it is supposedly based on a true story, on a real life Night of the Wilding. But clearly this film does not do the original tragedy any justice whatsoever. Erik Estrada is the only semi-big name in the movie which was obviously why he was cast for the lead role... all too often cheap and pointless movies like these are made as vehicles for the furtherance of a B-star's career. Yeah, annoying characters, pointless nudity (you've got to love those 2 minute scenes which feature a woman in a shower which have nothing to do with the plot), combined with a ridiculous stunt featuring an out of control car which somehow does a flip on the dugout and twists in the air, finally landing on the infield itself (I actually rewound that scene and watched it 5 times in a row because of it's downright absurdity). I probably wouldn't recommend this film to anyone except for a die-hard CHIPS fan or a fan of awesomely bad movies.

"Here we go again", I thought to myself very early in this film, but boy was I wrong. I had known about this one, where I thought, "Why would Joey Travolta do exactly the same kind of movie?", based on a subject that really wasn't memorable, or worth bringing up. Or had this come out before the other Wilding. Wilding is an American term, for dangerously violent behavior by the misdirected youth to cure boredom, and it's frighteningly scary behavior, if seeing the other film. This time, the film shoots from the other end, with the legal side of the crime. Three youths, led by a real nasty piece of work, a tall red haired kid, who kind of creeped me out, I had second thoughts about going to sleep, crash a girl's birthday party, raping her and her friend, while beating the boyfriend with those bats. Prior to this, they had caused some ruckus, at the supermarket, where the birthday girl works, before assailing a customer, beating him to near death. The youths go to trial, defended by a guy (Estrada, quite good here) who's never lost a case, of cause using some underhand, below the belt methods. Estrada, was someone I really wanted to punch here, like others in the film of course. After watching this, I'd turned off by defendants, that pose the question, "Why the hell would you want to be one?" Well just looks where Estrada lives". The woman taking the victim trio's case used to be married to Estrada, where this little stifling, too close for comfort, relationship, isn't nothing new in these courtroom drama's, almost dome to death. I'll be honest, the film became really engaging, where first off the bat, I though to myself, "Oh no". But as I watched, I almost couldn't turn. off. I guess the one disappointing thing here, was seeing the minimal use of Travolta, an underestimated actor, who raises some laughs, playing a slick scuzzy lawyer friend of Estrada's. Yes we have a couple of actors, we've seen in a few of those City Lights films, ala Joseph Mehri, and Richard Pepin, the actress playing the magistrate, a really good thespian. I must say, Estrada held his own, though was a little upstaged by the ex wife, who fared better, giving a very real, effective, and authentic performance, but it was Travolta, who I loved to be honest. NOTW had some shock moments, things I didn't expect to happen, but these moments, mirror other ones in that long line of City Lights flicks. It was great how Estrada, who I really detested here at first, became the hero in the end, and I did like the heroine's heedless plan of attack, to catch these three, minus one arse****s. On the whole NOTW, is quite a good drama, though isn't flawless, with some laughable acting from some, and I mean as in bad = overacting. Some nice nudity, yes, violence inferred, not shown, like in the other Wilding, especially.

Rating Breakdown: Story - 1.00 :: Direction - 1.00 :: Pacing - 0.75 :: Performances - 1.00 :: Entertainment - 1.00 :::: TOTAL - 4.75/10

There's nothing more frustrating than a movie that has the ingredients for greatness but decides to make soup out of them instead. Night of the Wilding should have been a dark, chilling look at youthful amorality, but instead, it's a disjointed mess that can't decide if it's a courtroom drama, a revenge thriller, or a straight-to-video crime flick. The result? A film that stumbles, fumbles, and never quite lands a punch.

The premise is solid: Three privileged, morally bankrupt teens embark on a crime spree of rape and murder just because they can. Handled correctly, this could have been a terrifying exploration of entitlement, like A Clockwork Orange with a legal subplot. Instead, the script by Joseph Merhi (who also directs) and Charles T. Kanganis is a tangled web of half-baked ideas, and Merhi's direction is as uninspired as a beige wall. The cinematography is flat, the pacing is all over the place, and the central assault scene is cringeworthy in all the wrong ways.

Then there's the cast. Eric Estrada, normally a charismatic presence, seems adrift, playing a supposedly big-time lawyer with the energy of a man waiting in line at the DMV. The so-called "teens" are convincing enough as villains, even if they look old enough to have midlife crises. The saving grace? Kathrin Middleton as Estrada's ex-wife, who at least injects some energy into their shared scenes.

In the end, Night of the Wilding is a film that never finds its identity, never capitalizes on its strong concept, and ultimately wastes its potential. It's not unwatchable, but it's the kind of film you put on when there's truly nothing else available. And that's about as damning a verdict as I can give.

The story is not great. The acting is not inspiring. The direction is OK but not believable. This movie suffers from what many films can't shake. They needed to fill some time so you let the heroes do very stupid things nobody would really do, just to get to the car wreck or the shooting or the fight.

Watch for Richard Munchkin as the jury foreman at the end of the movie. Richard directed many action movies. I used to do stand up comedy with Richard in Las Vegas in the 1970s.

Speaking of the jury, you will notice that there are two different trials separated by a year or longer in this movie, and yet it is the same jury but they sit in different chairs.

Robert Dickey is the best part of this film. His character has some dimensions and is not just always the same level of hostility. He finds some decency in his portrayal. Robert had teen idol good looks and a great voice.

The car wreck is, as some have noted, just preposterous. It should be exciting, but it just looks silly. Eric is OK. The scenes of downtown L.A. are nicely filmed. Dialog is something a sixth grade student might write for an essay. Each speech is about the same length. Even the courtroom drama is kept at a Barbie Doll mentality.

It is an OK movie that has some nudity and violence, but not anything that will get your heart going.

Tom Willett

My review was written in June 1990 after watching the movie on MCEG/Virgin Video cassette.

This topical video presents an interesting examination of the issues of random youth violence , but it cops out with an inconclusive ending. Title and theme should attract interest.

Story line mentions explicitly the famous Central park incident in New York (currnely in the courts) last year in which a jogger was raped and beaten, allegedly by a group of youngsters. In "Night of the Wilding", two sisters in L. A. are rpaed by a young trio of rich kids who get fabulously successful mob lawyer Erik Estrada to defend them.

Film becomes a war of wills between Estrada, who's in the midst of a crisis of conscience because he constantly defends guilty clients, and the prosecutor, lovely Kathrin Lautner. To make the B picture overly melodramatic, Lautner is Estrada's ex-wife and she's won every case she's worked on.

Prolific action helmer Joseph Merhi takes a more subdued approach this time out, covering many details of court procedure and maneuverings effectively. Payoff is unfortunatgely unconvincing as the ringleade of the young thugs, Isaac Allan, kills his comatriot and tires to muder his rape victims and even the d.a., ending predictably in his demise at Estrada's hands.