Night Game

Someone is going around killing blondes along a beachfront in Texas possibly with a hook. Former baseball player now detective Roy Scheider is on the case.

Heavily criticised on its release, it's not hard to see why. The story is rather lumpen, drawing us into various cliched storylines eg big political / jurisdiction issues, Scheider's forthcoming nuptials to a blonde, numerous blonde girls walking alone into isolated places when there's a killer on the loose and the killer and their rationale for the killings when it finally emerges are bonkers.

That all aside, I watched this because of my fondness for Scheider who is a real class act. Certainly after Jaws and All That Jazz, he settled into a busy career of making generally below par films like this one. He is though a star and a good actor who keeps you watching and his scenes with the Richard 'Man in a Suitcase' Bradford are fun, well written and acted. So yes it's a disappointment, an unremarkable serial killer 'thriller', but it does have its charms.

Mike Seaver (Roy Scheider) is a hard bitten detective in Galveston, Texas with a chequered past regarding authority. He likes baseball, he used to play minor league and his father worked for the mob.

When mainly blonde prostitutes start to get killed. Seaver is on the case, but his various departmental heads are not happy.

His mother in law to be is also not happy, Seaver is due to marry Roxy Bennett (Karen Young) who is half his age.

Under pressure to make a breakthrough, Seaver finds a link between each murder and the Houston Astros winning.

Peter Masterson the director was inept when it came to action movies. Night Game is a hybrid police thriller with the slasher genre.

It is all over the place, at times badly acted and written.

The finale has to be been seen for its awfulness. It is no surprise that Roxy would eventually be targeted by the killer. When she is chased by a man with a hook, she runs into the kitchen of a restaurant and not once asks for assistance.

After all, a restaurant kitchen will have chefs with knives who could had come to her aid.

Even when Seaver confronts the killer, members of the public just stand and watch. It seems no one in Texas carries a firearm!

The Popular Success, from Fans and Critics of the "Serial-Killer" Genre in the History of Cinema is a Clear Representation of the Filmography that has More "Hits" than "Strike-Outs".

This One is Definite Entry in the Strike-Out Category,

where Nothing Seems to Work and Coalesce into a Watchable "Thriller" or Cinematic Study of the Modern Mayhem and its Murderous Perpetrators.

The "Tone" Set-Forth in this Dull Display, well, there is No Tone.

This Law v Killer is a Misguided Affair, with Distracting, Hardly Relevant Side-Stories (Mother-In-Law) that are Embarrassing.

A Usually Reliable "Lead", Roy Scheider Plays the Act OK, but is Dealt a Numbing and Dumbing-Down Script with Little to Shine and Much to Cause a Cringe.

The Genre has had some Mediocre and Unremarkable Films, ranging from Fair to Great, Depending.

But this One Takes the "Wedding Cake"...

Concluding in the "Astro-Dome" with Scheider and His New Bride (Karen Young), and She Is...about 20 Years Too Young, still Wearing Her Gown from the Wedding, by the way... the Writer that Wrote this Thing Thought it Interesting, or Provocative, or Something, that Scheider Actually Dated Her Mom in High-School...

Wow...Talk about Cringe-Inducing.

The Starting Pitcher, that the Story Revolves Around, Leaves the Mound Goes to the Stands to Congratulate the Detective (by the way a former Minor-Leaguer) for Solving the Case...

He Tells Him to..."Enjoy the Game"...then the Ump Yells...Play Ball.

Few will "Enjoy" this Awful Movie.

The main drawcard is the exciting actor, Roy Scheider. Sadly, he can't carry such a deadweight on his own. The script was absolutely awful and the directing dreadful. The story was slow and the fight scene at the end was like a children's recital. That's not the fault of the actors as I blame that on the director. I like to know who finances these type of films. Too much money and not knowing what to do with it must be the diagnosis. On one interesting note is Karen Young. Does she remind you of Shirley MacLaine or what?

Roy Scheider plays a Galveston, Texas police detective trying to catch a serial killer. It seems when a popular Houston Astro pitches a winning night game, a beautiful blonde winds up dead near the beach.

This crime drama also stars Richard Bradford, Paul Gleason, Karen Young, Lane Smith and Rex Linn. This movie quickly becomes predictable, but keeps your interest to the end.