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THE MEAN SEASON (1985) **1/2 Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan, Richard Masur, Richard Bradford, Andy Garcia. Not bad suspenser with Russell as a newspaper reporter suddenly caught up in the story of a serial killer and himself in harm's way. Surprise ending.

I think the worst crime a film can commit is to be dull. It doesn't matter what your film is about, there is always a way to catch the audience off-guard and throw some surprises into the mix. 'The Mean Season' is one of those films that plays out exactly as expected. It checks all the boxes the studio would want it to, but man is it a forgettable ride.

Even when the killer is on the phone everything just feels so safe and watered down. The most daring thing the film does is a gratuitous nudity scene (seriously, where did that come from?). Near the end there is a little mini-twist I'll give the film credit for, however it's a bit late by that stage.

I didn't hate this film though. It was just such an interesting premise that I wanted more out of it. I wanted it to fire some shots and take some risks. It didn't though and for that reason I suspect I will have forgotten about this film by tomorrow morning. 6/10.

This was a pretty good movie. Its got good suspense towards the end but it will never top BREAKDOWN, which is his ultimate suspense movie. Mariel Hemingway was a good choice, she hasn't been in much lately. I think she is still pretty. Well, Kurt does a good job. This is worth seeing and its from 1985. It has violence, language and nudity.

This is definitely a thriller. And one of the reasons why is Richard Jordan who plays the psychopath, Alan Delour. He is so convincing he is absolutely frightening. Especially his last scenes, he gives me shivers every time I watch him. He was definitely one of the finest actors that ever was and when he passed away, we lost a great talent. Kurt Russell also did a find job as Malcolm Anderson and the two worked really well together.

****SPOILERS**** Superior crime drama set in South Florida during it's "mean season" when the winds pick up and the storms and hurricanes come rolling in and with them rolls in a serial killer who's more interested in publicity for his crimes then his victims who are a result of them.

Coming back from a vacation in Colorado Miami Journal reporter Malcolm Anderson, Kurt Russell, is assigned to the murder of teenager Sarah Hooks, Tamara Jones, who was found dead by the beach that morning. A few days after filing the story Malcolm gets a phone call at his desk at the Journal from someone claiming to be Sarah's killer.

Told by the caller a fact that is not known to the public about the crime Malcolm as well as the police officials Ray Martinez & Phil Wilson, Andy Garcia & Richard Bradford, that he got in touch with who were on the case realize that the caller is the real McCoy and begin to tape Malcolm's phone at the newspaper to identify and capture the killer. The killer, in his calls to Malcolm, tells him that he's duplicating a number of killings that he did some time ago and got no recognition for.It's later found out by someone who knew him Albert O'Shaughnessy, William Smith, that his name is Alan Delour, Richard Jordan, and that those killings were in Chicago a number of years ago.

The serial killer wants Malcolm to be his link to the outside world, via his newspaper to prove that he's the one who committing those crimes and tells Malcolm that there will be, like those that he didn't get credit for, five more killings before he's finished. As his murder spree continues it's Malcolm who's getting all the publicity and the killer feels cheated and takes it on on Malcolm for his failure to get him the recognition that he wanted. That leads in the killer kidnapping Malcolm's girlfriend Christine, Mariel Hemingway, and threatens to murder her.

One of the better crime dramas that came out of the 1980's thats smoothly paced and finely acted as the serial killer gets bolder and bolder with each killing to where he unnecessarily exposed himself, to Malcolm, in order to get his ego enhanced.

Malcolm's life becomes a horror as the killer starts to take it out on him for his overshadowing his actions which lead to Christine's kidnapping. Tense suspense murder drama with an unsuspecting ending makes "The Mean Season" a modern Film Noir classic.