Sádica Perseguição

Fading brat-packer Andrew McCarthy is a Vegas cab driver who finds himself subjected to that hoary old plot device of finding a briefcase stuffed with money in the back of his cab. The problem is its stolen from the mob, who engage ruthless hitman Scott Glen to recover it. A laid-back performance from Glenn is the main reason to watch this generic thriller, which goes in some unexpected directions - thanks mostly to stupid decisions made by both McCarthy and Glenn.

Mark L. Lester's Night Of The Running Man, not to be confused with the Schwarzenegger classic of a similar moniker, is a mean spirited little urban thriller with Scott Glenn in one of his primo amped up psychopath roles. In the spirit of Scorsese's After Hours, a hapless cab driver (Andrew Mcarthy) finds himself being hunted through the Las Vegas nightscape after one of his fates is murdered right in front of him, but not before leaving behind a suitcase full of millions. The hot man called in to pursue the funds is David Eckert (Glenn), a sociopathic monster with a heavy artillery, bent on retrieving the case and killing as many people along the way. One is reminded of the cult flick Judgment Night as the poor cabbie is forced to run all willy billy through the urban hustle, constantly evading Glenn's lunatic presence. Further villainy is provided, albeit of the more hammy variety, by a scene stealing John Glover as an associate of Eckert's who also casts his net to catch McCarthy, his scenes are so arch and bizarre that they almost swerve the thing into slapstick comedy territory. You can do way worse in budget B movie land, and this one clearly seeks to entertain with it's broad characteristics and blatantly trashy tone. Plus, Glenn is, quite literally, killer good.

If you're a movie nut like me you often comb the lower rungs of video stores looking for neglected gems from bygone eras: Rolling Thunder and The Outfit from the 70s. Cohen & Tate and The Hit from the 1980s. And this one from the mid-90s.

It has a plot line that I find hard to resist: "Regular guy finds a pile of money and Complications ensue."

The Night of The Running Man is a lot of fun. It has great performances from Scott Glenn and John Glover and also from Andrew McCarthy. There are some excruciatingly painful to watch moments in this film,scenes that rival the infamous tooth-drilling scene in Marathon Man, scenes where characters have their feet submerged in boiling water,have their necks broken,foreheads smacked with boards thru which nails are protruding, etc etc. All of the scenes with Scott Glenn have a nasty energy. He is an iconic looking,leathery-faced actor and I would love to see him get more flashy roles such as his part here as a vengeful and greedy hit man. He commands the screen whenever he appears and he isn't afraid to play a completely unlikable character in a very straightforward way. There are no cute actor tricks--playing to the gallery and softening the role. He comes across as very believably scary.

The film was directed by Mark Lester and he keeps things moving nicely.

This one is worth checking out.

This is an interesting non pretentious 90's thriller. I really enjoyed even it's somewhat predictable but entertaining. Acting is great, amazing the bad guy and If you love B-Action thrillers from the 90's you'll love this one.

Ah, another somewhat bizarre crime film that few people have heard about and, as of March in 2006, still is not available on DVD. It is one of the fastest-moving films I've seen.

Usually, I like to see at least one good person in the film but this is an exception but this is a notch above the average low-life affair because of the performances of Scott Glenn and John Glover. They play cold-blooded professional killers who act polite, have impressive vocabularies, dress with class, keep their cool, don't get loud and obnoxious....but are brutally sadistic. Both are also fascinating to watch with Glenn having the bigger role as the main hired killer and Glover as his friend in another city.

I might be overrating this a bit because the last 45 minutes is a stretch, a real stretch, beginning with the entrance of a beautiful nurse who unrealistically gets involved with Andrew McCarthy, a guy on the run from these killers. That just wouldn't happen, but it does keep the story going strong.

There are some memorable scenes in this movie and some of them not too pleasant, so be forewarned: a woman dangled from the top of Hoover Dam and McCarthy being tortured with his feet scalded. Tough to watch. There are two gratuitous sex scenes in here, too.

At any rate, for a no-name movie, it was surprisingly entertaining and I'd like to see it out on DVD before too long.