Le Justicier de minuit

Part of my deep dive into sleazy 80s crime films ahead of the release of Ti West's MAXXXINE. This film, VICE SQUAD, and BODY DOUBLE were the films that immediately popped into my head as influences on MAXXXINE. While I would say that BODY DOUBLE and VICE SQUAD are far superior films to this one, the purely exploitative nature of 10 TO MIDNIGHT is nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable. I don't have much to add outside of my review from the last time I watched this film (below), though I did up my rating by half a star and I realized that the killer is an incel before there was such a thing, so if you're in the mood for some 80s sleaze, this is a good place to start.

10-20-17 Corny but wonderfully lurid Charles Bronson vehicle 10 to Midnight (1983) ***

Roger Ebert called the film "a scummy little sewer of a movie" and that will either prompt you to stay away or will do the exact polar opposite. I love the cheap 80s Golan/Globus Cannon films and this one is probably their best Bronson vehicle, which plot-wise boils down to Dirty Harry vs. Ted Bundy. Bronson is a cop who plays by his own set of rules and is partnered with straight-laced Andrew Stevens. Both are on the trail of serial killer Gene Davis, who gets naked before he kills his female victims, but he's not getting naked for kinky reasons. He does it so as not to leave behind any evidence. Given that set-up, you can imagine this is a pretty lurid and kinky crime picture, which includes one scene where Bronson interrogates Davis pulls out a sex toy confiscated from his apartment, and states, "You know what this is for, Warren? It's for JACKING OFF!" Yes, this is that kind of a movie. Bronson's character is so tough he doesn't even know what quiche is:

Laurie Kessler: That's some lunch, Dad. Coleslaw and quiche?

Leo Kessler: (looking down at his food grimly) I hate quiche.

Canteen Cashier: Then why did you get it?

Leo Kessler: I thought it was pie!

Director J. Lee Thompson delivers nasty villains, righteous heroes, and an ending that blew my mind when I watched this on TV as a kid, though today it's pretty corny, though I still dug it. Overall, this isn't in the same league as "Mr. Majestic" or "The Mechanic," but it is better than most of Bronson's 1980s and 90s output.

But shouldn't we do the same with adults? I'd like to hop into the way-back machine to the start of the eighties to sit down for a heart-to-heart with Charles Bronson. I'd like the opportunity to say to him that, considering his body of work, the great movies he's made--and the awful ones in which he'd shined through--he should retire immediately and enjoy the years he had left with wife Jill Ireland. "Mr. Bronson, please don't make crap."

There is no way-back machine, his beloved wife died too young from cancer, and Bronson is almost better known now for his garbage movies from the 80s and 90s than his earlier work. It's sad that a man who radiated a primal fury on screen, with a glowering physicality that made him an almost-superstar, would decide to make some of the most awful and ridiculous pieces of nonsense one can find mouldering in the backs of video stores today.

J. Lee Thompson's 10 to Midnight is so awful that one has to wonder why Bronson agreed to make it. Since we can't ask him, we must assume the worst, that he did it for the money or he honestly thought Golan and Globus would restore his career.

I watched this movie on cable over twenty years ago and hated it then. I just sat down to watch it again on Hulu. I actually felt a sadness overtaking me as I got about 15 minutes or so into 10 to Midnight.

Not for the time I was wasting, but the fact that no one ever made a way-back machine.

About the time "10 to Midnight" was released, I read an interview with Charles Bronson in which he was asked why he continued to make one "Death Wish" clone after the other with bad hack directors instead of taking over his career and taking chances like his contemporaries Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood. I remember he wasn't too happy with the question, but it was, and remains, a legitimate one, for while Connery and Eastwood would cap their careers with Oscars Bronson would limp toward the end of his with one bomb after the other. So bad were his '80's films in fact, this one is one of the best, even though it still is a pretty mediocre, and at times terrible, film.

The difference between "10 to Midnight" and say, "Kinjite," is that Bronson actually has a pretty good supporting cast to work with, including Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Geoffrey Lewis and Wilford Brimley. And his adversary, a kinky lady-killer (literally) played by Gene Davis, is a little more interesting than your standard-issue villain. Davis is Warren Stacey, a handsome young stud who is such a sociopathic sleaze that even his sexy looks and great body can't get him a date. So when he's rejected, what's a guy to do? It's simple, he strips naked, grabs some gloves and a knife, and kills the object of his affection, usually when she's also naked and in the middle of lovemaking. Obviously, "The French Connection" this one ain't. Enter Leo Kessler (Bronson) who surveys Stacey's carnage and comes up with the perceptive observation: "His knife must be his penis." Together with partner Andrew Stevens, he has no trouble fingering Stacey as the killer; unfortunately, the psycho is an expert at establishing airtight alibis. Also unfortunately for Kessler, he has a nubile, yet estranged, daughter (Lisa Eilbacher)--a nurse who not only was friends with victim one, but also shares an apartment with several potential (and beautiful) victims. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where this one is going.

Yep, it's all as sleazy as it sounds, and surprisingly watchable. "10 to Midnight" also contains an astonishing amount of nudity (both male and female) for a mainstream film, and a sex scene near the beginning that is about one thrust away from tagging this with an X-rating. Fortunately, Bronson and the supporting cast keep it from veering too far off the deep end, with Eilbacher especially effective as a daughter who is every bit as tough and hard-headed as her father. I also liked Geoffrey Lewis' turn as a smart-as-a-whip defense attorney, and Brimley's presence as Bronson's superior adds a welcome touch of professionalism. And while Davis can't act, he does project enough menace to keep it interesting. Unfortunately, director J. Lee Thompson is less adept at handling his bit players, many of whom are so wooden as to be absolutely laughable. One actress in particular, playing the boss of the first victim, elicited howls of audience laughter when I first saw this with her absolutely terrible job of conveying shock and horror when hearing about the murder. In fact, Thompson's directing here is so routine and at times inept, it is almost impossible to believe that the same man was responsible for the authentic classic "The Guns of Navarone."

All-in-all, "10 to Midnight" has to classify as the ultimate good/bad film. Sleazy, predictable, offensive and laughable all could be used to describe it. But it's also strangely watchable, even entertaining at times. And the ending packs a real wallop. In other words, it's a real guilty pleasure. **1/2 (out of *****)

Cannon greatness starring Chuck Bronson and directed by Bronson's frequent collaborator J. Lee Thompson. Bronson plays a grizzled detective out to nab a psycho that killed a woman for rejecting him. The problem is the killer covered his tracks well so Bronson has to resort to less-than-legal means of getting him. When this backfires, Bronson's own daughter becomes the psycho's next target.

One of Charles Bronson's best movies from the '80s. As with most of his output that decade, it's sleazy and violent but it's also undeniably fun in a cheesy sort of way. Bronson gives his usual one-note performance. If you've seen his Death Wish movies, you know what to expect here and whether you'll like it or not. Gene Davis makes for a memorable pervert psycho. He also appears naked quite a bit, as do many other people (women and men). Lots of T&A in this one. Lisa Eilbacher is Bronson's pretty daughter and does well. Andrew Stevens holds up his end as the young detective who can't condone Bronson's methods. The rest of the cast includes Geoffrey Lewis, Wilford Brimley, Ola Ray, and a young Kelly Preston. The lady playing Davis' boss takes the honors for worst performance. Her "Betty's dead!" scene should be taught in acting schools.

It's a fun movie if you're not the type who takes everything seriously and gets easily offended. The cheesy elements will please many, as will the voyeuristic stuff. Bronson takes it all very seriously which makes it all the more enjoyable when he's spouting lines like "You know what this is for, Warren? It's for jacking off!" This is a great '80s thriller with a lot of things going for it, including a terrific ending.

Compared with the ridiculously shoddy "Death Wish" sequels, most of Charles Bronson's 1980s collaborations with J. Lee Thompson are masterpieces. In fact, even with the high ratio of bad actors and technical shortcomings, films like "Evil That Men Do" and this one, "10 to Midnight," kick modern hardboilers right in the balls.

In any case, I've read some comments by folks who don't understand the title "10 to Midnight." Here's what it means: the killer's alibi is that he was seen at a theater watching a movie that ran between 10 pm and midnight, the same time the murder took place. 10 to Midnight--get it? Oddly enough, even the marketing department of the movie's original distributor, Cannon, didn't get the title. Hence the tag line, "A Cop, a Killer, a Deadline." There's no deadline in the film.

Here's where I think the confusion lies: During this period, director Thompson convinced Canon heads Golan and Globus, and Bronson's producer, Pancho Kohner, to hire his son, Peter Lee Thompson, to edit his films. While most of the younger Thompson's editing was pretty good visually, he was a bit sloppy when it came to points of continuity. For instance, in "Evil" a character passes Bronson a photo of the villain, The Doctor, mentioning him by name. But we can plainly see that the photo is not of the Doctor at all. In "Murphy's Law" we see an over the shoulder shot of a gangster laid out on a sofa, stark naked, being administered to by a hooker. When we see him face-on in the reverse shot he is wearing a robe. The scene continues to bop back and forth--robe, no robe, robe, no robe, etc.

So Thompson the younger didn't really get that whole "reality" concept.

Anyway, back to "10." I'm sure that J. Lee shot footage establishing a very specific reference to the timeframe of the first murder. And I'm just as sure that his son just didn't think it was all that important to keep in. After all, it wasn't a naked woman being stabbed to death--it was only the title of the movie.