Midnight Madness (1980)

Directors:

Michael Nankin
David Wechter

Writers:

Michael Nankin (writer)
David Wechter (writer)

Release Date:

8 February 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy

Tagline:

A Wacky College Adventure

Plot:

Leon planned "The Great Allnighter" by picking college students to participate in his night long scavenger hunt...

Plot Keywords:

Scavenger Hunt | College | Sorority | Contest | Volkswagen Beetle

Cast

David Naughton	...	Adam Larson - Yellow Team Leader
Debra Clinger	...	Laura - Yellow Team
David Damas	...	Marvin - Yellow Team
Michael J. Fox	...	Scott Larson (as Michael Fox)
Stephen Furst	...	Harold - Blue Team Leader
Patricia Alice Albrecht	...	Lucille - Blue Team
Andy Tennant	...	Melio - Blue Team
Brian Frishman	...	Barf - Blue Team
Joel Kenney	...	Flynch - Yellow Team (as Joel P. Kenney)
Sal Lopez	...	Blade - Blue Team
Maggie Roswell	...	Donna - Red Team Leader
Robyn Petty	...	Berle - Red Team
Betsy Lynn Thompson	...	Peggy - Red Team
Carol Gwynn Thompson	...	Lulu - Red Team
Eddie Deezen	...	Wesley - White Team Leader

Also Known As:

The All-Night Treasure Hunt (USA) (working title)
The Great All-Nighter (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Feature film debut of Michael J. Fox.

Goofs:

Plot holes: The only prize the game players stand to win is bragging rights. The team leaders clearly feel little but contempt for Leon, so it is laughable that any of them would consider winning a game he'd thought up to be worth bragging about.

Quotes:

Bratty kid: [looking through telescope at a girl getting undressed in window] If I'm lucky, I may get a view of Venus' two moons.
Adam: [pointing at the sky in the other direction] Hey, Einstein - isn't Venus over there?

Movie Connections:

References One Million Years B.C. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Someone New

More Cheesy '80s Appeal

It doesn't quite deserve the disproportionate number of "10" votes it's received on this web site, but "Midnight Madness" is still a lot of fun. The eccentric Leon (Alan Solomon) organizes a cross-city scavenger hunt for five groups of college students ranging from nerds and jocks to babes and good guys. Each team must decipher a series of clues ("Mr. Carson's obese male child" leads to Johnny's Fat Boy Restaurant, and so on) before racing to the next location to do it again, all the while battling some occasional dirty tricks from rivals. The actual laughs few and far between, but you can't deny "Midnight Madness" carries heaps of cheesy '80s appeal. Look for Michael J. Fox (billed without the middle initial) in his film debut.