Night Game (1989)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Peter Masterson

Writers (WGA):

Spencer Eastman (story)
Spencer Eastman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than hunting down a murderer is . . . finding him !

Plot:

A police detective tracks a serial killer who is stalking young women on a beach front after each game that a baseball pitcher wins. |

Plot Keywords:

Police | Detective | Serial Killer | Baseball | Psychotic

Cast

Roy Scheider	...	Mike Seaver
Karen Young	...	Roxy
Lane Smith	...	Witty
Richard Bradford	...	Nelson
Paul Gleason	...	Broussard
Carlin Glynn	...	Alma
Anthony Palmer	...	Mendoza
Alex Morris	...	Gries
Matt Carlson	...	Diddee
Rex Linn	...	Epps
Alex Garcia	...	Sil Baretto
Michelle Cochran	...	Cindy Baretto
Bob Allen	...	Baseball Announcer
Marco Perella	...	Color Man
Lisa Hart Carroll	...	Blonde #1 (Loretta Akers)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Galveston, Texas, USA

Company:

Epic Productions

Trivia:

The finale was filmed at the Balinese Room located at Seawall Boulevard @ 21st Street; sadly, the entire structure was destroyed September 13, 2008 by Hurricane Ike.

Movie Connections:

References Full Moon in Blue Water (1988)

Baseball & Murder in Houston Texas

****SPOILERS**** Towards the end of the movie "Night Game" Houston Astro pitcher Sil Daretto, Alex Garcia, walks off the pitchers mound as the game is about to start and to the surprise and astonishment of all those on the baseball field and in the stands walks over to newlyweds Mike & Roxy Sever, Roy Scheider & Karen Young. Daretto congratulates them on their wedding and sincerely tells Mike & Roxy to enjoy the game, the nightmare was at last over for all of them.

A number of young women were found dead in and around the beaches of Houston and Galveston and the one thing they all had in common is that they were murdered when Houston Astro ace pitcher Sil Daretto pitched and won a night game at the Astro-Dome. They also they had their throats slashed by some hook that the killer used.

The movie "Night Game" mixes baseball with murder in this very unusual story about a disgruntled former Houston Astro player Floyd Epps, Rex Linn, who was cut by the team to make room for Daretto and on top of all that lost his pitching hand in a bus accident as he was leaving.

Epps wants to upstage Daretto when ever he wins a ballgame by committing a murder that same night and getting the headline for his crime over Daretto victory. It's Epps' insane way of getting even for what he holds Daretto responsible for; the loss of his job being a pitcher for the Astros and his left hand. Roy Scheider sleep-walks through his role as a former baseball player now Galveston policemen and the movie is better then the average made for TV movie even though it isn't but should have been one.

The ending was a bit ridicules with Epps chasing Roxy all over the catwalk outside a waterfront restaurant with Roxy not having the sense to get inside and thus not getting trapped by the insane hooked killer. In fact Roxy actually ran outside the eatery as she saw Epps and easily got trapped by him. Mike came to Roxy's rescue in just the nick of time with Rex hook and all getting dumped in the ocean below after taking a number slugs from Mike's revolver.

Dopey but watchable film that was a bit too unbelievable not in the fact that Epps was a crazed former baseball player who felt that he got a raw deal from life and wanted to rectify it in his own crazy way. As you would have expected the local police as well as the Texas justice department were so slow and incompetent in realizing who Epps was when the evidence was right in front of them, the man the hook and the motive, but were just too blind to see it.