Night Game (1989)

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:

Female Nudity | Psychopath | Hook | Slasher | House Of Mirrors

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

Movie Connections:

References Kansas (1988)

Before "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven. . ."

. . . this what the serial killer movie looked like. The plot is leaky to say the least: someone would have picked up on the fact that the murders only occur when the local team plays, and when a certain player scores. The fact that he kills with a hook would get out, and someone would immediately remember a disaffected loner with a hook for a hand. FBI Behavioural Sciences would solve this in a day.

The director seems immensely impressed with the fact he's filming in Texas, far from the gaze of Studio execs, and packs in endless loving aerial vistas. His visual style is stuck in TV Movie Lite, and along with the soundtrack could have originated from anytime since 1972. Only the clothes and hairstyles suggest its 80's dating, and even those seem stuck in a timewarp from 1985 rather than 1989.

Roy Scheider looks embarrassed, Karen Young flashes her breasts in the first 10 minutes. Subplots about Scheider's character's father's links to organised crime and tension with his girlfriend's mother (who he dated in High School) detract from the story and go unresolved. One face to watch out for: the blonde victim in the Hall of Mirrors is played by Renee O'Connor, Xena's sidekick Gabrielle. I only watched the rest of the film because I thought I recognised her face and wanted to check the credits!