Dead by Midnight (1997)

They stole his memories. They forgot his spirit. Man receives memory implant in his brain and becomes professional killer.

Director:

Jim McBride

Writer:

Michael Vickerman

Stars:

Timothy Hutton, Suzy Amis, John Glover

Cast

Credited cast:
Timothy Hutton	...	John Larkin / Sam Ellis
Suzy Amis	...	Lisa Larkin / Dr. Sarah Flint
John Glover	...	Dr. Armond Drake / Ben Hamill
Max Wright	...	Dr. Jonas Reilly
Grant Heslov	...	Detective Mackowitz
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
J. Scott Bronson	...	Jeff
Liliana Cabal	...	Karen Ellis
Brad Greenquist	...	Hendricks
Benjamin Israeli	...	Rick Larkin
Jean Jenkins	...	Ruth Ann Bartzack
Matt McBride	...	Jared Larkin (as Matthew McBride)
Joey Miyashima	...	Mr. Mizoguchi
Mowava Pryor	...	Joan
Reese Phillip Purser	...	Arnold Strickland (as Reese Purser)
Dennis Saylor	...	Billy

Storyline

They stole his memories. They forgot his spirit. Man receives memory implant in his brain and becomes professional killer.

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Plot Keywords:

time in title | tied to a chair | on the run | mind control | memory implant | 

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

A halál éjfélkor érkezik

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daniel H. Blatt Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

An ingenious and refreshing Sci-Fi drama...not

Imagine the situation: you've just woken up in a strange place that you don't recognise, and after escaping, you return to the house that you, your wife and your daughter have lived in for the past few years, only to find that there's another family living there and, get this, nobody knows who you are; as far as they're concerned, you never existed! Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. You then meet your wife and, get this, she doesn't know who you are either! Oh my god! I know what you're thinking by this point; "oh my god, maybe I died in a car crash, had cybernetic implants that have made me half man and half machine so that I could overthrow some government on the orders of a secret corporation, just before I had actors act as my family and friends to create false memories which have now being implanted into my brain; thus causing me to be confused between what's real and what's false". And guess what; in this situation, you would be right. Well, Timothy Hutton actually is in this situation, and after finding out all that I've said so far, he says 'oh…ok'. Realism is this film's key aspect.

Now, I know you probably doubt that this film could possibly get any cooler, but you don't know the half of it, as this movie features the man that is probably the hardest looking man in history, movies or otherwise; John Glover. You wouldn't want to meet him on a dark night, and neither would I, as this guy is nasty with a capital 'N'. He approaches his role as the action hero-esquire secret government agent thingy with gusto and really makes you believe that he has the hard man ability to run a corporation with an iron fist. This guy makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like a fairy, he really does. In fact, if he were any harder; he actually would be made out of stone. Well, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that he is. As mentioned, his adversary is the half man, half robot; Timothy Hutton. Hutton makes a great impromptu action hero...ahem, not. His only role in this film is making John Glover look even harder, if that's even possible and I don't know if it is. Actually, I think this movie would be better without Hutton in it at all. Think about it; we could just follow the escapades of John Glover's character. If John Glover, or anyone else with stature in the movie industry would like to get in touch with me about the possibility of a trilogy of spin-off's (probably called 'The Chronicles of John Glover'), just drop me a line as I have some great ideas.

Anyway, I don't know what happened in the end because I fell asleep with about fifteen minutes to go, but I like to think that it ended with a bunch of Hutton's mates coming into the final scene with a keg of beer, saying "April Fools", and then Hutton and his friends laugh the whole incident off while saying things like "I cant believe you thought that you were a half man, half robot assassin prototype; you didn't even doubt the story for a second!" etc. That would be great...wouldn't it?