Midnight Ride

Plot synopsis:
After a heated argument with her military police turned cop husband, Lawson; Russian immigrant house wife, Lara storms off into the night convinced he's more married to his job than her. On her drive to a friend's house, she takes pity on a mournful hitchhiker Justin Mckay, desperately searching for a ride. Her offer of a lift to him plunges her into a night of pure terror as Justin is seriously disturbed, twisted by a tortured childhood which ended in being made to see his little sister's shocking murder and mutilation at the hands of his brutal alcoholic mother (who took a butcher knife to her head and used it like a comb) who systematically slays anyone who harms or offends him on a murderous impulse, as he captures their dying moments on his Polaroid camera. As Lawson struggles to follow Lara despite a leg in a cast, he is left for dead by Justin, but recovers and now must search the steadily darkening roads for Lara, while her deeply troubled captor Justin continues his uncontrollable slaughter-spree, rampaging through the night leaving behind carnage and fiery devastation on his path of madness. As soon as Justin and Lara reach the hospital, Justin pretends Lara is paranoid and soon encounter Dr. Hardy, Justin's doctor who tried to help Justin when he first met him. While Lawson arrives at the hospital, Justin forces Dr. Hardy to give Lara the treatment of electric shocks. As much as Dr. Hardy tries to persuade Justin not to he ignores him and gives Lara electric shocks, thus trying to kill her. Lawson comes right out of a ventalation shaft into the room stopping Justin from his insane doing and pursues him down to the engineers room tackling Justin down and throwing him right into a current, electrifying him to death. Lawson and Lara in the end head to the elevator, which Lawson forgives Lara and says that she is more important than his work. Not realizing that Justin survived the incident and secretly dresses up as a patient and is in the elevator with them and grabs a knife to kill them both, but Lawson grabs his gun and shots him directly to the head leading him to his real death, thus ending the film.

Tags: cruelty, murder, neo noir, cult, intrigue, violence, insanity, humor, suspenseful, sadist

Review:
It's Mark Hamill's movie all the way, as the former Luke Skywalker chews the scenery and steals the entire film.
In a role that again demonstrates Hamill's versatile talent, he plays a mental patient who has escaped from his hospital to visit his doctor, Robert Mitchum in a small supporting role towards the end of the film.
After an argument, Dudikoff's wife leaves him and goes to see her sister, picking up hitchhiking Hamill along the way.
As much as I like to see Hamill play good guys, he always makes a delightful bad guy, and his role here is one of his best psychotic characters.
The wife finds out Hamill is a psycho when he kills a hotel clerk and fashions a necklace out of her fake eye, dangling it from his finger and asking if she likes it.
Dudikoff soon catches up, but learning he's a cop, Hamill forces the wife to hightail it, setting off a dangerous game of pursuit.
Dudikoff thinks his wife is trying to get away with another man, and the entire time, always ends up one step behind.
(A great scene, by the way).There's plenty of action: car chases, explosions, car chases, explosions, and one tense scene in which Hamill straps Dudikoff to the hood of a taxi cab and proceeds to slam repeatedly into the rear of a gas tanker (the driver of which must be completely unable to feel the hits his vehicle is taking).
The climax at a hospital is pretty good as well, with a tense final encounter between Dudikoff and Hamill on the roof of the building.
The gritty cinematography helps give the film a horror movie-like tone.
But that little unknown plot point aside, MIDNIGHT RIDE is effective as a creepy little road movie, and fans of those should enjoy it.
Actor Mark Hamill as a sickly disturbed psychotic killer on the road.
The boyishly sweet looking Hamill is obviously trying to break away from that typecast his been associated with and this cheap b-grade Cannon action flick gave him an opportunity to do that.
Starring opposite of him is a surprisingly sound and rugged Michael Dudikoff and coming between the two is a feisty Savina Gersak.
I can't deny that I didn't enjoy it, as for an active nocturnal road chase movie with cat and mouse elements it was thrillingly executed.
The material has actually dreamt up something that's original and could've been tightly menacing (as it has a wife fleeing her committed police husband, while unknowingly offering a ride to a unstable psycho), but how they go about it loses the possibility of gelling the two threats and dissolves into something quite standard with the opening half of the story's motive coming off dispensable.
****SPOILERS***** Action flick that never lets up for a moment as it takes you on a terror ride that will leave you on edge and out of breath.
Mark Hamill is as creepy as you can get in this film as the escaped mental patient Justin who takes Lara, Savina Gersak, hostage and ends up killing sixteen people, by my count, before the night is over.
After having a domestic fight with her cop husband Lawson, Michael Dudikoff, Lara leaves for a friends house and picks up a harmless looking hitch-hiker Justin and then ends up having the ride of her life.
Killing everyone that he comes in contact with Justin ends up murdering ten policemen and six civilians as he takes Lara to the hospital where he escaped from earlier in the evening.
Justin wants to see and have a talk with his doctor Dr. Hardy, Robert Mitchum .
Were told later by Dr. Hardy that Justin is insane, to no ones surprise watching the movie.
Only to have Justin re-appear later in the hospital elevator, disguised as a hospital patient, with both Lara and Lawson only to get a bullet between his eyes by a fast thinking and fast shooting Lawson.The movie "Midnight Ride" works on all levels as a suspense horror thriller as well as a chase action movie and it's a wonder that the film is not as well known as it should be.
Mark Hamill steals the acting honors in the film as a psycho killer who makes movie psycho's like Michael Myers from Halloween and Jason from Friday the Thirteenth look like school yard bullies in comparison.No matter how unbelievable the actions that Hamill does in the film are you still believe that he could do them.
Robert Mitchum is effective in his small part as Justin's doctor and both Michael Dudikoff and Savina Gersak were very good as Lara and her husband Lawson.
But it's Mark Hamill's one man show as the murderous and insane Justin that really makes the movie "Midnight Ride" as good as it is.
Great movie and awesome acting by Mark Hamill!.
Midnight Ride is a very good but unusual movie that stars Mark Hamill, Michael Dudikoff, and the great Robert Mitchum!
Dudikoff was good and I thought he looked a lot like Carey Elwes in the movie and Mitchum was good in his short part but Hamill was the one in the film that really shinned!
Mark is a very good actor and I have always liked his acting in the original Star Wars trilogy especially The Empire Strikes Back!
The movie is filmed very different and has action and many thrilling moments and you never know what is going to happen!
If you like Mark Hamill and to see him in another great role then I strongly recommended you watch Midnight Ride!.
The basic plot, A young Russian woman named Laura (Savina Gersak) leaves her husband who also happens to be a cop, later on she picks up a young hitchhiker Justin McKay (Mark Hamil) who surprise surprise turns out to be a psychopath and takes her hostage while he goes on a killing spree so he can meet up with his Doctor, while her cop husband is in hot pursuit.Midnight Ride is a bit of a strange movie, as it tries to blend Action and slasher together and it works most of the time, as I found this movie a hell of a fun ride, although it does having plot holes and lacks suspense, but all that can be forgiven.
Mark Hamil plays a part a million light years away from Luke Skywalker here playing a psychopath, which I rather enjoyed, although it was a bit hammy and unconvincing at times.
Michael Dudikoff plays the cop husband pretty well, I found him very charming and capable as the leading man.
But I didn't find Savina Gersak very convincing at all, she's supposed to be the terrified victim, but I found her very weak and disappointing and I think that this movie would have been better if they had a better actress in that part.The film has some really great action moments.
Some of the action toward the end is hit and miss (Dudikoff's encounters with the Pentangle in the swamp is kinda anti-climatic) but the finale is thoroughly awesome.
It also manages to have its share of solid action beats (the bus chase was pretty good).
But overall I found this movie fun and entertaining, the scenes with Mark Hamil are the real highlight even if they were hysterically funny, like when he tries to attack a female victim, But I did enjoy the final scenes between him and Dudikoff in the steam factory and the hospital scene.So all in all okay Midnight Ride is a copy of the far superior Hitcher, but it's not a bad one and this should get a DVD release, because I enjoyed it..
"Midnight Ride"is a cool action/suspence movie since "Frantic", even though it's practically a forgotten film.
Michael Dudikoff is Lawson, a cop who is trying to rescue his estranged wife Lara (Savina Gersak) from a psycho named Justin, played brilliantly by Mark Hamill.
Lawson tracks down Justin, who beats up the cop constantly, until the final showdown in a hospital.
Hamill is awesome in this film, which is really a change of pace for the former Luke Skywalker.
The only problem with this movie is Dudikoff, who has a cardboard-stiff performance that makes you root for the bad guy!.
Michael Dudikoff stars as a police officer who spends the entire woman stalking his estranged wife (Savina Gersak), who is in the clutches of psychotic hitchhiker Mark Hamill, seems Hamill wants to go to the loony bin and wants Gersak to be his wife (This movie is so silly.) and during the movie Dudikoff is tied to a hood of a car, while Hamill drives, Gersak screams and Hamill twitches in front of the camera while Robert Mitchum cashes an easy paycheck as he barely looks at the camera as he plays Hamill's doctor.
Midnight Ride has all the elements there to be a decent movie but in the hands of Bob Bravler this is all ridiculous with no stab in credibility what so ever.
For instance Dudikoff is crippled in the beginning of the film (My guess is that he broke his leg doing one of the stunts for the movie) and yet despite this he still manages to outdo his American Ninja styled heroic actions with plenty of gusto to spare.
The film also never notes the sharp irony that Dudikoff really is not a good guy, in that he's just as insane as the villain of the movie.
Dudikoff refuses to let his wife go as he takes off after her.
This of course didn't bother me so much, as the credibility of the action sequences and story.
Mitchum seems embarrassed, Hamill is hammy and Gersak is a rather weak heroine.
However the most annoying thing about this movie is just how many times Hamill keeps picking up Gersak.
Movies like Midnight Ride live and die by their director's execution and in Bob Bravler we have a guy who has no real sense of distinguishable style so the action sequences are only okay, making it easier to point out flaws in the credibility of how such action sequences are conducted.
Not a bad ride after midnight.
This quite tense movie has great plotting, and believe it, Hamill pulls off his hitch hiking psycho convincingly.
Sevina Gershak, really good, as are our four leads, plays a Russian immigrant married to cop Dudikoff.
This film with it's violent moments, leads up to a little twist towards it's conclusion, never letting up on the tenseness of the film, where we're greeted with acting presence, Mitchum, who was Hamill's psychiatrist.
Being a Hitcher fan, I had to see this out of curiosity, and while it's not as good as that cult classic, here's a tense B grader you shouldn't overlook, save for a stupid after ending scene with Hamill.
The performances are good, though sometimes Hamill does ham it up, but it's fun seeing him in this role, and he does like taking photos too..
Michael Dudikoff stars as Lawson a police officer who tracks down Justin a hitch-hiker who has kidnapped Lawson's wife Lara in this so-so actioner that benefits from some pretty decent actionscenes as well as Mark Hamill's over the top performance make this one mildly diverting.
Robert Mitchum also lends some class as Hamill's doctor..
Mark Hammill definitely turns in one of his best performances in his career, playing a psychopath as he often does but he's live-action this time around and not animated.
Don't mind that, he's still quite animated and often acts just as cartoony as "The Joker" or any number of his more famous animated characters.Anyway, there's good chases and excitement, but at its heart this film really is just another low budget Italian B-movie with a 20 second cameo by a bored looking Robert Mitchum.
Dudikoff, on the other hand, is extremely boring as the hero and the whole way through I was rooting for the bad guy.Lots of stupid stuff, a few explosions and surprisingly graphic gore scenes, but this has ended up being a forgotten film, much like THE MOSQUITO COAST or BREAKER MORANT..
Mark Hamill is the only aspect of Midnight Ride (1990) worth watching.
Even the great Robert Mitchum is awful, probably lamenting his presence in this mess.But Mark Hamill?
Oh, Mark Hamill-- the scene-chewing, that devilish grin, the way he seems to be channeling Anthony Perkins from Psycho (1960) with the juxtaposition of his boyish looks, sexual repression, and homicidal tendencies.
He deserves more.Midnight Ride has a few "so bad, it's funny" moments, but overall, this is pretty bad and only works when it's The Mark Hamill Show..
This movie starts with a good sense.
The villain took care of all cops except hero (husband of Savina Gersak).
After living here in US, I got to know that it's very difficult to chase another person if he is 1 hour ahead on the highway, but according to movie, it looks like that it ain't difficult.
It seems like one of those weak plotted, thrown together films with dull and boring driving scenes.
It gains a hidden rhythm and timing which turns what would seem to me to have been the most boring movie of the month, if not of the year, into something that stands on its own.
For a film having only four leading actors, Michael Dudikoff, Mark Hamill, Savina Gersak and then finally, Robert Mitchum, who plays this kind of role well, there was more going on than normal observation revealed.
It comes out as a strange film and if you appreciate the way these things come together with a good, full cast, then watch it all the way through.
Some good action sequences..
Imagine a chase begins by car, continues by truck, and ends by wheelchair.(Yes, I wrote: wheelchair!!!) This is one of the funniest movie, I've ever seen.
But if you have some free hours at night (at night the movie is better, remember: "Midnight Ride"), and you want to laugh with some company (three or five, maybe six people), try this film!
One of Mark Hamill's best!
In this nonsensical tripe, Lawson Markman (The Dudester) plays a cop (and that's ALL we know about him) who splits from his wife Laura (Gersak).
She picks up hitchhiker Justin McKay (Hamill) who turns out to be a raving, annoying psychopath.
McKay forces her to drive to the town of Hendersonville so he can meet up with his "only friend" Dr. Hardy (Unfortunately, Robert Mitchum).In what is basically a road movie, Lawson is chasing after Justin and Laura for most of the running time.Nothing is ever established so don't know who these characters are, and thus there is no suspense.
The movie has a weird off-kilter feel and seems like it was filmed in another country but apparently it wasn't.
It is overlong, and rife some many absurd plot holes, it is not possible to list them all here.Hamill plays a very similar role to the one he played in the TV movie The City (1977), a leering lunatic who bugs out his eyes and cackles incessantly.
Hamill spits outs craziness like "When Dr. Hardy fixes your brain, you can marry me!" Dudikoff doesn't do any of his trademark martial arts.
The movie focuses way too much on Hamill and not enough on Dudikoff.
In the same way that retired people get jobs because they are too freakin' bored around the house, Mitchum's decision to appear in Midnight Ride seems based on that same thought process.It's no surprise Cannon Films ceased to exist a few years later.
The glory days were over.Actually irritating to watch, please don't take this "Midnight Ride" tonight.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com.
Mark Hamill eschews the force in favor of raving psychosis in this hugely enjoyable Italian thriller trash hoot.
A hilariously miscast Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill eschews the force in favor of goony, chortling, extravagantly hammy full-tilt subtlety be damned unrestrained psychosis as murderous, fresh out of the booby hatch mental patient Justin McCay, who stalks and terrorizes sweet, lovely Lara Markman (a nice portrayal by toothsome blonde hottie Savina Gersak) across lonesome, misty California backroads en route to returning to the laughter factory so he can reunite himself with well-meaning, but ineffectual shrink Dr. Hardy (a haggard Robert Mitchum shuffling his way to an easy paycheck).
Lara's rugged, butt-stomping policeman husband Mark (beefy, baby-faced B-action pic top-liner Michael Dudikoff giving one of his better, more engaging performances) comes to the rescue.Competently directed by Robert Bralver, with glossy photography by Robert D'Ettore Piazoli, a thrashing, frantic Goblin-style rock score by Carlo Maria Cordio, largely game acting from a solid cast, and several rousing scenes of vehicular carnage, this choice chunk of Italian horror junk makes for a very savory schlocky slice of "danger on the road" mayhem.
I remember one time reading a remark from Robert Mitchum who was discussing how he came to play a certain part after several of the leading men of his generation turned it down.
If that was the case Mitchum hopefully got a hefty paycheck for his part in this slasher flick where he's on for the last 15 minutes or so as Mark Hamill's shrink.
Midnight Ride stars Mark Hamill as the psychotic serial killer who runaway wife Savina Gersak picks up as she's leaving workaholic cop husband Michael Dudikoff.Dudikoff is not operating either with a full deck, maybe his broken leg is warping his judgment.
But as it turns out Gersak's jumped from the frying pan to the fire.I'm not sure if Dudikoff's injuries on Midnight Ride were real or not.
Certainly a healthy Dudikoff might have taken Hamill out before the film was halfway over.
Robert Mitchum barely can contain his boredom, his famous rumpled eyes barely register a movement.When the force is not with Luke Skywalker, a one legged American Ninja can take him.