Night of the Running Man

Plot synopsis:
Jerry Logan, a cab driver in Las Vegas, picks up a nervous passenger who offers him $100 to get to the airport as quickly as possible. Unknown to Jerry, the man has stolen $1 million from Al Chambers, a mob-connected casino owner. Chambers himself skimmed the money from mob boss August Gurino. Knowing that Gurino will kill him if he notices the missing money, Chambers sends assassins to recover it. Although they kill the thief, Logan escapes with the cash. Desperate, Chambers hires an expensive hitman, David Eckhart, who tracks Logan to his house. Logan escapes with the money and flees the city on a train. Before he leaves, he confides in a friendly waitress, and Eckhart intimidates her into revealing Logan's destination. Eckhart kills the waitress and follows Logan.
In Salt Lake City, Eckhart captures but loses Logan at the airport as he boards a flight for Los Angeles. Eckhart contacts his associate, Derek Mills, who pays off all the cab drivers at the Los Angeles airport. With no other choices available, Logan chooses Mills' cab. Mills kidnaps him at gunpoint and, at his house, burns Logan's feet in boiling water to make escape impossible. However, Mills underestimates Logan, who overpowers him and flees with the money. When Logan collapses unconscious on the street, he is taken to the hospital, where he meets nurse Chris Altman. Altman treats his wounds and covers for him when Eckhart comes looking. Mills, who is in the same hospital, overhears that Altman has taken Logan to a hotel for safety, and he alerts Eckhart.
Although Logan encourages Altman to leave, Eckhart bursts in before she can. The two escape together and head for Altman's house after depositing the money in a safety deposit box. At her house, Logan and Altman have sex. When Logan wakes in the morning, Eckhart is waiting for him in the kitchen. Logan proposes a deal: he will split the money with Eckhart, and, in return, Eckhart lets both him and Altman survive. Eckhart accepts the deal and leaves for Las Vegas, where he kills Chambers and his wife on the orders of Gurino. When Eckhart returns to Los Angeles, Logan attempts to ambush him but fails. Frustrated by Logan's reluctance to produce the money, Eckhart orders Mills to beat Altman. Logan reveals that he has hidden it in the basement, and Eckhart kills Mills when Mills offers to retrieve it.
Eckhart and Logan proceed to the basement. Logan disarms Eckhart, who only becomes more excited by the heightened tension. Although Eckhart briefly considers killing Altman to flush out Logan, he instead engages Logan in hand-to-hand combat. Armed with a knife, Eckhart stalks Logan in the dark, taunting him as he scores hits. Although Logan briefly surprises Eckhart, Eckhart easily overpowers him and goes for a killing blow. Before Eckhart can finish him, Logan strikes Eckhart with a wooden plank. Both men are surprised when a nail in the plank impales Eckhart, killing him. Now more careful, Logan and Altman leave the country under assumed names and pay cash for their tickets.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
It is one of the fastest-moving films I've seen.Usually, I like to see at least one good person in the film but this is an exception but this is a notch above the average low-life affair because of the performances of Scott Glenn and John Glover.
Both are also fascinating to watch with Glenn having the bigger role as the main hired killer and Glover as his friend in another city.I might be overrating this a bit because the last 45 minutes is a stretch, a real stretch, beginning with the entrance of a beautiful nurse who unrealistically gets involved with Andrew McCarthy, a guy on the run from these killers.
That just wouldn't happen, but it does keep the story going strong.There are some memorable scenes in this movie and some of them not too pleasant, so be forewarned: a woman dangled from the top of Hoover Dam and McCarthy being tortured with his feet scalded.
There are two gratuitous sex scenes in here, too.At any rate, for a no-name movie, it was surprisingly entertaining and I'd like to see it out on DVD before too long..
It has a plot line that I find hard to resist: "Regular guy finds a pile of money and Complications ensue."The Night of The Running Man is a lot of fun.
It has great performances from Scott Glenn and John Glover and also from Andrew McCarthy.
There are some excruciatingly painful to watch moments in this film,scenes that rival the infamous tooth-drilling scene in Marathon Man, scenes where characters have their feet submerged in boiling water,have their necks broken,foreheads smacked with boards thru which nails are protruding, etc etc.
He comes across as very believably scary.The film was directed by Mark Lester and he keeps things moving nicely.This one is worth checking out..
I love B grades, especially ones like this that surprise me, and this is exactly what 'Night Of The Running Man' does, and it doesn't stop for anything.
We've got one slick thriller, and Scott Glenn here is bloody scary, an underestimated character of evil, a professional hit-man, void of remorse or emotion (watch one lovemaking scene that sickly shocks).
Andrew McCarthy who does well here, plays a loser cab driver, who like he says, gambler that he is, has the worst run of luck possible.
Fleeing the scene of a crime, his previous passenger run down, after stealing a suitcase full of money, the kind of moolah that can get you dead (and remember we're in Vegas here) leaves it behind in McCarthy's cab.
Here's McCarthy's plan: Take off from Vegas with the money, leaving his little trailer park home, for some greener pasture, but Glenn is hot on his heals, making this a dangerous and scary thriller/adventure.
No doubt the trademark scene is the torture one, where John Glover as a sleazy old friend of Glenns, pretty much puts a stop plug on MCcarthy's plans, who gives his feet a bathing that he'll never forget.
NOTRM is pretty much a scene by scene movie, but it has pace, and for the viewer is scary fun, where you wouldn't want be in McCarthy's shoes, where psychopathic hit man Glenn's intensity is the winning formula in making this movie, as thrilling as it is, where it's neatly wraps up.
He can't help the fact that some viewers are too unintelligent to know what is going on in the movie as has been discussed above and then refer to it as a "bad movie".If you haven't seen the movie, it is good, entertaining, contains solid acting, and McCarthy's specialty - making love to a woman that most of you need to view as a "how to" video - if you have the attention span to keep your eyes on the movie for that length of time..
"Night of the Running Man" opens with a real "grabber" of an opening, as likable cab driver (Andrew McCarthy) unintentionally gets involved with a fare who has a bag of money stolen from the mob.
Enter Scott Glenn as an arrogant "fixer', who is sent by the head boss (Wayne Newton) to retrieve the million dollars and eliminate the cab driver.
I was puzzled by the star billing of Scott Glenn in the credits, since McCarthy is the hero.
Usually a "chase" film lasts as long as two hours because of the bad guys ineptness: not so in this movie - hero and villains are well matched; the latter pros demonstrate their competence by being always one step ahead of their amateur quarry, the playing field is levelled by his resourcefulness, guts, their bad luck, and his youth (in one sequence, the McCarthy character simply outruns the pursuing Glenn, through a crowd).
Yes, it's a fair, fast-paced fight, and I admired all three protagonists.The McCarthy character evolves through his reaction to the various threats to him and his girl-friend, while the villains are well served by a non-formula script, and the smooth, humorous ruthlessness of Glenn and Glover..
This is an extremely suspenseful, lighting paced thriller about a cab driver (Andrew McCarthy - Weekend at Bernies) who finds a suitcase full of money in his cab when a mysterious man leaves it there after being chased by the Mafia.
He foolishly decides to keep the money and its not long until a cold faced hitman (brilliantly played by Scott Glenn - Backdraft) is on his case.
The production values are standard, the music or direction isn't anything special, the only thing that actually stands out is the performance by Scott Glenn (Silence of the Lambs).
The Breakfast Club's Andrew McCarthy plays a Las Vegas cabbie, who discovers a million dollars of cash stashed in her cab.
It turns out to be stolen mob money, and he finds that a hired hit man (Glenn) is after the money- and him.
This is one of those movies where the star is the good guy even though he leaves the scene of a deadly accident, steals a million dollars, is too stupid to effect a proper get away, kills a person and ends up torching his own car with two dead bodies in it and no one behind the steering wheel.
At one point a friend said to me that Andrew McCarthy is one of the kings of Bad movies.
Ok, ok, "Weekend at Bernies" or some of the others may be ok, but they are not very memorable and would be on few top 100 or 1000 lists.Anyway, Night of the Running Man, brings this idea of McCarthyism into the 90's (1994), and once again it rings true.The concept of the movie is ok: $1 mil in the taxi, a killer is after you, and you run.
Scott Glen, plays the killer without morals, so much so, that we know something is up come ending time.
There are also little type goofs, like McCarthy's feet are burned so badly that he is supposed to be bedridden for 2 or so weeks, yet in 2 days, he is walking without any limps.Also, "night " is a bit of a mis-nomer as the movie takes place over days.
It's a very silly movie!Poor Andrew McCarthy suffers hell after finding a suitcase full of money in his cab, left by one of his unusual passengers.
It looks like the mob is trying to get back the money and they hired a dangerous hit-man (Scott Glenn) to find it.
On one side there's Andrew running away from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City and then Los Angeles, and on the other side, Glenn's tactics to find this dumb guy, who seems to be getting really smart after this sudden lucky strike.
And there's another villain, played by John Glover, who is very scary and because of his torture methods that the film gets interesting (when he puts McCarthy's feet on boiling water to prevent him from running away).
That scene alone worths the whole film.But this movie cannot escape of its negative aspects.
Fight scenes are badly executed; lots of laughable parts; the amazing fact of a guy who had his feet burned walking on crutches one day later after the incident (at least put him on a wheelchair when walking out of the hospital, then I would believe just a little); the presentation of both major characters are terrible, you don't even have time to relate or care for the hero, he's simply thrown on the screen and we "have" to like him.
Uninteresting as an action film or as a thriller, and a little bit funny as a drama, "Night of the Running Man" is good in making us wondering why good actors allow themselves to waste their talents in such a simplistic and dull project where their skills aren't well used.
Rarely, almost never, does a botched costume tell you everything you have to know about a movie but in this self-described "low budget" film, one of the lead's costumes in fact is a warning signal.
The so-called "professional ", "best there is" hit man (played by Scott Glen) is saddled, pun intended, with an ill-fitting suit that he wears throughout most of the movie.
I've worked on low budget films in my career but when a director or producer saves money, not by serving pizza for meals instead of catering thefilm, but stints on the leading man's suit, then you know you are in trouble.
Once a thing like this starts a movie then something as simple as the Scott Glen character acting "hired gun cool" becomes an item that causes smiles, if not laughter.
Stilted direction, formulaic plot, cliché-ridden characters, wooden acting, badly shot (looked like an old Barbaby Jones episode, but not that good), dreadful script.
Sexy and stupid and then.....dead.I can't imagine why Scott Glenn or Andrew McCarthy would work on a movie this terrible..
enjoyable movie with Andrew McCarthy and Scott Glenn.
The movie begins with a Las Vegas cab driver finding a briefcase stuffed full of money.
Every geek who grew up in the 80's knows Andrew McCarthy (who was not in The Breakfast Club btw, as another reviewer said), Scott Glenn is even today in every other movie and the director had a couple of hits in the 80's, so somewhat promising setup.The plot itself is pretty good in all it's simplicity, you have a hit-man chasing a cab driver who took the opportunity to get rich with money which is not his.
The chase is on and the scenery changes with a rather nice pace.What doesn't really work, is the leading man McCarthy.
Lester's Night Of The Running Man, not to be confused with the Schwarzenegger classic of a similar moniker, is a mean spirited little urban thriller with Scott Glenn in one of his primo amped up psychopath roles.
The hot man called in to pursue the funds is David Eckert (Glenn), a sociopathic monster with a heavy artillery, bent on retrieving the case and killing as many people along the way.
Erstwhile 80's Brat Pack thesp Andrew McCarthy is unexpectedly strong and engaging as a sweet, luckless Las Vegas cab driver who inadvertently takes possession of a million dollars worth of mob money and promptly hotfoots it out of town.
Greatly enlivened by B-movie action maestro Mark ("Truck Stop Women," "Commando") Lester's briskly smooth, straightforward direction, further enhanced by a splendidly scuzzy appearance by the ever-slimy John Glover as Glenn's equally detestable and overconfident Los Angeles partner in crime, a genuinely beguiling performance by the cute, perky Janet Gunn as the kind, cuddly nurse who comes to the battered, beleaguered McCarthy's aid, a few fun, clever plot twists, a welcome and refreshing sense of neatly realized inner logic and rationality (yes, this flick is actually very smart and doesn't actively insult the viewer's intelligence), an appropriately hard and gritty no-nonsense tone, a nonstop snappy pace, some good old fashioned (pretty graphic) sex and violence, and authentically tacky Las Vegas and Los Angeles locations, this rip-snorting little corker really makes the grade as a tense, tasty, and, most importantly, quite trashy chase action thriller..
Once you accept that premise, however, you can enjoy the film on its own terms.As is explained in greater detail in some of the other posted comments, the film concerns a Las Vegas cab driver (Idiot No. 1) named Jerry Logan (Andrew McCarthy), who inherits a suitcase containing a million dollars after one of his fares is killed while trying to abscond with the money from the casino at which he worked.
Otherwise, however, Logan behaves like an idiot throughout the film.What follows is loaded with SPOILERS (as are most of the comments on this film), so don't read on if you don't want to know what happens in the film.Soon after Logan discovers the money, Eckhart comes after him and gives him good reason to believe that he's in deadly peril.
He goes to the train station, buys a ticket in own name, and then gets coffee in the station cafe, where he tells the waitress where he plans to get off the train.Needless, to say, Eckhart easily catches up with Logan, only to have the guy slip away from him in a crowded airport.
It turns out that this cab is being driven by Idiot No. 3, Derek Mills (John Glover), another hit man whom Eckhart has tipped off about Logan's arrival.
Possibly even more sadistic than Eckhart, Mills takes Logan to his own house, where he boils Logan's feet to keep him from running away.
(And this dope considers himself unlucky?) Unfortunately, Logan's new friend Mills is also in the hospital, getting his head wound treated, and he overhears two nurses talking about the new patient with boiled feet.
Soon, Eckhart comes calling yet again.After Nurse Altman tells Logan that a man is looking for him, they both escape (Logan's boiled feet slow him down considerably, but they seem to heel rapidly through the last 30 or so minutes of the film.
He does, but not until the next morning, permitting them to spend the night in vigorous love-making--which must be part of Nurse Altman's cure, as Logan is in terrific condition the next day.Well, I think I've made my point.
Nevertheless, the film can be fun to watch (apart from several scenes of sadistic violence), if you enjoy guessing what stupid move each character will make next.
The film ends with Logan and Altman blowing up the latter's car with the dead bodies of the two hit men in it.
Another commentator on this page suggests that they burn the car so that the "mob" will think that they (i.e., Logan and Altman) are dead and stop looking for them.
So far as I could tell, before Eckhart gets killed, he goes back to Las Vegas and kills most of the people who might know who Logan is.
In any case, I don't think anyone in the mob knows about Nurse Altman, except Eckhart and Mills--who are dead--so there would be no reason to connect Logan with the car anyway.
Another organization killer in brought into the picture, this time a friendly, matter-of-fact, guy with a sense of humor (Glover).
There is a meeting between Glenn and Glover, the two professionals, in which Glover comes up with something out of a B Western -- "Someday the two of us will have to find out which of us is better."  I know that it's dumb, but it doesn't leap out at the view because so far the entire movie is pretty dumb.
When the waitress accidentally runs into Glenn she's dumb for not simply denying she met McCarthy but also for lying about where he's headed.
A final attempt an escape fails and the four principals are brought together -- Glenn, Glover, McCarthy and Barbie.
Glenn mutters a few ironic words, then dies, which is just as well because with all that frontal lobe damage he'd never be able to plan far enough ahead to decide what kind of pizza to order.McCarthy and Barbie now have not only the million bucks but two dead bodies, which they destroy in a fire, leaving the organization to think that the bodies are their own, rather than the killers'.
Therefore, I was pleased to see her turn up for a few minutes playing a waitress who covers for Andrew McCarthy (playing a cab driver on the run from the mob) in "Night of the Running Man."  Lankford made the most of her screentime and brought some warmth and humanity to a drab direct-to-video actioner.
Therefore, (spoiler coming up ahead, folks), I was thoroughly disgusted with the scene where mob hitman Scott Glenn dangles Lankford's terrified character from high up on a Dam in order to coax McCarthy's whereabouts from her, then drops her to her death.
This is without question a "B" Movie, but what a "B" Movie, one of the best "Cat and Mouse" films you are likely to find.
"The Cat", Scott Glenn's Dave Eckert is without question one of the most evil villains you will ever find in a film.
"The Mouse" Jerry Logan (Andrew McCarthy), is an innocent Las Vegas cab driver who picks up a fare who stole money from the Mob, and gets killed.
Logan then takes the money and starts to fun, and so begins the chase.
Then he gets to LA and at the airport, he takes a cab to get away, but finds the driver is Derek Mills (John Glover), and even more sadistic hit-man then Eckert, who puts Jerry's feet in boiling water.
He then collapses in the street and is taken to the Hospital where he is treated by Chris Altman (Janet Gunn), and when Eckert and Mills show up, he tries to run away, and she says if you leave you will die, he says if they catch me, I will die, and lets her know they are Mob hit men, and says he will pay anything to get away.