Actor Mark Hamill as a sickly disturbed psychotic killer on the road. No way! 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. Well he lets it all out in an unconvincingly hammy and spaced-out portrayal with such non-apologetic aplomb. It's quite a sight
. A frightening one too, but not in that threatening way. But there's something random about it that just compels. Starring opposite of him is a surprisingly sound and rugged Michael Dudikoff and coming between the two is a feisty Savina Gersak. Making a brief and all-too tired turn is Robert Mitchum. Who looks like he'd rather be somewhere else and its understandable. 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. Never did it lose any of that gritty energy and hysterical nastiness from Bob Bralver's assertive direction. Sure it can be laughable, and contrived with its weak psychological front. But it's all about leaving a constant pile of destruction and a workable death toll. Still there's a real creepiness in certain sequences and atmospheric lighting, but it's mostly broken up by some ridiculously over-the-top set-pieces. That also goes for the out-of-nowhere shock ending. 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. Fair b-grade action romp.
Review of Midnight Ride
