Midnight Heat

Detective Rick 'Fucking' Wilson (Jake Norvell) is going to arrest The Scalper (Nick Foster), the crazed murdered who's been going around murdering the ladies of the night on the streets of 1980's Lake City, US. The Scalper's next victim is looking to be Donna Diggs (Bianca Queen) whom Rick used to be a customer of. At the same time Donnas pimp Martin (Brad Jones) is having trouble as he's blaming himself for what happened when The Scalper murdered one of his girls. It's a psychological action thriller in a classic 80's atmosphere, it's the set-up for Midnight Heat.

The atmosphere is very impressive for being only the second feature-length film made by amateur filmmaker Brad Jones, but as people should know by now, I'm a big fan of his work. But I've got to say, when he first showed himself on screen I felt really confused, 25 year old Brad Jones looks so uncanny when you're used to his current looks. But it's fine, because as soon as he opens his mouth you recognize him as the person you know and love. The storyline in Heat is paced well and the amazing soundtrack, which is completely borrowed from already amazing 80's songs, compliments it in such a way that it's not too hard to imagine this movie being made 20 years before it was.

The acting for the most part is really good in Midnight Heat, much better here than in Game Boys where it was my main concern, but that review is for another day. Brad is of course golden, as is Jake as Detective Rick. In fact, Rick might just be the perfect amount of camp in certain scenes that he outshines the rest of the cast. Whenever Jake starts yelling with that perfect smile on his face he consumes the scene in such a fashion that you'll never forget it. Bianca Queen is decent, but not as good as Brad, Jake or even Sarah Lewis in the minor part she plays.

The movie can be viewed for free on Brad Jones website (www.thecinemasnob.com) and is well worth doing, especially if you're a fan of his later work on Hooker With a Heart of Gold which this reminded me fondly of. If you're into sleaze, psychological traumas and drug-addicted cops, then Midnight Heat is for you.