Night of the Running Man

Ah, another somewhat bizarre crime film that few people have heard about and, as of March in 2006, still is not available on DVD. 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. They play cold-blooded professional killers who act polite, have impressive vocabularies, dress with class, keep their cool, don't get loud and obnoxious....but are brutally sadistic. 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. Tough to watch. 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.

"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. When the bag guy is killed, McCarthy decides to run with the bag. 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. Glenn is excellent as the somewhat paranoid, darkly sadistic, methodical hunter. Along the way, John Glover becomes a colorful accomplice of Glenn's. This film has excellent character development, a compelling story, a sympathetic hero, and is unpredictable. Highly recommended. - MERK

This is an interesting non pretentious 90's thriller. I really enjoyed even it's somewhat predictable but entertaining. Acting is great, amazing the bad guy and If you love B-Action thrillers from the 90's you'll love this one.

'Night of the Running Man' is not much more than your average direct to video release. 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). That and the torture scene.

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.

You could do a lot worse than to rent this, and a lot better, but considering the miniscule budget the producers had to work with, it is a pretty good actioner, even deserving of a limited theatrical run. Nothing special.

5.5/10

About once a year I check to see if this flick is scheduled for release on DVD. It still isn't (Jan 05).

I only have about 30 titles that I own on DVD, but I would definitely purchase this one. It has some very memorable scenes (yes, some are quite graphic and gruesome, but I wouldn't call it "gratuitous" violence). I'd say it is a decent production in every way, but for some reason it seems to be treated as a very obscure movie.

Actually, I had to go to a movie buff message board to find the title, which I had forgotten. But it didn't take much of a description for a true movie buff to recognize what movie this is!!!