Night of the Running Man

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. But, alas it is really simplified. 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.

Oh well, what else do you expect?

Other thrillers are better, but you may like this.

Viewed on tape, Rating = 4

If you're a movie nut like me you often comb the lower rungs of video stores looking for neglected gems from bygone eras: Rolling Thunder and The Outfit from the 70s. Cohen & Tate and The Hit from the 1980s. And this one from the mid-90s.

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. All of the scenes with Scott Glenn have a nasty energy. He is an iconic looking,leathery-faced actor and I would love to see him get more flashy roles such as his part here as a vengeful and greedy hit man. He commands the screen whenever he appears and he isn't afraid to play a completely unlikable character in a very straightforward way. There are no cute actor tricks--playing to the gallery and softening the role. 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.

This was an amazon prime find , it's nothing special but kept my attention. McCarthy does a decent job but the plot is a little dull at times . Worth a watch if you like a cat and mouse thriller . Sex and violence are pretty good too in the film. Scott Glenn is enjoyable as the hitman.

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.

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!!!