Blu-ray Review: 10 to Midnight (1983)

"An underrated 80's gem."

(aka Not Death Wish Part 2.)
Release Date: March 11th, 1983.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: William Roberts.  
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson.
Starring: Charles Bronson, Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis, Geoffrey Lewis, and Wilfred Brimley.

Having been scorned by a hot chick at work, because he's creepy and really awkward with women, Warren Stacy decides he needs to kill the bitch. He's as smart as he is creepy though, so he heads off to a theater to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where he blatantly harasses a couple of girls so he has an alibi. Then he slips out the bathroom window, runs to the woods where the offending bitch is making sweet love with her boyfriend in a party van, he gets naked, and and then kills them both.

WELL, SHE DID THROW HOT COFFEE IN HIS FACE...

Enter tough-as-nails detective Paul Kessler, who plays by his own rules, and just loves ridding the street of scumbags. When he discovers that the girl who was murdered is a close friend of his daughter's. he's determined to find the bastard who did this, which he very promptly does. Unfortunately, the bastard who did this is shrewd and leaves no evidence behind, and also has an air-tight alibi for the night of the murder... but Kessler knows it was him! He knows!

IT GETS NO MORE INTENSE THAN CHARLIE BRONSON.

As Kessler and his partner tries to take Warren Stacy down, more girls die at his hands, and he even sets his sights on killing Kessler's 80's Hot daughter, Laurie... which we think is supposed to happen at 10 to Midnight, or else the title doesn't really make very much sense. Either way, it's mano-a-mano time between Charles Bronson and Patrick Bateman's far less classy little brother!

ONE OF THE BEST ENDINGS EVER.

Was there anything better in the 80's than watching Charles Bronson dish out some cold hard justice to scumbag criminals who had it coming? The man kicked ass and brought a very special brand of tough guy attitude to the screen, and at 61-years-old, he was as kick-ass as he ever was in 10 to Midnight.

This is a fairly typical Cannon Films effort from the 80's, complete with plenty of violence, gratuitous nudity, and a silly plot that exists only to give the movie's hero a platform on which to kill the bad guy and serve up some justice, but there's just something really enjoyable about it on a base level. It's also pretty intense and even creepy, especially during the last murder sequence.

Aside from the awesomeness that is Charles Bronson, the cast also boasts plenty of other 80's mainstays, including the adorable Lisa Eilbacher, and a young Kelly Preston in her first movie role. Gene Davis made for a pretty convincing Serial Killer, even if is a bit over the top at times.

LISA EILBACHER: THE DEFINITION OF 80'S CUTENESS.

The thing that always grabbed us about this movie, was that it mirrored the cases of two real-life Serial Killers. The murders at the end are absolutely based off of the murders of 8 student nurses in 1966, at the hands of Richard Speck. If you want to read a chilling, real-life story, Google him. The killer in the movie also resembles Ted Bundy; he even drives a VW Bug like he did. And I don't care what anyone says: Brett Easton Ellis saw this movie when he was a teenager, and based parts of Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) off of the killer. While watching this Blu-ray, I actually said "Hey, that's Patrick Bateman!" Even though there are all kinds of differences between the two characters, there are also some striking similarities as well.

10 to Midnight also boasts one of the best endings to a movie ever. Seriously, it's perfect. 

REMEMBER HER FROM MICHAEL JACKSON'S THRILLER?

We really wish that the murders had been shown in graphic detail. After all, this is basically a Slasher flick masquerading as a Cop Thriller, and it was released int he early 80's, which was the Golden Age of the Slasher flick, so give us some good, nasty FX shots!

LIKE HE'S NOT GOING TO FIND YOU. LOL.

Whatever happened to Katrina Parrish, the sexy girl from the theater? She was way too hot to have never starred in anything else. Gah!

THANKS FOR WEARING THAT OUTFIT SO WELL, KATRINA.

There's plenty of blood throughout this one, but most of the the murders take place off-screen, and aren't very graphic.

WE'LL TAKE WHAT WE CAN GET THOUGH.

Boobs. Boobs galore. The killer runs around naked in this one too.

WE'D BE CRYING TOO.

"No we won't." A frigging classic.

ONCE AGAIN, KATRINA PARRISH. JUST BECAUSE.

This Blu-ray from Twilight Time looks and sounds good enough, but it's nothing to marvel at. I wanted to own this movie because I love the movie, and this is most likely the best it's ever going to look. The fact that the video has some bothersome black crush, and that the audio is a bit underwhelming, doesn't bother me in the least, but it will most likely irk a true Videophile.

Overall, this disc looks and sounds great, as long as you're not super picky.

Special Features: 

Aside from a few trailers, and a halfway decent commentary, there are no special features to be found on this disc. We're fine with that though, because we just wanted the movie in Blu-ray.

*This disc is Limited to 3000 copies, so if you want a copy, be sure to grab one quick.

THE 80'S LOOK SUPER SEXY IN 1080p.

10 to Midnight is an excellent 80's Thriller that has Charles Bronson hot on the trail of a Serial Killer who gets naked to kill sexy women. It's also got one of the coolest endings that we've ever seen. It's also kinda cheesy in that special 80's way, but the good here far outweighs the bad. It's just a really cool flick.

The best way to see this movie is on the new Twilight Time Blu-ray, but if $29.99 is too much money for you to blow on a blind buy, then just see it on DVD or VOD. 

A-

10 to Midnight is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

The collective 80's hotness of Lisa Eilbacher, a young Kelly Preston, and Anne Lockhart (to name a few) are on full display in this one.