JoeLumb's Movie Review 10 to Midnight (1983)

 The Producer of this film Poncho Kohner had done a number of films with Charles Bronson and Director J. Lee Thompson. They pucharsed the film right to the  1978 novel "The Evil that Men Do"  written by R.Lance Hill. Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan wanted to market Bronson's next film project and the adaptation of the novel,but Kohner estimated the right to the novel and cost of the screenplay being $200K Menahem Golan refused to pay and the deal fell through. Golan however still offered to market Bronson's next film,just not based on that novel Poncho and Menahem arranged a visit to The Cannes Film Festival to promote "The Evil that Men Do". In the meantime Golan told Kohner to come up with a new project and a fresh title. Back in Los Angeles while coming up with the screenplay for the new project Poncho Kohner's colleague Lance Hool suggested using the screenplay Bloody Sunday written by William Roberts. That's how "10 to Midnight" came about. 

The Plot of the movie is an office equipment repairman who is a psychopathic killer of women after,they reject his sexual advances. The Antagonists name is Warren Stacey(Gene Davis/I don't know if it was to take a cheap shot or pay homage to another Hollywood star in  Warren Beatty) anyway,well one night he attends the showing of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid where he sits next to two girls intentionally I might add. As the movie plays he heads towards the bathroom to strip naked put on a pair of gloves and slips out the window. He tracks down a female co-worker who rejected his sexual advances,down to a wooded area and he observes her having sex with a boyfriend in the back of a van. So Warren ambushes them killing Betty's lover,chasing Betty to the forest where he caught up to her and stabbed her to death. Then Warren returned to the movie,puts his clothes back on and  then exits with the other attendees giving him a solid alibi. 

Meanwhile veteran detective Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) and his young partner Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens) investigate the murders. Anyway Stacey attended the funeral of Betty when he overhears from the victim's father about what her friend knows that Betty kept a diary about her encounters with other men. Fearing that he would be mentioned he races to the apartment to look for it when interupted by Betty's roommate and co-worker Karen Smalley entering the place after returning to the funeral and Warren stabs her to death. He resumes finding the diary until he realizes that she gave it to Kessler. 

That lead to Stacey being arrested and charged with murder but this is what pisses me off about police protocol if you're gonna make evidence stick against a killer don't plant it in order to frame him and put him away for good cause that's exactly what Kessler did he wanted him put away for life. His partner McAnn discovered what Kessler did and confronted him  with the fear of him committing perjury. Well in court Kessler admitted to planting evidence which lead to Stacey being acquitted of all charges and Kessler being fired from the force.

Now a free man Warren Stacey taunts Leo Kessler over the phone,but he returns the favor by ransacking his home taunting him over the phone in return and getting him fired from his office job.  That night Kessler tails Stacey through the Los Angeles streets. After he picked up a prostitute he tails them to a seedy motel,but when he got there the prostitute was knocked out and Stacey was gone. Realizing now that he's going after Kessler's daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher). He frantically calls her dorm,but it was too late. Stacey had murdered three of her roommates as Laurie escaped and ran for her life as the killer went after her.  Meanwhile Kessler alerts McAnn of Stacey's whereabouts and they run to the dorm. The Killer fully nude mind ya chased Laurie down the L.A. streets,however McAnn and Kessler caught up to him rescuing Laurie in the process. Stacey then goes on a rant on how insane he is and and thus liable to be released after doing jail time.  The police arrive to handcuff him but now without telling Leo "The whole fucking world will hear from me again." and a coldhearted Leo Kessler responds "No We Won't" and that's when he shot him in the head killing him and the film is over,roll the credits. 

The film was released om March 11,1983 by City Films a subsidiary of The Cannon Film group. It cost $4 million to make and did $7 million in the box office. The film had a cult following years later thanks to home video releases and Cable TV showings,the film was heavilly edited for TV broadcasts which displayed alternate scenes of Stacey and his victims in their underwear instead of them being totally naked.  This Charles Bronson movie was heavy on violence,nudity,sexual situations and vulgar language.  

The problem I have with this film is why didn't they extend the movie a little more after Stacey's dead,Kessler is reinstated to the police force. How come they didn't do that?  That ending we got partially didn't make sense to me. My Overall Rating for this movie is a 20/100 no wonder why it's regarded as one of the worst movies Charles Bronson ever starred in. 

10 Monster Movies I Literally hate

 There are monster movies that defied everyone's expectations GOOD or BAD. 

But you see there are a handful of Monster Movies that I literally HATE with a passion so here are the 10 Monster Movies I literally HATE.

#10 Megashark vs Giant Octopus (2009)-What the Fuck? I mean Really This is one of the first of three Megashark movies distributed by The Asylum they are an indie film production company that features alot of low budget direct to video films. That production is known for creating "mockbusters" a mockery of blockbuster films that had been released by major film companies. But this one Why the Fuck didn't they call this Megalodon vs Kraken. Megalodon is a prehistoric giant shark that is bigger than a school of Great white sharks and a Kraken is just a giant octopus. It's Shit. But this is not the only movie that features a Giant Octopus check this next one out.

#9 Tentacles (1977)-You want to talk about Capitalizing on the success of Jaws (1975)-It's the story about a seaside tourist resort called Solana Beach where people are turning up dead their skeletons were picked clean of flesh and bone marrow. Apparently a construction of an underwater tunnel had madden the Kraken as I like to call it and it kills everyone that awakens the beast. So the protagonist  Gleason (Bo Hopkins) has a team of trained killer whales destroy the monster. Thank the president of Trojan Construction (Henry Fonda) for letting that beast out to begin with. 

#8 Tarantula (1955)-If you thought the last two were bad check this one out it features a giant spider,everybody has a fear of spiders,but they have a bigger fear of tarantulas even a giant tarantula Holy Shit!

#7 Them (1954)-Giant Irradiated Ants that were discovered in New Mexico become a national threat Oh Brilliant Giant Ants Terrorizing a city,We need a Giant Anteater to save us. 

#6 The Suckling (1990)-That is Bloody Disgusting abort a baby,flush it down the fucking toilet treating it like it was a piece of shit,lands in some toxic waste transforms into a monster that goes on a killing spree in the clinic. I repeat Bloody Disgusting. 

#5 Monster Island (2019)-A complete Mockery of Godzilla King of the Monsters which was released that same year Damnit Asylum you did it again. LAWSUIT!!!!!!

#4 Monster (2008)-In what many say is the worst direct to DVD movie to ever come out and to be honest I agree with that sentiment. I mean what the fuck? Another Giant Octopus laying dormant for years causing earthquakes in of all places Tokyo,Japan. God Awful!!!

#3 Earth vs The Spider (1958)-Another Giant Insect movie Give me a fuckin break. Hate Spiders plain and simple.

#2 Deep Rising (1998)-Here we go again another sea beast,but this one is more of an alien creature than an actual giant octopus but get this they name the monster The Octalus the story follows mercenaries for hire to pilot across a luxury cruise ship in attempts an act of terrorism,little did they all know The Octalus were killing victims one by one the only ones to survive were Treat Williams and Famke Janssen's characters. No wonder why the movie bombed at the box office it was terrible. Why the hell it's regarded as a cult classic is beyond me. 

And Now here the #1 Monster Movie I Literally HATE:

#1 JAWS The Revenge (1987):The lowest grossing JAWS film in it's Franchise no wonder why we never got anymore Jaws movies following this one. Nominated for 7 Golden Raspberry Awards. I think after the way Jaws 3 came out four years earlier,it was time to kill the franchise with The Revenge. 

JoeLumb's Movie Review Beverly Hills COP (1984)

 I previously reviewed Eddie Murphy's first silver screen debut in 48 HRS (with Nick Nolte) but today I review the movie that made him a superstar in Hollywood which is "Beverly Hills Cop" 

The origins of the story dates all the way back to 1977 when Don Simpson who was an executive for Paramount Pictures came up with the movie idea about a cop in East L.A. transferring to Beverly Hills Screenwriter Danilo Bach was hired to write the script,he then pitched the idea to Simpson in 1981 under the name "Beverly Drive" the script was a straight up action film,which the executives hated so he was forced to re-write the script,but after a few attempts the project went stale. Daniel Petrie Jr was brought in to re-write and make changes to Bach's original script and the executives at Paramount were good with it. It was Petrie's humorous approach that transformed the lead character from Elly Axel from East L.A. to Axel Foley from Detroit. The offer to play the role of Axel Foley was first presented to Mickey Rourke,but he son left to do another film,then they went with Sylvester Stallone who was originally considered for the role of Axel Foley he wanted to give the script a dramatic re-write removing all of the story's humor and turning it back into a standard action movie. Well Stallone's new script wasn't what Paramount hoped for and he ultimately dropped out,but retained his idea for a future movie which would be called "Cobra" a future movie review for another time. Anyway Don Simpson and his partner Jerry Bruckheimer made a last ditch effort to get someone who would play the role of Axel Foley and that ended up in the hands of Eddie Murphy. So with Eddie's input the final shooting of the draft was done the day production began. The Budget for the Film was around the $14 million mark with Murphy getting $4 million,but got completed around $13 million and filming went from May through late July or August of 1984 mostly around the Los Angeles area,but in the opening there was scenes filmed in the motor city. 

The plot of this story follows a young,reckless detective named Axel Foley (Murphy)and his unauthorized sting operation had gone awry when two uniform cops intervened which lead to the wildest vehicle chases to open a movie and because of the high speed chase and the widespread damage done to the city Foley had gotten verbally blasted by his superior Inspector Todd (Gil Hill) who threatens to fire him if he don't change his ways. Foley then arrives at his apartment when he realized that his longtime friend Mikey Tandino (James Russo) had broken in and made himself a sandwich. The story about their longtime friendship was Axel and Mikey had committed grand theft auto and Mikey took the wrap for him,after he got out he got a job as a security guard in Beverly Hills thanks to a mutual childhood friend in Jenny Summers(Lisa Eilbacher). After getting drunk at a bar two men in business suits first knocked out Axel and confronted Mikey over "Stolen German Bearer Bonds" the plot thickens as one of them kills Mikey before retrieving the Bearer Bonds. When Foley asks Todd to investigate the case he refused because of the close tides and he's still pissed over the unauthorized sting operation from earlier in the day. So Foley decided to "go on vacation" After checking in to a luxurious Beverly Hills Hotel,Foley sought out Jenny and informed her that Mikey had been killed he then soon learns that the man Mikey was working for is an art gallery owner named Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff). After posing as a flower delivery guy he busts into Maitland's office and tries to question him about Mikey,but he has his goons throw Axel out of a window and then he gets arrested for trespassing. At the local police station Axel is questioned by Sergrant John Taggart (John Ashton) and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and then Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) informs Foley that he has talked to Inspector Todd who reminds him if Axel is out here investigation Mikey Tandino's murder he will be fired. Soon thereafter Jenny bails Axel out,while Bogomil assigns Taggart and Rosewood to follow him. Later in the film Foley realizes he got off to a rough start with Taggart and Rosewood and wanted to make peace,by taking them to a strip club,where Foley immediately spotted a robbery was about to take place so the three thwarted the robbery,after that the three men developed mutual respect. While on the trail of Mikey's killer,Axel had snuck into one of Maitland's warehouses where he finds crates full of coffee grounds,which he suspects that it's used to pack drugs since he knows it's used to cover the scent of drugs from police dogs. He also discovers many of his crates have not gone through customs. Foley confronted Maitland again after thrashing his associate Zack(Jonathan Banks) on the buffet table at a country club he tells Maitland he is on to him and then Foley is arrested again. At the police station Axel alerts Bogomil of why he is after Maitland,the murder of his friend and the fact that he is a possible smuggler and then Bogomil's superior Chief Hubbard comes in after learning about Axel's ill-advised investigative actions and orders that Axel will be escorted out of town. But then Axel convinces Billy to pick up Jenny and take her to the warehouse where a shipment was due to arrive that day.  

When Axel and Jenny break in and prove that Axel's suspicions was right,they are soon busted by Maitland and his men,they kidnap Jenny and Zack admits that he should have killed Axel,the same way he killed Mikey. So with Jenny abducted by Maitland and company,Axel is at the mercy of two of his henchmen until Rosewood made the save in the nick of time. Meanwhile Taggart tracks Axel's whereabouts at Maitland's estate and he ends up joining Axel and Billy in their effort to rescue Jenny. Then a shootout happens,The Trio wiped out most of them. Axel goes inside and kills Zack (Avenging Mikey's murder) but then he got shot in the shoulder by Maitland. However Bogomil shows up as he and Axel shoots and kills Maitland and rescues Jenny in the process. After coming up with a story to Chief Hubbard without discrediting Beverly Hills PD,Axel says something to Bogomil that if he gets fired he may move to Bevrely Hills,but Bogomil promises to straighten things out with his boss Inspector Todd.  The final scene was Axel Taggart and Rosewood heading out to get a drink before Foley heads back to Detroit. 

The film was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer,directed by Martin Brest and was released on December 5,1984 and made over $300 million in the box office becoming the highest grossing film of 1984 and it was the third all time highest grossing R rated film behind "The Exorcist" and "The Godfather" 

My overall rating for this movie is a 10/10 it was and still is my #1 pick for best movie of 1984.

JoeLumb's Movie Review 48 HRS. (1982)

 The movie "48 HRs" featured veteran actor Nick Nolte who would later nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in "The Prince of Tides" and this would feature the silver screen debut of comedian Eddie Murphy. Before this film Murphy was a regular on Saturday Night Live a show on NBC which still goes strong today. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was released in theatres on December 8,1982. Directed by Walter Hill (he directed another Paramount film The Warriors in 1979) Hill also co wrote the script of the movie with Steven E.DeSouza,Larry Gross and Roger Spottiswoode and produced by Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver. 

The plot of the movie follows Inspector Jack Cates (Nolte) of the San Fransisco Police Department desperate to capture an escaped convict named Albert Ganz (James Remar) and his associate who helped him escape named Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) while tracking the convicts down Ganz held a woman hostage before killing two of Cates' fellow cops and taking off with his gun. Desperate and armed with a replacement gun,Cates tracks down Ganz's former ally in Reggie Hammond (Murphy). Reggie is doing a three year prison sentence for armed robbery. After a chance meeting Reggie offers to help Jack get Ganz if he can get him out of prison. So a 48 hour time period was put in place and I'll never forget the line Cates said to Hammond "We ain't partners we ain't brothers and we ain't friends,I'm putting you down and keeping you down until Ganz is locked up or dead and if Ganz gets away you'll be sorry that you ever met me." Then Hammond's responds to Ganz's threat "I'm already sorry" After a bunch of frustrating leads and Hammond "playing a bad cop" at Torchy's a hangout where Billy Bear used to work giving Jack the run around he and Reggie get into a fist fight which was broken up by uniform cops. Then Reggie finally reveals the real reason behind his hatred for Ganz. Years prior he,Ganz,Billy Luther (David Patrick Kelly) and Wong robbed a drug dealer of half a million dollars and the money was and still is stashed in the trunk of Reggie's car in a downtown parking garage. Instead of splitting the cash Ganz sold Reggie down the river and that's how he ended up in prison it was also the reason why Ganz and Billy adbucted Luther's girlfriend Rosalie that want to get Reggie's money in exchange for her safe return. Fast forward to the bus chase scene. After Luther gave Ganz the money,Ganz turns around and shoots Luther and presumably his girlfriend (but that probably was cut from the movie) as the villains escape Cates and Hammond crash through the window of a Cadillac showroom.  After getting his ass reemed out by his supervisor.  Jack and Reggie make one last attempt to get Ganz and Billy. They head back to Billy Bear's girlfriend's place where Ganz and Billy used as a hideout. Reggie kills Billy as a gunfight between the heroes and Ganz ensues. In the end Cates avenges his fellow officers death my shooting Ganz to his death. After Reggie had sex with a woman he met earlier that night Reggie and Jack share a laugh before taking him back to prison. 

The film itself cost $12 million to make and it did $78.9 million in the box office. "48HRS" was the movie in which started the buddy cop film genre and would catapult Eddie Murphy into superstardom as one of Hollywood's greatest comedians. 

I rank this movie at #5 in my favorite movies of 1982 and I was only 4 going on 5 when this movie was released.  I watched the whole movie back in 2007 I got a kick out of Jack's threat to Reggie before leaving the prison it would be revisited later in the film after the fistfight and Reggie's confession but this time Reggie threatened Jack by saying "We ain't partners and we ain't friends if Ganz gets away with my money you'll be sorry you ever met me." and Jack's response was "I'm already sorry"