Nightmare at Noon

Nightmare at Noon

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Movie Reviews of Nightmare at Noon

Movie Review: Beautifully, wonderfully inept trash!
Summary: 5 Stars

A small town out in the middle of nowhere serves as the starting place for Mastorakis's picture. A secret government agency, at least one that looks government and looks secret, sends a batch of goons out to the water supply of this isolated hamlet. Led by a mute albino (Brion James, in serious camp mode as the pasty-faced maniac. He never says a word in the entire film!), the government thugs shoot a weird fluid into the water that turns townspeople into zombies. Caught up in the unfolding madness are Ken and Cherie Griffiths (Wings Hauser and Kimberly Ross respectively), a Hollywood lawyer and his wife who are taking a trip across the country in a motor home. Along the way, the two pick up retired cop and roaming vagabond Reilly (Bo Hopkins), a man looking seeking solace on the highways of America. The three find themselves in a heap of trouble after rolling into the contaminated town. The town sheriff (George Kennedy) and his deputy daughter soon team up with the three outsiders when it becomes apparent that the residents of the village are falling under the spell of some strange infection. We know trouble looms because one of the town's most respected members guns down his own son during a virus induced fit.

The albino and his foot soldiers made sure no one could leave town once the infection begins to spread, so the Griffiths, Reilly, and the surviving members of the police force must come to terms with the unfolding disaster in order to survive. As more and more of the town's denizens go slowly crazy from drinking the water, our gang of heroes gather up a mess of firearms and head out into the streets. What follows is a hodgepodge of exploding cars, gun battles, and a few personal tragedies. The idea here is getting out of town and away from the shuffling creatures, which obviously will not be as easy as it sounds. Eventually, Hopkins assumes the role of leader and goes after the men responsible for this crime. The showdown in the desert involves a lot of flying bullets, a helicopter chase, and the predictable triumph of good over evil. If the movie only incorporated these elements, it would not deserve any attention whatsoever. The fun comes from watching Mastorakis ramp up the explosions, the gunfire, and the downright ridiculousness of the whole thing.

I cannot name one scene that stands out because so many things rise to the occasion. Hopkins shooting a nut on a motorcycle, with the attendant slow motion shot of said biker arcing through the air on fire, may rank as one of the more memorable sequences. George Kennedy's hysterical performance as the confused town cop is probably the best thing going for this movie, however. His facial expressions as he tries to mentally overcome the corrosive effects of the tainted water he drank with his morning coffee are priceless, just priceless. Moreover, when he finally loses it, some of the government goons light him up with a flamethrower. We literally see an engulfed Kennedy stumbling around before diving into the back of one of the G-men's vans. And then the van blows up like a nuclear bomb. You want more incredibly improbable situations? Just check out the helicopter chase at the end, where missiles fired from one of the choppers hits cars parked out in the desert (they blow up, too). What in the heck are these vehicles doing out in the middle of nowhere, you ask? Because the script called for them to be there, silly! There is plenty of hilarious overacting (see Wings Hauser every five minutes) and plenty of continuity errors as well. I am at a loss to explain the presence of Cherie Griffiths, grinning like a fool and seemingly unaffected by her viral infection, safely ensconced in the motor home at the end of the film. Why did she get better when everyone else died horribly? Who knows? If you cannot see the cheesy greatness of this film, you have no business watching B movies.

The DVD looks good for such a schlock presentation. There is plenty of information about the film and bios for the cast. There are even several other trailers for cheapie flicks, and the movie is in widescreen! I'm tellin' ya, I just have to buy this one before I forget about it. Yes, it's bad. Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it is loaded with ham handed performances from actors who should have known better. But that is what ultimately makes "Nightmare at Noon" a keeper. One of the best B movies I saw in 2003.