Midnight Ride (film)

Midnight Ride
220px Somewhere round the next bend, lies the road to terror
Directed by	Bob Bralver
Produced by	Ovidio G. Assonitis
Written by	Russell V. Manzatt/Bob Bralver (as Robert Bralver)
Starring	Mark Hamill, Robert Mitchum, Michael Dudikoff, Savina Gersak, Mark A. Pierce, Dee Dee Rescher, Debbie Evans, Timothy Brown, Michael Crabtree, R.A. Rondell, Louis Schwiebert, Bob Bralver
Music by	Carlo Maria Cordio
Cinematography	Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli
Editing by	Claudio M. Cutry
Distributed by	Cannon Pictures Inc./Cannon Film Distributors/Motion Picture Company of Australia Limited/Warner Home Video
Release date(s)	July 20 1990
Running time	93 min
Country	USA
Language	English

Midnight Ride is a 1990 action/thriller (with slasher elements) film. It stars Mark Hamill, Michael Dudikoff, Savina Gersak, and Robert Mitchum in a cameo role (as a shrink who is the closest thing to a father figure the antagonist ever had). The film went out of its way to display some genuine sympathy towards the killer, Justin; it showed that his murder spree was often not well thought out and was more impulsive (he tended to violently attack those who hurt him physically/verbally).

Synopsis

After a heated argument with her military police turned cop husband, Lawson; Russian immigrant house wife, Lara storms off into the night convinced he's more married to his job than her. On her drive to a friend's house, she takes pity on a mournful hitchhiker Justin Mckay, desperately searching for a ride. Her offer of a lift to him plunges her into a night of pure terror as Justin is seriously disturbed, twisted by a tortured childhood which ended in being made to see his little sister's shocking murder and mutilation at the hands of his brutal alcoholic mother (who took a butcher knife to her head and used it like a comb) who systematically slays anyone who harms or offends him on a murderous impulse, as he captures their dying moments on his Polaroid camera. As Lawson struggles to follow Lara despite a leg in plaster, he is left for dead by our Justin, but recovers and now must search the steadily darkening roads for Lara, while her deeply troubled captor Justin continues his uncontrollable slaughter-spree, rampaging through the night leaving behind carnage and fiery devastation on his path of madness.

Cast

Actor / Actress	Character
Michael Dudikoff	Lawson
Mark Hamill	Justin Mckay
Savina Gersak	Lara
Robert Mitchum	Dr. Hardy
Timothy Brown	Jordan
R.A. Rondell	Officer Baker
Mark A. Pierce (as Mark Pierce)	Policeman
Bob Bralver	Policeman
Michael Crabtree	Policeman
Louis Schwiebert	Policeman
Lezlie Deane	Joan
Steve Ingrassia	Man with Joan
Cynthia Szigeti	Mrs. Egan
Dee Dee Rescher	Receptionist
Pamela Ludwig	Rental agent

See also

• Mark Hamill
• Robert Mitchum
• Slasher film
• Thriller film
• Child abuse
• Spree killer

External links

• Midnight Ride at the Internet Movie Database