Blu-ray Release Date: March 31, 2015
I grew up in the 80s and saw as many movies as I could during that era, but admittedly several eluded my cinema-obsessed grasp. Such is the case with Night Game. It’s an 80s thriller about a maniac with a hook stalking victims in the beach town of Galveston, Texas. Frankly, I have no memory whatsoever of the film. So it’s fantastic that Olive Films have unearthed it and are putting it out on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time ever.
Indeed, there is a killer on the loose with a hook for a hand, slashing the throats of blondes around town. Lieutenant Mike Seaver (Roy Scheider) is on the case – that is when he isn’t watching or listening to the Houston Astros (all police work in town appears to slow down whenever the team are playing). But his interest in baseball soon helps him realize that there could be a connection between the murders and his favorite team.
Truthfully, this mash-up of thrillers and slasher flicks is not a particularly strong effort. However, it is a goofy, neon-lit nostalgia trip. There’s plenty of eccentric characters and the cast (which includes Karen Young, Paul Gleeson and Lane Smith) are all better than the standard plot given, so at least they manage to sell the material more than others might have. The movie also gives its star the opportunity for some comic squabbling with his very young fiancée’s mother, a woman whom he dated decades earlier in high-school. It’s a weird plot device that is obviously being used to endanger Seaver’s blonde squeeze towards the climax, but the situation leads to some entertainingly strange interactions.
And it’s pretty darn amusing in spots for several reasons. First, there’s the dated music. This flick features an unmistakably 80’s score from Pino Donaggio (famous for his work with director Brian De Palma) with a blaring saxophone that would feel more appropriate on an elevator than in a suspense flick. Even better, Scheider is forced into dancing awkwardly with his significant other to similarly generic music during their trips to a local nightclub.
The exasperated Chief constantly pops Excedrin and complains that the press are making too much of a story around the horrific hook murders and pushing all other news to the back page (of course they would, these are bizarre and terrible crimes).
And then there’s the killer himself. He isn’t glimpsed often, but when he is revealed, he walks around with an entertainingly maniacal and over-the-top expression. How anyone wouldn’t remember seeing him at a fair or in other crowded locations is the biggest mystery. This guy also stalks his prey on the beach using his truck. It’s nicely filmed using a Point-Of-View shot, but it’s one of the most conspicuous tactics a murderer has ever employed to stalk victims.
Speaking of the impressive POV, an honest plus is how sharp the Blu-ray image quality is and how well it displays the flick’s strongest attribute, Fred Murphy’s striking cinematography. (He would later go on to shoot Auto-Focus, Secret Window and Freddy vs. Jason). The blue and pink neon club finale looks wonderful, and there are a couple of impressive overhead angles of the killer chasing his victims.
So yes, it isn’t a great flick. However, I did have a good time watching this hokey B-movie and am thrilled that this lost title is available for all to discover and/or enjoy (even if it’s with a bunch of pals cracking jokes). It’s like discovering a part of your childhood that you never knew existed.
Below is an HBO Video trailer for the movie that amusingly mispronounces the main character’s name.