{"id":25712,"date":"2022-12-06T01:19:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T09:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25712"},"modified":"2022-12-06T01:19:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T09:19:15","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-nightmare-at-noon-1988","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25712","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: NIGHTMARE AT NOON (1988)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Arrow Video Blu-ray release is currently available at\nmost retailers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Like many low-budget independent genre filmmakers in the 1980s,\nGreek writer\/director Nico Mastorakis found a nice niche for himself through\nthe decade shooting monster movies and action pictures. Arrow Video have released\nBlu-rays of Death Has Blue Eyes<\/em> (1976) and Blood Tide<\/em> (1982).\nBoth were made by Mastorakis and both have been reviewed on this site. The\nlatest of the filmmaker\u2019s titles to arrive from Arrow is Nightmare at Noon<\/em>,\nan over-the-top and admittedly silly action picture featuring a better-than-average\ncast and some crazy stunts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s safe to say that this effort represents the most elaborate and complicated of the filmmaker\u2019s works (on a technical level). The plot is as simple and straight-forward as it gets, but there is a reckless abandon on display as characters are punched, shot, sent though windows, run down by vehicles, hurled into the air and\/or blown up. It is something to behold. This movie all about macho gun-toting excess and it does deliver on that front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story revolves around a covert organization named APE (Agency\nfor the Protection of the Environment), who in no way are interested in helping\nwith nature conservation. Instead, lead member The Albino (Brion James) releases\na green chemical into the water supply of a small Utah town called Canyonlands.\nThe substance causes anyone who drinks it to turn into a homicidal maniac. Just\nas this occurs, Los Angeles-based lawyer Ken Griffiths (Wings Hauser) and his\nwife Cheri (Kimberly Beck) arrive in the area driving a ridiculously oversized camper.\nThey pick up a hitchhiker named Reilly (Bo Hopkins) and stop at a local diner,\nonly to witness the start of the chaos. Sheriff Hanks (George Kennedy) and his\ndaughter\/deputy Julia (Kimberly Ross) appear to provide police assistance, but it\nimmediately becomes clear that a sinister plot is afoot and that the unaffected\nwill have to fight to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After an intro featuring The Albino silently smirking and\nstaring menacingly at a green computer monitor, it only takes a couple of introduction\nscenes before the leads witness a series of crazy assaults. Reilly, Hanks,\nJulia and some of the others do their best to stop the threat and, on many\noccasions, are forced to fire upon and eliminate their assailants. Despite the low-budget,\nMastorakis is very good at filming car chases and gunfights. The constant action\nis peppy and even exciting at times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another positive is a surprising subplot that finds a couple\nof the leads succumbing to the drug. It is revealed that one has consumed water\nand the person immediately goes on the rampage, attempting to maim another co-star.\nThere is also an amusing subplot involving nice-guy Sheriff Harks, who consumes\na coffee before work and secretly attempts to hide his worsening condition from\nthe others. He does manage to hold off going mad for a considerable amount of\ntime. This, of course, leads to a lot of unanswered questions. Namely, are\nwell-intentioned or sweet people able to hold off the effects of the chemical for\nan extended period of time? And are jerks more likely to become homicidal immediately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At least it adds to the surreal and silly tone and, in this\ninstance, makes the film an amusing experience rather than a heavy and brooding\nordeal. These and other logic queries are present throughout the film. It seems\nawfully odd that the heroes aren\u2019t more shocked by the green blood that spills\nout of those whom they fire upon. They note it but don\u2019t appear all that disturbed\nby the lime ooze spraying out of bodies. And after Reilly evades death and visits\na radio disc jockey to try and get a message to the Army, he doesn\u2019t seem to\ncare that the DJ before him is drinking out of a coffee mug. At the close,\neveryone seems too unfazed by what they\u2019ve experienced. A budding romance is\naddressed and the surprise fate of one character at the very end should really make\nall involved reconsider their violent acts earlier in the movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, in B-movies these strange and contradictory behaviors become a charming trait. So yes, there\u2019s not a lot here that makes logical sense. However, the movie provides plenty of goofy fun and impressive live stunts, fight choreography, car crashes and explosions. And it allows B-movie fans the opportunity for some amusing cracks when a strange story anomaly appears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Overall, I had a good time watching the title. I have seen this film before, but only on VHS back in the day (which is how most people my age saw the picture). As you might have already guessed, the Blu-ray offers a great improvement in picture quality. Pay no attention to the images on display in this article… the Blu-ray image is remarkably clean and the outrageous action really pops. It\u2019s always fun to see these flicks present a fight with a character or characters being thrown through a window pane. With this new edition, you can see every little bit of glass fly out at the screen and bounce on the sidewalk. Additionally, there\u2019s a wonderfully shot helicopter chase through Arches National Park that features choppers flying under and around rock formations. It\u2019s an excellent-looking disc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are also a couple of notable bonuses. There is a\nlengthy series of behind-the-scenes home movies that were shot during\nproduction. This feature runs about 45-minutes in length, shows set-ups and the\nplanning of various action bits. It does give viewers a sense of how these\nelements came together. Additionally, the disc contains a trailer, as well as an\nimage gallery accompanied by the film\u2019s score (which isn\u2019t half-bad and was\nco-composed by Hans Zimmer). Cast interviews shot during the production are\nalso included. There\u2019s a good one with Brion James who talks about his issues\nwith playing bad guys (and slowly realizing that the parts have had an effect\non his own personal behavior that he has been trying to overcome). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the highlight is a 30-minute-plus making-of featurette with\nbehind-the-scenes clips and finished scenes that features the voice of\nMastorakis sharing his recollections of the production. He’s very honest in his\ncomments. The filmmaker found Wings Hauser to be an absolute nightmare on set. Mastorakis\nsays that the actor was a cocaine addict at the time and was almost impossible\nto work with. The director adds that one night during the shoot, Hauser and his\nbrother got into a fist fight. The actor was arrested and the production had to\nbail him out of jail to continue the shoot. He mentions that many who worked\nwith the actor received apologies from him for his behavior after he cleaned\nup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, George Kennedy was described as an absolute\ngentleman who was exceptional on-set despite suffering from painful knee problems.\nAnd other, more disturbing memories suggest that there was great danger onset while\nshooting various stunts. One artist who planned out an elaborate motorcycle gag\nwas seriously injured after soaring past the padded landing area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, Nightmare at Noon<\/em> is an insane little\nB-movie that mixes elements of the horror film The Crazies<\/em> with\nover-the-top action spectacle that was trendy in the 1980s. It\u2019s bizarre and\ncheesy, but it certainly isn\u2019t dull. The movie provides fans of low-budget\ncinema with plenty of memorable moments and odd behavior from its characters.\nArrow Video have also done an exceptional job with the Blu-ray, presenting an\nexcellent transfer of the film with added insight from Mastorakis himself that\nprovides more layers to the movie itself. It\u2019s a disc well worth picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Arrow Video Blu-ray release is currently available at most retailers. Like many low-budget independent genre filmmakers in the 1980s, Greek writer\/director Nico Mastorakis found a nice niche for himself through the decade shooting monster movies and action pictures. Arrow Video have released Blu-rays of Death Has Blue Eyes (1976) and Blood Tide (1982). Both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[697,1836,2124,2923,3073,3217,3554,8193,11749,11751,14822,14887,14888,24353],"class_list":["post-25712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-action","tag-arrow-video","tag-b-movie","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-bo-hopkins","tag-brion-james","tag-george-kennedy","tag-kimberly-beck","tag-kimberly-ross","tag-nico-mastorakis","tag-nightmare-at-noon","tag-nightmare-at-noon-blu-ray-review","tag-wings-hauser"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}