10 to Midnight

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10 to Midnight
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Directed by	J. Lee Thompson
Produced by	Lance Hool
Written by	J. Lee Thompson
Starring	Charles Bronson Geoffrey Lewis Kelly Preston James Keane
Music by	Robert O. Ragland
Cinematography	Adam Greenberg
Editing by	Peter Lee Thompson
Distributed by	Cannon Films
Release date(s)	March 11, 1983 (USA)
Running time	101 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4,520,000 (USA)
Gross revenue	$7,100,000 (USA)
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IMDb profile

10 to Midnight is an action-crime-thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay originally written by William Roberts. The film stars Charles Bronson in the lead role with a supporting cast that includes Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis, Geoffrey Lewis, and Wilford Brimley. 10 to Midnight was released by City Films, a subsidiary of Cannon Films, to American cinemas on March 11, 1983.

10 to Midnight is a drama that mixes elements of police and slasher films. It portrays the homicidal behavior of Warren Stacy (played by Gene Davis), a young office equipment repairman who kills women after rejecting his sexual advances. Two Los Angeles police detectives, Leo Kessler (played by Charles Bronson) and Paul McAnn (played by Andrew Stevens) are in the process of investgiating his murders. Stacy avoids prosecution by constructing sound alibis and assaulting his victims while naked, thus minimizing evidence.

Modelled after the infamous Richard Speck murders, 10 to Midnight uses a screenplay originally named Bloody Sunday. According to producer Pancho Kohner, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan and Kohner named the film 10 to Midnight despite having no connection to the plot. Golan and Kohner had intended to film an adaptation of the R. Lance Hill novel The Evil That Men Do, which fell through before an upcoming visit to the Cannes Film Festival. Golan and Kohner agreed to market a different film with Charles Bronson as its star, using 10 to Midnight as its working title.

The music for 10 to Midnight was composed by Cannon Films mainstay Robert O. Ragland and the film was recorded by cinematographer Alan Greenberg. 10 to Midnight also features actor Robert F. Lyons and actress Kelly Preston (listed as Kelly Palzis) in smaller roles.

Violent and with unseemly subject matter, 10 to Midnight drew scathing reviews from film critics, including a 'zero stars' rating from Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. The film did receive positive feedback from others, such as Ebert's colleague Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune. The film has maintained a sizeable cult following through home video releases and heavily-edited broadcasts on television.