Midnight Ride (film)

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. As soon as Justin and Lara reach the hospital, Justin pretends Lara is paranoid and soon encounter Dr. Hardy, Justin's doctor who tried to help Justin when he first met him. While Lawson arrives at the hospital, Justin forces Dr. Hardy to give Lara the treatment of electric shocks. As much as Dr. Hardy tries to persuade Justin not to he ignores him and gives Lara electric shocks, thus trying to kill her. Lawson comes right out of a ventalation shaft into the room stopping Justin from his insane doing and pursues him down to the engineers room tackling Justin down and throwing him right into a current, electrifying him to death. Lawson and Lara in the end head to the elevator, which Lawson forgives Lara and says that she is more important than his work. Not realizing that Justin survived the incident and secretly dresses up as a patient and is in the elevator with them and grabs a knife to kill them both, but Lawson grabs his gun and shots him directly to the head leading him to his real death, thus ending the film.

Cast

See also

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

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Midnight Ride

• Midnight Ride at the Internet Movie Database