Nightmare at Noon

Nightmare at Noon (1988)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Nico Mastorakis

Starring: Wings Hauser, Bo Hopkins, George Kennedy, Kimberly Beck, Kimberly Ross

From: Omega Entertainment

What absurd yet entertaining nonsense this was. I was happy to see another film from Nico Mastorakis, along with another tip of my cap from the late Wings Hauser; someone in a messageboard thread noting that this film (a cult classic I’ve known of for years) was something he really enjoyed. That was enough motivation for me to stream this on Arrow’s service. The fact that this was in essence an uncredited remake of Romero’s The Crazies-except with less social/political commentary and more insanity-was another bonus.

A further benefit is that I can chuckle at the movie’s setting. In a few months, a pair of people I know will be driving out to the southern region of Utah, including Moab-the town that represented the film’s setting of Canyonlands, Utah.

Moab looks like a pleasant little town; Canyonlands also was pleasant… until an albino Brion James-an unfortunate stereotype is discrimination against albinos; however, to steal a comment, he looked like an albino John Carpenter!-and an agency known as APE (no, really) uses electronics to keep people in the town and poisons the water supply; any drinker turns into a superhuman w/ green acid blood. There are plenty of poppycock theories when it comes to H2O… why, it’s not just the federal government in the United States but also local and county governments want to take fluoride out of water! To avoid any heated arguments, the subject will be changed.

The movie certainly can be nitpicked when it comes to the plot, logic, or the number of “hey, wait a minute…” moments. People that want to see Hauser-as an LA entertainment lawyer who drives a hilariously ugly 80’s RV known as an Eldorado Starfire-James, George Kennedy, Bo Hopkins, & Kimberly Beck in a late 80’s action-horror flick likely will enjoy this B-movie insanity filled with a wacky score from Stanley Myers/Hans Zimmer, plenty of mayhem, gunshots, big explosions, wild stunts (one involving a motorcycle at least looked incredible from the way it was shot) and lovely Utah desert scenery, including footage from the nearby Arches National Park. Parts of the final act looked to be awfully similar to the final act in some old Westerns.

Nightmare at Noon is 80’s B-movie fun that stands a good chance of pleasing genre fans.