Night Game (1989) User Reviews

A passable time waster.

[Hey_Sweden · 5/10 · 10 May 2015]

Roy Scheider plays Mike Seaver, a Texas police detective (and former ballplayer) who picks up the trail of a serial killer in this very pedestrian thriller. The hook here is that the killers' attacks are tied in to night games at the Houston Astrodome. Roy's impending marriage to the much younger Roxy (Karen Young) forms a subplot, as does Roy's vendetta against a fellow detective, Broussard (Paul Gleason) whom he believes to be corrupt.

A rock solid cast does the best that it can with this routine script by Spencer Eastman and Anthony Palmer. (Palmer also plays the supporting role of Mendoza.) Peter Masterson is a good director, and the movie isn't incompetently made, but it's of no real distinction. It's pretty predictable, although it might hold the attention of some viewers because of its brutal murders, location filming, and fine performances. It's gorgeously shot by Fred Murphy, and the score by Pino Donaggio is okay but it's definitely not as memorable as the scores he composed for features such as "Carrie", "Piranha", "Dressed to Kill", and "The Howling". Pacing is mostly decent, but the movie is just not that exciting, even in its final act when Seaver realizes who the killer is and races to prevent them from committing another murder.

Scheider is fine as always in the lead, even not having that much to work with. Young is radiant and appealing as his love interest. Gleason is amusing in one of his typical jerk roles, and Richard Bradford glowers and rants adequately as Scheiders' commanding officer. Lane Smith is rather wasted as a government man named Witty. Carlin Glynn (Mastersons' wife) plays Scheiders' domineering future mother-in-law; Rex Linn of 'CSI: Miami' makes one of his earliest feature film appearances.

This is watchable enough but completely forgettable once it's over.

Five out of 10.

Baseball & Murder in Houston Texas

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 24 August 2004]

****SPOILERS**** Towards the end of the movie "Night Game" Houston Astro pitcher Sil Daretto, Alex Garcia, walks off the pitchers mound as the game is about to start and to the surprise and astonishment of all those on the baseball field and in the stands walks over to newlyweds Mike & Roxy Sever, Roy Scheider & Karen Young. Daretto congratulates them on their wedding and sincerely tells Mike & Roxy to enjoy the game, the nightmare was at last over for all of them.

A number of young women were found dead in and around the beaches of Houston and Galveston and the one thing they all had in common is that they were murdered when Houston Astro ace pitcher Sil Daretto pitched and won a night game at the Astro-Dome. They also they had their throats slashed by some hook that the killer used.

The movie "Night Game" mixes baseball with murder in this very unusual story about a disgruntled former Houston Astro player Floyd Epps, Rex Linn, who was cut by the team to make room for Daretto and on top of all that lost his pitching hand in a bus accident as he was leaving.

Epps wants to upstage Daretto when ever he wins a ballgame by committing a murder that same night and getting the headline for his crime over Daretto victory. It's Epps' insane way of getting even for what he holds Daretto responsible for; the loss of his job being a pitcher for the Astros and his left hand. Roy Scheider sleep-walks through his role as a former baseball player now Galveston policemen and the movie is better then the average made for TV movie even though it isn't but should have been one.

The ending was a bit ridicules with Epps chasing Roxy all over the catwalk outside a waterfront restaurant with Roxy not having the sense to get inside and thus not getting trapped by the insane hooked killer. In fact Roxy actually ran outside the eatery as she saw Epps and easily got trapped by him. Mike came to Roxy's rescue in just the nick of time with Rex hook and all getting dumped in the ocean below after taking a number slugs from Mike's revolver.

Dopey but watchable film that was a bit too unbelievable not in the fact that Epps was a crazed former baseball player who felt that he got a raw deal from life and wanted to rectify it in his own crazy way. As you would have expected the local police as well as the Texas justice department were so slow and incompetent in realizing who Epps was when the evidence was right in front of them, the man the hook and the motive, but were just too blind to see it.

Hello Sports' fans! We are ready for another killer baseball game!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 13 August 2020]

Thanks to brilliant genre classics, such as "Jaws", "The French Connection" and "Sorcerer", Roy Scheider is one of my - admittedly many - cinematic heroes, but it's nevertheless quite difficult to take him seriously here in this film. Roy depicts a police detective in a coastal Texan town, who asked the daughter of his high-school sweetheart to marry him (!), and meanwhile he tries to solve the case of a serial killer who slays beautiful blond women with a hook. His modus operandi also seems to be linked to the calendar of the local baseball team. Neither the plot nor any of the characters are very plausible, but luckily there are other things to enjoy in "Night Game". There's a lot of misplaced humor, for instance one of the deputies gets sick upon the discovery of a new body whereas another one orders pizza to the place of a crime scene. The killer cuts the throats of victims with a hook; hence the murders are reasonably gory and sadist, and the stalking that he does before killing them results in a couple of suspenseful moments, notably at the mirror-palace at the carnal or on the construction site near the beach. Scheiders' quarrels with his future mother-in-law are often funny, and there are pointless supportive roles for familiar faces like Lane Smith and Paul Glaser.

Before "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven. . ."

[Leeandkate · 2 July 2000]

. . . this what the serial killer movie looked like. The plot is leaky to say the least: someone would have picked up on the fact that the murders only occur when the local team plays, and when a certain player scores. The fact that he kills with a hook would get out, and someone would immediately remember a disaffected loner with a hook for a hand. FBI Behavioural Sciences would solve this in a day.

The director seems immensely impressed with the fact he's filming in Texas, far from the gaze of Studio execs, and packs in endless loving aerial vistas. His visual style is stuck in TV Movie Lite, and along with the soundtrack could have originated from anytime since 1972. Only the clothes and hairstyles suggest its 80's dating, and even those seem stuck in a timewarp from 1985 rather than 1989.

Roy Scheider looks embarrassed, Karen Young flashes her breasts in the first 10 minutes. Subplots about Scheider's character's father's links to organised crime and tension with his girlfriend's mother (who he dated in High School) detract from the story and go unresolved. One face to watch out for: the blonde victim in the Hall of Mirrors is played by Renee O'Connor, Xena's sidekick Gabrielle. I only watched the rest of the film because I thought I recognised her face and wanted to check the credits!

Double D - Dreadful Directing!

[Pittwater · 1/10 · 29 August 2001]

The main drawcard is the exciting actor, Roy Scheider. Sadly, he can't carry such a deadweight on his own. The script was absolutely awful and the directing dreadful. The story was slow and the fight scene at the end was like a children's recital. That's not the fault of the actors as I blame that on the director. I like to know who finances these type of films. Too much money and not knowing what to do with it must be the diagnosis. On one interesting note is Karen Young. Does she remind you of Shirley MacLaine or what?

A Foul Ball Of An Actor And Foul Movie

[ccthemovieman-1 · 1/10 · 6 May 2007]

I wondered if anyone could come along in the '80s and be more verbally blasphemous than Brian Dennehy. He seemed to be the "Babe Ruth" of using the Lord's name in vain. However, in this movie, Richard Bradford stepped up to the plate and becomes Barry Bonds! Bradford must have set the record for the most usages of the Lord's name in vain by a policeman in a Hollywood film, as well as being in the Top Ten for any role at any time. He was so ridiculous that I watched this with a TV Guardian the second time and four of his profane tirades skipped by the machine in less than seven minutes. Most of what he said, sentence after sentence, had to be edited. What a classy guy!

Too bad, because I enjoy films with sports angles, particularly baseball. It wasn't just Bradford's mouth, however, that turned me off. This entire film had Class B dialog throughout it, along with sub-par directing.

One reviewer here might have said it better than anyone with the comment, "If you liked I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and Candyman, go ahead and rent this from your local video store."

Well, that's some testimony. I didn't like those pieces of crap, either, and so this aptly belongs with them.

Who needs rain?? This "night game" should have been called in bottom of the first inning on the count of incompetence.

Solid premise, poor execution (ha!)

[FeverDog · 3/10 · 27 June 2007]

My endless search for baseball movies led me to a beat-up VHS copy of NIGHT GAME purchased off Amazon for 1¢. A serial killer flick with a baseball connection? This I had to see.

The plot, or at least the motive of the killer, was intriguingly unique: a reliever cut from the team exacts revenge by using his hook (which replaced his throwing hand lost in a bus accident that occurred when he was going back to Triple-A) to slash blonde women who resemble his replacement's new wife, striking when the new star pitcher posts a win. Cool, right? Like the movie BLINK, this killer's motive is unlikely but plausible; it could have made a decent movie (like BLINK).

But NIGHT GAME --um, don't want to go there...but..okay -- strikes out with poor directing, most notably in the complete lack of suspense during the stalk sequences. This is one of those movies where the female victims do nothing to defend themselves, actually putting themselves in unnecessary danger. The worst offender is the last victim. Question for the ladies: If you were being followed by a creepy truck in the middle of the night, would you run into a construction site, up the stairs, with your shoes off? Suppose you would; after stepping on a nail, would you cower on the edge of the floor begging for mercy, or pick up a 2x4 and defend yourself?

One other attack doesn't make much sense either. Two young ladies are murdered inside a carnival's house of mirrors. Now, wouldn't you think somebody would notice a guy with a hook for a hand enter/exit the attraction? With a serial killer on the loose who already killed an employee of the carnival, security would be stepped up just a bit, don'tcha think? One expects these lapses in a Jason flick, not a supposedly serious movie starring the man who killed Jaws. These scenes (actually, every scene in the movie) are directed with the minimum amount of energy required, and so forty minutes into the movie you're wondering how much longer 'til the end.

There's not enough bloodshed here to satisfy the gore crowd, only one gratuitous boob shot to please those looking for gratuitous boob shots, and not enough actual baseball intertwined with the plot to make those like me recommend it on those grounds. In fact, the only things I got out of this movie are some shots of the Astrodome and some movie-geek trivia: here's a movie with actors from Jaws 1-2 (Scheider) and 4 (Karen Young I think her name is, possessor of aforementioned boob). Too bad Dennis Quaid or Lea Thompson didn't make an appearance.

Roy Schieder disco dances......

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 12 November 2011]

There is no real plot to this slice of Eighties cheese.

Man with a hook, goes around after a baseball game and points at girls really hard, forcing their necks to open up and for them to fall over.

Roy plays a rugged cop, who shouts at people and wears cool shades. You know he is trouble because of the way he has a swagger at dead people photographs, and argues with Dwayne from Die Hard.

There are random sub-plots involving Schieders fiancée and her mother (whom he both dated) and something to do with the bloke from the new adventures of superman.

It should be awful, it really should, but thanks to the unnecessary sexy soundtrack, and the fact that Schieder busts a move, it's watchable only for the fact that it's so funny and predictable.

In some ways it reminded me of The Hero And The Terror, and the fact that the killers victims decide to stand there and scream, rather than run, or in the funniest scene, leave a nightclub full of people where it is safe, when you are being followed by a man with a hook hand, who looks really unstable.

Schider is watchable as ever, and saves the film from its averageness.

It's not for everyones taste, and i'm sure i'll never watch it again, but it was okay for a late eighties thriller.

Serial Killer hunt with low tension, typical cop thriller tropes, but nice baseball references and a good Roy Scheider

[Shadowboy_25cm · 5/10 · 12 July 2022]

There are better serial killer movies from the 80s, like 'Manhunter' (1986) from Michael Mann or 'Rampage' (1987) by William Friedkin.

'Night Game' with Roy Scheider is gritty, has the typical conflicts between two cops and their jurisdiction, with verbal and physical fights that normally would suspend both.

Roy Scheider plays the good cop Mike Seaver, a detective with his own methods, he hunts a serial killer but somehow the thrill doesn't want to set in. A lot is too superficial and rather boring for the murder hunt to be exciting and intense.

The kills try to be intense and with suspense, but the victims are typical victims and you know, they are next. No thrill or suspense.

Finally at the end, when Roxy (Karen Young), the soon to be married with Mike love interest, is the target of the serial killer, the movie had the chance to grip and get suspenseful, but the whole scene with the serial killer following Roxy through the hotel bar, kitchen and the outdoor terrace, full of guests and witnesses, is so dumb and disappointing that you might ask yourself, why did it take the police so long to hunt down this stupid serial killer. And this guy is so noticeable that you again ask yourself, how come that anyone hasn't seen this guy lurking around at the beach and not being suspicious about him.

Anyway, if you like Roy Scheider, you might give this flick a chance. It's still entertaining till the bad finale, has a really good hot original score, despite being a low tension, stereotyped, superficial cop thriller. Otherwise, skip this movie and watch instead 'Manhunter' or 'Rampage', if you haven't seen them.

Decent

[powklan · 6/10 · 5 May 2019]

Good old fashion serial killer movie! Pleasant not with vulgar language!

Rare Serial-Killer Movie That Strikes-Out...No Runs No Hits Only Errors

[LeonLouisRicci · 3/10 · 17 July 2023]

The Popular Success, from Fans and Critics of the "Serial-Killer" Genre in the History of Cinema is a Clear Representation of the Filmography that has More "Hits" than "Strike-Outs".

This One is Definite Entry in the Strike-Out Category,

where Nothing Seems to Work and Coalesce into a Watchable "Thriller" or Cinematic Study of the Modern Mayhem and its Murderous Perpetrators.

The "Tone" Set-Forth in this Dull Display, well, there is No Tone.

This Law v Killer is a Misguided Affair, with Distracting, Hardly Relevant Side-Stories (Mother-In-Law) that are Embarrassing.

A Usually Reliable "Lead", Roy Scheider Plays the Act OK, but is Dealt a Numbing and Dumbing-Down Script with Little to Shine and Much to Cause a Cringe.

The Genre has had some Mediocre and Unremarkable Films, ranging from Fair to Great, Depending.

But this One Takes the "Wedding Cake"...

Concluding in the "Astro-Dome" with Scheider and His New Bride (Karen Young), and She Is...about 20 Years Too Young, still Wearing Her Gown from the Wedding, by the way... the Writer that Wrote this Thing Thought it Interesting, or Provocative, or Something, that Scheider Actually Dated Her Mom in High-School...

Wow...Talk about Cringe-Inducing.

The Starting Pitcher, that the Story Revolves Around, Leaves the Mound Goes to the Stands to Congratulate the Detective (by the way a former Minor-Leaguer) for Solving the Case...

He Tells Him to..."Enjoy the Game"...then the Ump Yells...Play Ball.

Few will "Enjoy" this Awful Movie.

Very good, except.....

[wkozak221 · 9/10 · 25 February 2021]

I really like Roy Scheider. He always did a great job. This movie keeps you involved and guessing. Good cast and script. There are a few bumps but fairly smooth sailing. I don't know why Paul Gleason has to play a twit every time. Also, Lane Smith seems to want to throw his weight around. This is when Karen Young was very good looking.

What is the connection between baseball and murder?

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 23 April 2000]

Roy Scheider plays a Galveston, Texas police detective trying to catch a serial killer. It seems when a popular Houston Astro pitches a winning night game, a beautiful blonde winds up dead near the beach.

This crime drama also stars Richard Bradford, Paul Gleason, Karen Young, Lane Smith and Rex Linn. This movie quickly becomes predictable, but keeps your interest to the end.

Baseball has-been kills young women

[H5O · 22 June 1999]

This is a classic, in which a serial killer preys on young women, in which they are connected to home games played by the Houston Astros. The story might be mediocre, but fits the detective/murder mystery/serial killer genre. If you liked I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and Candyman, go ahead and rent this from your local video store.