Former brat pack guy Andrew McCarthy (sporting a wimpy goatee) stars in this cool straight-to-video release as a Las Vegas cabbie who finds a million bucks of stolen mafia money in the back of his cab. The mob (led by Wayne Newton) sics ice cold assassin Scott Glenn on his trail, and Glenn's soon chasing McCarthy all over the country, killing anyone who gets in his way or even on his nerves. Glenn's sleazoid flunky (John Glover, who's even slimier here than he was in John Frankenheimer's 52 Pick-Up) captures McCarthy in L.A. and, in a scene that would make Herschell Gordon Lewis proud, makes sure he doesn't run away anymore by sticking his feet in a pot of boiling water! Most movie heroes would recover from this in a scene or two but, in a nicely realistic touch, McCarthy is completely fucked up for the rest of the movie and barely able to walk. Nonetheless, he escapes from the hospital with the help of a spunky nurse (Janet Gunn) and the fun and mayhem continue.
With movies like Truck Stop Women, Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw and Class of 1984, Mark L. Lester established himself as one of the greatest directors of the drive-in era, second only to Jack Hill. But while Hill eventually soured on the Hollywood game, Lester kept playing, and after the success of Class of 1984 made the move to big-time, major studio pictures. Sadly, these were dark days for Lester fans, as he began grinding out tired hackwork like Firestarter and Armed and Dangerous, with only Commando showing even a hint of the old spark. Apparently Lester wasn't into it that much, either, because after Armed and Dangerous he took a few years off, returning to his exploitation roots in 1990 with Class of 1999 (featuring Pam Grier as a killer robot teacher). It was a fun film, and his follow-up, the Brandon Lee/Dolph Lundgren kung-fu fest Showdown in Little Tokyo, was almost as good, but with Night of the Running Man, Lester finally gets it all together. Not since the Go-Go's released "The Whole World's Lost Its Head" has there been such an unexpected and welcome creative comeback. No doubt rising to the challenge thrown down by Quentin Tarantino and the wannabe's that surfaced in his wake (like C.M. Talkington of Love and a .45 non-fame), Lester has recaptured the eye of the tiger and shown these upstart pip-squeak punks how a real man directs a torture sequence. Night of the Running Man is the work of a seasoned pro who's hell bent on giving us the sex and violence kicks so many other video releases promise but fail to deliver, and it kicks ass.
Running Man is almost like a Batman movie in the way its bland hero is overshadowed by its charismatic bad guy, in this case, Scott Glenn. Glenn was an inspired choice, since he's usually associated with laid-back hero types. With his tailored suits and dry wit, Glenn is one of the coolest (and scariest) movie hit men since Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager in Don Siegel's The Killers (Glenn even resembles Marvin a little, with those cold, squinty eyes). With all the people Glenn has to stab in the eyeball, shoot in the face and throw off dams, this mad bastard doesn't have time to enter any twist contests (although he does twist one unlucky lady's neck in his very first scene).
-- RO