10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983)http://imdb.com/title/tt0085121/
The legendary Charles Bronson (RIP) stars as Leo Kessler – a mean, selfish, son of a bitch who wants a killer. The killer he wants is Warren Stacey, a good looking yet sexually frustrated creep who uses his knife as a penis and enjoys slashing his victims in the nude. Warren also has a talent for evidence disposal and creating airtight alibis. It doesn’t take long for veteran detective Kessler to figure out that Warren is his man. The stakes are raised when Warren begins making obscene phone calls to Leo’s estranged daughter – a sexy young college nurse named Laurie. The nasty phone calls are eventually tape recorded, and the voice patterns are a match - leaving no doubt that Warren was the culprit.
The only problem is a lack of proof that will stand up in court. The most Warren can be convicted of is obscene phone calls, a far cry from the multiple murders that he should be charged with. Leo gets around this pesky problem by falsifying blood evidence, all but assuring that Warren will be convicted of murder. That’s when Warren’s sleazy lawyer (Geoffrey “The Devil’s Rejects” Lewis) gets ahold of Kessler’s straight arrow junior partner (Andrew “Massacre At Central High” Stevens) and convinces him to turn Leo in.
This attempted constitutional rape is enough to have Warren set free, and Leo is kicked off the force by Wilford “Diabetes” Brimley. Undeterred, Leo refuses to let Warren out of his sights and decides to make his life miserable. Leo harasses Warren by constantly following him around, setting booby traps in his apartment, and leaving nasty crime scene photos at his workplace for Warren’s disgusted female co-workers to see. Warren snaps after this final insult and decides to go after Laurie to settle the score. That’s when Leo Kessler is forced to take the law into his own hands. With a killer threatening his daughter’s life, he will have to forget what’s legal and do what’s right!
“10 To Midnight” was directed by J. Lee Thompson, who also directed the classic 1981 slasher flick “Happy Birthday To Me,” as well as several other Bronson flicks including “Death Wish IV: The Crackdown.” I think “10 To Midnight” stands out as Charles Bronson’s most brutal effort. It’s a very tough minded police thriller with more than a little slasher flick influence. The sequences of the naked, knife wielding killer stalking after his cowering female victims, either deep in the woods or inside of a nurses’ dormitory (shades of Richard Speck and Ted Bundy), are exceptionally tense and well done.
