Reviews (5)

FASTFORWARDITIS
This is a horribly unentertaining movie. I have seen other Nico Mastorakis' movies, such as Zero Boys and Bloodstone which are B-movies but entertaining. I'm not going to cut him any slack with the old cliche, this is so bad it's good. This movie is the nightmare and the DVD is overpriced on Amazon.

There are a bunch of extras: trailers, DVD specs, Nico Mastorakis' ongoing documentary, and a filmopgraphy. The DVD is widescreen and the actual image and sound quality is good.

Beautifully, wonderfully inept trash!
"Nightmare at Noon" is an action/adventure film from Greek director Nico Mastorakis. This statement in and of itself probably does not raise much interest, but it should for those viewers who have witnessed the sleazy film "Island of Death." Mastorakis made that movie back in the 1970s when he needed to do something outrageous in order to raise funds for his more "serious" projects. If this film, starring George Kennedy, Bo Hopkins, and Wings Hauser, is one of these "serious" efforts, we are all in a lot of trouble. "Nightmare at Noon" is an atrocious film, a huge mess of a movie that fails to pass the test in nearly every category of cinematic achievement. The acting, script, pacing, editing, plausibility, and cinematography all grind to a shrieking halt at various points throughout the movie. It sounds terrible, does it not? The picture does fail with frightening regularity, but it is also one of the most entertaining action films I have seen in eons. "Nightmare at Noon" is so hilariously over the top and so unbelievable as to defy description. It really deserves a place on some "so bad it's good" list somewhere.

A small town out in the middle of nowhere serves as the starting place for Mastorakis's picture. A secret government agency, at least one that looks government and looks secret, sends a batch of goons out to the water supply of this isolated hamlet. Led by a mute albino (Brion James, in serious camp mode as the pasty-faced maniac. He never says a word in the entire film!), the government thugs shoot a weird fluid into the water that turns townspeople into zombies. Caught up in the unfolding madness are Ken and Cherie Griffiths (Wings Hauser and Kimberly Ross respectively), a Hollywood lawyer and his wife who are taking a trip across the country in a motor home. Along the way, the two pick up retired cop and roaming vagabond Reilly (Bo Hopkins), a man looking seeking solace on the highways of America. The three find themselves in a heap of trouble after rolling into the contaminated town. The town sheriff (George Kennedy) and his deputy daughter soon team up with the three outsiders when it becomes apparent that the residents of the village are falling under the spell of some strange infection. We know trouble looms because one of the town's most respected members guns down his own son during a virus induced fit.

The albino and his foot soldiers made sure no one could leave town once the infection begins to spread, so the Griffiths, Reilly, and the surviving members of the police force must come to terms with the unfolding disaster in order to survive. As more and more of the town's denizens go slowly crazy from drinking the water, our gang of heroes gather up a mess of firearms and head out into the streets. What follows is a hodgepodge of exploding cars, gun battles, and a few personal tragedies. The idea here is getting out of town and away from the shuffling creatures, which obviously will not be as easy as it sounds. Eventually, Hopkins assumes the role of leader and goes after the men responsible for this crime. The showdown in the desert involves a lot of flying bullets, a helicopter chase, and the predictable triumph of good over evil. If the movie only incorporated these elements, it would not deserve any attention whatsoever. The fun comes from watching Mastorakis ramp up the explosions, the gunfire, and the downright ridiculousness of the whole thing.

I cannot name one scene that stands out because so many things rise to the occasion. Hopkins shooting a nut on a motorcycle, with the attendant slow motion shot of said biker arcing through the air on fire, may rank as one of the more memorable sequences. George Kennedy's hysterical performance as the confused town cop is probably the best thing going for this movie, however. His facial expressions as he tries to mentally overcome the corrosive effects of the tainted water he drank with his morning coffee are priceless, just priceless. Moreover, when he finally loses it, some of the government goons light him up with a flamethrower. We literally see an engulfed Kennedy stumbling around before diving into the back of one of the G-men's vans. And then the van blows up like a nuclear bomb. You want more incredibly improbable situations? Just check out the helicopter chase at the end, where missiles fired from one of the choppers hits cars parked out in the desert (they blow up, too). What in the heck are these vehicles doing out in the middle of nowhere, you ask? Because the script called for them to be there, silly! There is plenty of hilarious overacting (see Wings Hauser every five minutes) and plenty of continuity errors as well. I am at a loss to explain the presence of Cherie Griffiths, grinning like a fool and seemingly unaffected by her viral infection, safely ensconced in the motor home at the end of the film. Why did she get better when everyone else died horribly? Who knows? If you cannot see the cheesy greatness of this film, you have no business watching B movies.

The DVD looks good for such a schlock presentation. There is plenty of information about the film and bios for the cast. There are even several other trailers for cheapie flicks, and the movie is in widescreen! I'm tellin' ya, I just have to buy this one before I forget about it. Yes, it's bad. Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it is loaded with ham handed performances from actors who should have known better. But that is what ultimately makes "Nightmare at Noon" a keeper. One of the best B movies I saw in 2003.

It's no nightmare watching this movie-it's a dream.
This is an excellent movie. George Kennedy who plays the sherriff in it is really appealing. And ofcourse Kimberly Beck out of Friday the 13th the final chapter adds more appeal to this movie but due to the script she isn't in it as much as she should be.
Nightmare at Noon is about a mute albino and his henchman who contaminate the water supply of this small town and turn people into violent maniacs.The sherriff's daughter thinks it can't be the CIA doing it in their backyard so it must be some foreigners who are doing this.Possibly Russians.
The sherriff denies he had any water but he probably had a coffee and soon he becomes affected by the contaminants.
Brion James plays the albino and justice is delivered to him in the form of Bo Hopkins when the ex-cop gives him enough of the contaminants to send a whole town mad. This is after various interesting shootouts between the bad guys and the goodguys and oh yes, a helicopter chase.

utterly bad movie from bad director Nico Mastorakis
Im writing about the VHS version because thats what I found in the 1.99 bin at my local blockbuster about 5 years ago. Boy was it worth that much. Don't worry about plot, acting, special effects or themes like man against man and man against himself. Do yourself a favor and fastforward to the helicopter chase at the end which obviously consumed most of the budget. These two helicoptors are chasing each other over completely barren desert for about 10 minutes, not a bit of civilization in sight from horizon to horizon. One fires a rocket at the other and misses. It hits a car and explodes! Remember the last 10 or so minutes were spent establishing this area as vast empty desert. As if that wasn't bad enough when the helicoptor fires machine guns and misses it hits not one but TWO cars! Those head scratching moments of "What the heck?" bump this movie up to two stars. Don't buy it, however if you are flipping channels at 3 in the morning and happen to see this one on TNT, flip back to it during commercials of something more interesting.

Pretty good action film...that doesn't take place at noon.
As action/thriller movies of the 80's go this one isnt too bad. After all a movie with the trio of Bo Hopkins, Wings hauser and George Kennedy...how good could it be? But if your looking to kill an hour and a half you could waste time in worse ways. The movie, a story about the people of a small desert town going mad and on many homicidal rampages, due to the poisoning of their water supply by a mysterious albino stranger and his gang of green coverall clad henchmen, oddly enough keeps your interest. You just kind of "need" to know what is gonna happen next. The few special effects arent bad, plenty of car wrecks and some really fun shots of peoples turning pale and zombielike and oozing green blood when shot. The rampages reminded me of what life might be like if everyone gave into their urges at all times. Sorta like road rage eighties style. The major criticism I have is that the ending leave's you with some major unaswered questions. Like, why did the albino poison the water? Who was he? Who was he working for? How did the hero's wife get cured? Its kind of hard to get the answers since the villian, Brion James, never utters a word through the entire movie. But then again...the others did enough talking. Watch it...have fun...let go. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A good bad B movie.
This is one of the better B suspense movies I've seen. Plus I'm a Marc Singer fan, and if you are too, you'll probably like this. Lots of sex, but that's to be expected from a film of this caliber. I don't think it detracts from the movie's suspense. Did I miss something? What role did Tippy Hedren play? I didn't notice her, but then, it's been a while.

Nico Mastorakis' "In The Cold Of The Night"
Jeff Leseter Plays A Man Who Is Plagued By A Nightmare In Which He Attempts To Kill A Mysterious Woman...One Of Those Late Night Cable Sex-Thrillers...Could Stand To Rent Something Else...Starring Jeff Lester, Adrienne Sachs, David Soul, Tippi Hedren...

It Wasn't That Bad
I saw this movie when I was rather young. Maybe 11 or 12, I don't know. It was on cable and I was priveleged enough to have cable, so there you go. Anyways, I thought the acting was rather lame. To think that someone would actually spend money to make this movie is beyond me. But this movie is about sex, and let's face it, there was a good deal of it and the women were well chosen. That one scene where the guy and the girl first get it on lasts forever. I love how they utilized everything around them in the sex scenes, like the scene with marbles at the beginning. That dude just knew how to work it. It's a cool movie for dumb movies. And it is mad sexy as hell, so check it out, even if only for once. You won't be disappointed.

Not bad....But not that good, either.
Here's a movie that seems to miss a mark for trying to determine what type of audience it wants. It tries to be a sexy, exploitation film on one hand - but it also tries to be a suspenseful, tention building movie as well. Unfortuneatly, neither one of these formulas work. The suspense that COULD have been bulit is hampered down by laughable dialogue and poor acting. As far as the sex goes, there is just not enough of it going around for people that are looking for a sexy movie. Although, may I point out, that the sex scene that comes about half-way into the film is probably the most errotic I have seen in a film of this genere. For that alone is worth 3 stars. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good presentation of a bad movie
This film is very amateurish and tries to be an erotic thriller, but never gets there because the characters are flat and the dialogue is wretchedly mundane and doesn't cut to the heart. A big problem with this film is that it is so obviously in love with women as objects and not as characters, this is one main problem, lots of naked women and killing with no set-up. The main woman who the lead character cares for is only seen and we never actually hear her speak until the very end, this is very sloppy writing and execution. This film has no momentum because of this bad dialogue, action without meaning, and misuse of female actors for prurient means. The one thing in this film that is interesting is the video game ogglers that the main character gets after he loses his sight. Interesting how the setup for the eyes looks exactly like the walkman that he wore before he went blind, oh well. This film shouldn't have been made, that's all. It's a good study of things not to do in film and a measuring stick of whether your story pans out. As for the DVD release, it's very good. It was release by the director's own personal label through Image and so the picture is as good as it can get and has numerous special features introducing you to the director's work which is just as bad, if not worse that "Blind Date." I think the worst thing about Mastorakis' career is that he had talented people at his disposal on the acting end, but he just couldn't make a good film if his life depended on it. He should have had someone else write his ideas.

3 sexy popular actresses before fame--2 topless!!
Where else can you see Kirstie Alley and Marina Sirtis topless in the same film, plus a young Valeria Golino posing in a bikini? Those are the 2 or 3 reasons to collect this film, obviously. However storywise it's definitely a unique concept: a guy goes blind so they hook an Atari chip to his brain to give him sight. Unfortunately, everything looks like Space Invaders to him. I wonder if he's now upgraded to X-box?
The dvd extras are quite good, with a very comprehensive film history of the director, including some outtakes of this film which include even lengthier nudity from Kirstie during her sex scene, some of which had been trimmed for the final print.

A chilling sci-fi thriller
There's a serial killer running amok...and no one knows who it is. Suddenly, through a tragic accident, a well-to-do business man has an accident & is blinded. He tries an experimental CGI chip implanted in his brain to help him "see" again. He witnesses one of the murders & "sees" an outline of the madman. Now the blind man must stop the killer before he kills again. Will he do it or be killed himself? Watch & find out! Great visuals! An erotic thriller! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Not one of Andy Sidaris better movies, but OK
Honestly, if you are looking for a well concieved plot, you do not need to see an Andy Sidaris film. If you are looking for Playboy Playmates, running nude through tropical locations trying to look like serious, then you are right on the money. I bought this video not because Ted Lange (Issac - The Love Boat)was in it. I bought it for Hope Marie Carlton. Miss July 1985 always will have a special place in my heart. She was smarter than most because she married and raised a family in Utah, leaving her brief acting career behind her.

This movie takes place in CA on the beach (of course) as two guys get involved in a murder by accident. To get out of the trouble they find themselves in, they turn detective and try to prove their innocence. Film does have a few good turns so see what happens next.

Just the facts - from the back cover:
Girl watching is supposed to be fun - not deadly! Ask Lenny (Mark Hennessy) and Bruce (Scott King), two beachcombing shutterbugs-turned-supersleuths who have the grave misfortune of accidentally photographing a murder. Someone was killed at Venice Beach and one of the boys' pictures holds the deadly evidence. They've got an idea that will expose the murderer - and make them heroes at the same time - but they only have one clue: She's a curvy blonde with a rose tatoo on her shapely behind. The guys know their mission - in hot pursuit, Lenny & Bruce, end up in hot water when some syndicate thug starts shooting bullets instead of film! The only thing they can focus on now is survival. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Rambo meets Deliverance
"The Zero Boys" was one of the more creative slasher films of the 80's. A trio of Paint Ball players and their girlfriends are pursued by sinister forces at an isolated forest house. It seems somebody's been using the house as a torture chamber and our heroes don't intend on being the next victims.
What sets "The Zero Boys" apart from the endless supply of 80's slasher films is that the protagonists don't just wait around to be killed. They're heavily armed and not afraid to unleash their firepower. This is apparently where Nico Mastorakis pays homage to(or steals from, depending upon how you see it) the ever popular Rambo films. At times this resembles a war movie, but the main focus of "The Zero Boys" is to be a horror film.
Though far from perfect, there's so much to recommend about this movie. The director excels at building tension once the Paintballers arrive at the house. Once the horror starts, we're never sure what direction it's going to go. The villians' motives are never explained, but that actually works in the film's favor. They come across as sportsmen in the game of torture to counter the heroic Paintballers. Definitely worth a look.

GOOD AND BAD
This is another DVD Nico Mastorakis has "remastered" and put in his "2003 Collection." The image and sound quality is good. Others have mentioned different versions. The newest(and best?) has "2003 Collection" near the title on the cover. The acting in this film is generally bad with exceptions. The the story is generally good with exceptions. The ending did suprise me.

Mastorakis's modus operandi is to make films that are not garbage but are not great. One last caveat. This DVD is not worth the Amazon price. You can pick this up from other vendors for 2/3 the price.

Nice to see a new DVD release of this low budget classic.
This is Nico's best film, with Island of Death ranking 2nd. The other DVD release out a few years now, was very [poor] quality, so it will be nice to see this resurrected again. This has to be the scariest and best low budget, B-movie horror flick of all time. The scene where the boys witness the unknown female getting murdered on the TV in the barn, knowing that it was filmed in the very spot they stood, just minutes before they got there, is one of the most original and scary sequences in any horror film I've ever seen. Lots of other truly frightening scenes in this one. It starts out a bit slow, with some silly paintball action and sophomoric banter, but gets off and running quickly enough when they start their ride through the woods and one of them thinks they see a girl running amongst the trees... A true cult classic, the zero boys is well worth the bucks.

Zero Boys = Classic B Horror
Your going to ask yourself how I could give this movie a 4 star rating. Well, let's start with saying I am basing this rating on a B movie level which is much different from a traditional rating to be honest. Those who knows B movies will love this one. This ranks as one of my all time fave, it surprised me when I saw it many years ago for I thought it would be an action flick and then I realized that it was freaking the heck out of me. This is what I would call the Deliverance of 80's B movies, freaky psychos in an old house, a bunch of hot shot Wargame players get hunted in the dark of night. The ending alone calls for chills down your spine. If you like B horror thrillers then I recommend this one highly!

Truly awful
This is most likely the worst film I've ever seen, and I've seen several movies on late-night cable. But at least those movies are good at what they're doing. The creators of The Zero Boys have no idea how to make a competent thriller, and it shows almost immediately. It's not the least bit scary, and if it were, it wouldn't matter because we don't care about any of the characters. Jared Moses as Rip is the only decent actor in the bunch, so you just know they gave him the smallest role. Kelli Maroney, in particular, is laughably bad. No wonder you haven't seen any of this movie's main players anywhere else. I say 2 stars, if only for how much fun it is to give this movie the MST3K treatment. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good movie, worth seeing
I haven't seen the DVD, but I have seen the VHS of this, and it is a pretty creepy movie. What I really wanted to comment on was how great the cover art for this DVD is! Wow, a real improvement of the old cover art, and really, just a great image! I love the little picture of the guy chasing the girl along the bloody blade. Pretty much fits with the creepy movie, about an author who struggles to survive a night of unrelenting terror at the hands of a mad stalker, all set in an isolated castle in Greece. Great movie, a definite recommendation.

Worth 'the wind' in action in this suspense/horror thriller.
Had seen this movie way back in 1987, when it was just released. Although, never accessible again, its worth viewing for its story line, in particular 'the wind' in action. The suspense/horror is gripping. Hope that its VHS price reduces, as its a collectable.

terrorizing, creepy and dark.
Meg Foster is terrorized by Hauger relentlesly. A woman alone, writing a novel and a man outside her door, stalking her makes for a good thriller. I am excited to find this video again. I couldn't remember the name of it, but I remember the woman with haunting eyes. I traced her back to Rutger Hauer, and bingo! The Wind. Watch it, rent it, buy it. It is a great chiller thriller. But one word of caution for women: DON'T WATCH IT ALONE...ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Rambo meets Deliverance
"The Zero Boys" was one of the more creative slasher films of the 80's. A trio of Paint Ball players and their girlfriends are pursued by sinister forces at an isolated forest house. It seems somebody's been using the house as a torture chamber and our heroes don't intend on being the next victims.
What sets "The Zero Boys" apart from the endless supply of 80's slasher films is that the protagonists don't just wait around to be killed. They're heavily armed and not afraid to unleash their firepower. This is apparently where Nico Mastorakis pays homage to(or steals from, depending upon how you see it) the ever popular Rambo films. At times this resembles a war movie, but the main focus of "The Zero Boys" is to be a horror film.
Though far from perfect, there's so much to recommend about this movie. The director excels at building tension once the Paintballers arrive at the house. Once the horror starts, we're never sure what direction it's going to go. The villians' motives are never explained, but that actually works in the film's favor. They come across as sportsmen in the game of torture to counter the heroic Paintballers. Definitely worth a look.

GOOD AND BAD
This is another DVD Nico Mastorakis has "remastered" and put in his "2003 Collection." The image and sound quality is good. Others have mentioned different versions. The newest(and best?) has "2003 Collection" near the title on the cover. The acting in this film is generally bad with exceptions. The the story is generally good with exceptions. The ending did suprise me.

Mastorakis's modus operandi is to make films that are not garbage but are not great. One last caveat. This DVD is not worth the Amazon price. You can pick this up from other vendors for 2/3 the price.

Nice to see a new DVD release of this low budget classic.
This is Nico's best film, with Island of Death ranking 2nd. The other DVD release out a few years now, was very [poor] quality, so it will be nice to see this resurrected again. This has to be the scariest and best low budget, B-movie horror flick of all time. The scene where the boys witness the unknown female getting murdered on the TV in the barn, knowing that it was filmed in the very spot they stood, just minutes before they got there, is one of the most original and scary sequences in any horror film I've ever seen. Lots of other truly frightening scenes in this one. It starts out a bit slow, with some silly paintball action and sophomoric banter, but gets off and running quickly enough when they start their ride through the woods and one of them thinks they see a girl running amongst the trees... A true cult classic, the zero boys is well worth the bucks.

Zero Boys = Classic B Horror
Your going to ask yourself how I could give this movie a 4 star rating. Well, let's start with saying I am basing this rating on a B movie level which is much different from a traditional rating to be honest. Those who knows B movies will love this one. This ranks as one of my all time fave, it surprised me when I saw it many years ago for I thought it would be an action flick and then I realized that it was freaking the heck out of me. This is what I would call the Deliverance of 80's B movies, freaky psychos in an old house, a bunch of hot shot Wargame players get hunted in the dark of night. The ending alone calls for chills down your spine. If you like B horror thrillers then I recommend this one highly!

Truly awful
This is most likely the worst film I've ever seen, and I've seen several movies on late-night cable. But at least those movies are good at what they're doing. The creators of The Zero Boys have no idea how to make a competent thriller, and it shows almost immediately. It's not the least bit scary, and if it were, it wouldn't matter because we don't care about any of the characters. Jared Moses as Rip is the only decent actor in the bunch, so you just know they gave him the smallest role. Kelli Maroney, in particular, is laughably bad. No wonder you haven't seen any of this movie's main players anywhere else. I say 2 stars, if only for how much fun it is to give this movie the MST3K treatment. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Glitch!
Just like the one word title "Glitch!", there's only one word to describe this movie, hilarious! Nico Mastorikas did it again with this great film, the humor and antics are priceless, a must buy! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Not one of Andy Sidaris better movies, but OK
Honestly, if you are looking for a well concieved plot, you do not need to see an Andy Sidaris film. If you are looking for Playboy Playmates, running nude through tropical locations trying to look like serious, then you are right on the money. I bought this video not because Ted Lange (Issac - The Love Boat)was in it. I bought it for Hope Marie Carlton. Miss July 1985 always will have a special place in my heart. She was smarter than most because she married and raised a family in Utah, leaving her brief acting career behind her.

This movie takes place in CA on the beach (of course) as two guys get involved in a murder by accident. To get out of the trouble they find themselves in, they turn detective and try to prove their innocence. Film does have a few good turns so see what happens next.

Just the facts - from the back cover:
Girl watching is supposed to be fun - not deadly! Ask Lenny (Mark Hennessy) and Bruce (Scott King), two beachcombing shutterbugs-turned-supersleuths who have the grave misfortune of accidentally photographing a murder. Someone was killed at Venice Beach and one of the boys' pictures holds the deadly evidence. They've got an idea that will expose the murderer - and make them heroes at the same time - but they only have one clue: She's a curvy blonde with a rose tatoo on her shapely behind. The guys know their mission - in hot pursuit, Lenny & Bruce, end up in hot water when some syndicate thug starts shooting bullets instead of film! The only thing they can focus on now is survival. ... Read more