The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Charles Bronson(Leo Kessler) & Andrew Stevens(Paul McAnn) play a veteran and rookie detectives on the L.A. police force who are hunting a vicious psychopath who has been murdering innocent women with a knife. The case hits close to home for Leo, who then decides to take the law into his own hands after the suspect they arrested is released, despite the knowledge of both men that he is guilty. So convinced that the killer will not be convicted, Leo plants evidence on the suspect, which of course is discovered by the defense team, leading to a dismissal of charges(and Leo's termination) that put them on a collision course of more killings.Bronson seems to be playing a less responsible cross between "Dirty Harry" and his "Death Wish" character(Paul Kersey), but those two men never falsified evidence, which clearly crosses the line, leading to a morally muddled film that is also quite unpleasant and routine, though I admit it does have a memorable ending...the only successful thing about this film.

Paul McAnn teams up with Detective Leo Kessler to investigate the murder of Betty Johnson and her boyfriend, by a naked killer in a park. Kessler recognises the victim, as they lived in the same neighbourhood many years ago. The killer, Warren Stacey, goes to the funeral and overhears Betty's father telling Kessler that his daughter had a diary. He breaks in Betty's apartment and kills her roommate trying to find the diary. But Karen had already delivered the journal to Kessler, who is sure that Warren is the killer and her plants evidence in his apartment.Now Warren is stalking his daughter to revenge against her father....In the eighties, The Cannon group made some really good films, the kind you would watch on a Friday night with your dad. And Bronson was the king of Cannon movies.This has to be one of his best, because its not just straightforward action, in fact, Thompson pulls a double whammy, cashing in on the Death Wish movies, and cashing in on the slasher movies of the early eighties.Other than that, its Bronson being Bronson, staring at people from bridges and nosing through people's bathrooms.The rest of the support are good, particularly Elibacher as his daughter. But unfortunately he same cannot be said for the guy who played Stacey. I'm sure he thought his motivation was 'robots' because he moves like one, and seems to think that he should approach his victims in the slowest way possible.But he's my only gripe, its a brilliant thriller, and it must have threw audiences back in 1983, as its so ungeneric, compared to other cop thrillers around his time.Its obviously influenced by Bundy, but if you like Bronson and Cannon, this is for you.

"10 to Midnight" is an agreeably sleazy thriller from the redoubtable team of actor Charles Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson. Bronson is in superb ass kicking form as detective Leo Kessler, on the trail of depraved creep Warren Stacey (Gene Davis), who gets back at the women who spurn his advances by brutally murdering them - in the nude, no less. Leo and partner Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens) eventually are able to get Warren into a courtroom, but only because Leo had falsified evidence against Warren, since the killer had been able to provide an alibi for a particular crime. A disgusted Leo, having lost his job due to his actions, starts harassing Warren until Warren strikes back by targeting Leo's feisty daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher), a student nurse.Provided one likes their "cop vs. killer" movies to be on the trashy side, this does prove to be good fun, delivering sordid thrills for a well paced 103 minutes, with a fair amount of both female and male skin displayed, and a slasher movie styled approach to its bloody killings. It's mean-spirited, yet humorous at times: it's such a hoot to see Bronson find a certain possession of Warren's and then grill him about it later. He's enjoyable to watch, as is a supporting cast full of strong actors. Good looking guys Stevens and Davis fare well as the initially annoying partner and the kinky psycho, especially Davis, whose character's predilection for adopting a ridiculous Mexican accent will call to mind Nicholas Worth's equally outrageous work as the killer in "Don't Answer the Phone!". Geoffrey Lewis shines as Warren's slick lawyer, and Wilford Brimley has a typically commanding presence as Leo's superior, while Robert Lyons plays the district attorney. Eilbacher is gorgeous and appealing, and the array of hot ladies in the cast include a young Kelly Preston (billed as Kelly Palzis) and Playboy Playmates Ola Ray and Jeana Tomasina. The climactic set piece, reminiscent of the real life massacre committed by Richard Speck in the 1960's, is some seriously nasty stuff, and the final foot chase is a true corker, with the movie ending on a perfect note as Bronson delivers a one liner while dispensing his own brand of justice.Featuring an effective music score by Robert O. Ragland, "10 to Midnight" is great gritty entertainment that moves along nicely with nary a dull moment and began the Bronson-Thompson-Cannon Group series in high style.Eight out of 10.

I was married to someone who liked Charles Bronson, a gifted actor who worked in master works and this film. This is not a good film. It is cliché to cliché of set pieces and violent pornography. Clint Eastwood played in films that resemble this one, except that those films worked.One aspect of many Bronson films produced by Mehahem Golan and Yoram Golbus is that often backgrounds are badly overexposed. I have no idea why. I have no idea how many of these Adam Greenburg filmed. Some of J. Lee Thompson's Bronson films are quite entertaining and clever. "Murphy's Law" is one of these. Just as Bronson was a gifted actor, so was Thompson a gifted director, who made the outstanding "Tiger Bay". Why this film is as bad as it is baffles me.For some reason, this film never feels plausible or realistic. The blood and gore is not really the problem or even over-the-top. The film fails at some other level that I cannot define.