Midnight Madness

I watched this film for the first time not too long ago. What I found was a nostalgia trip to the early eighties with the extremely "happy" disco laden theme song and the 2 roller skating beauties with nice "smiles" in the opening credits. There was an innocence and sense of fun to this movie that is lacking in today's movies. The film doesn't try to be too clever for it's own good or cynical which I actually found to be refreshing.

The plot centers around a scavenger hunt around L.A. set up by a future Bill Gates type named Leon who is adorned by his lovely assistants. The invitees for this challenge are 5 color coded groups representing every campus comedy stereotype (Jocks, Nerds, Alienated girls, the protagonists and the villains). They find themselves at Griffith Observatory, a Video arcade and the Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery among other places hunting down clues to get them to the next location and ultimately the big prize that awaits them at the end. The film loses its campy momentum when it addresses the big brother-little brother issue between David Naughton and Michael J. Fox, these actors play extremely bland characters compared to the madcap supporting cast.

I found myself smiling and even chuckling in parts although the film was predictable, contrived not to mention, dated but upbeat and entertaining all the same.

It's good to be entertained and not have your brain taxed every now and again in this day and age of cynicism and self-referential smugness which runs in abundance in today's cinema.

This is the perfect antidote to the dark malaise seen in too many films now.

I always used to say that Weird Science was my favorite movie until I found this movie. I grew up in the 80's but had not seen this movie since we didn't have HBO or cable TV back then. By the time the late 80's hit we (my brother and my friend down the street) were all watching horror movies at sleepovers so I missed seeing this somehow. Fast forward to the days of the Internet and I found this movie for free on YouTube but broken into parts and I was delighted to find the perfect movie. There's no cuss words or bloody violence, no nudity or sex, and no drug use. (except for when Blaylak jumps into the vat of beer at the Pabst Brewery, but I give it a pass). This movie transports me back in time to a time when I was still watched over by my parents and older brother and sister only being 4 years old in 1980. This was a time when if you went out to eat at a restaurant it was with your whole family. There was no one speaking about reptilians back then, however Land of the Lost had come out, so people did know about Sleestaks. I love the whole progression of the scavenger hunt, and especially at the beginning when they're looking up at the stars, knowing that the sky wasn't polluted with as many satellites as there are today. I still like to go outside and look at the stars and pretend that I'm under the protection of this movie. You know when people check up on you and ask if you've been keeping it PG? I think this would have been the movie that they had in mind, as this movie can't really be faulted for too much, no matter how bad the Siskel & Ebert review is of this movie. Midnight Madness truly is good clean family fun in an old school way. I need the same protections today that I would have had back then when the movie came out, being watched over, cared for and loved.

Somewhere in the dark recesses of my brain cells a song plays in my head. I can't forget it no matter how hard I try. It's MIDNIGHT MADNESS and it's gonna get to you! Wish i could find a copy of this on a 45rpm record. Five disparate teams head out one night in L.A. for a scavenger hunt for clues instead of physical objects. An unkempt game-master with two gorgeous assistants is the mastermind of all this insanity that's about to be unleashed on L.A. All the teams are stereotypes (this movie being from 1980, before political correctness screwed everything up): the "good guys", the "nerds" led by Eddie Deezen, the dumb beer-loving "jocks", the "we-don't-need-a-man-type ladies", especially the redhead. The giggling twins are a scream, too. And finally, the "bad guys" with Stephen Furst as the leader. Furst is hilarious as the overweight slob Harold, whose attempt to use a computer to decipher the various clues leads to a gooey mess. Movies like this aren't made anymore. These days, movies have to have an "edginess" to them with some dark characters and other nonsense. Go back to the days when the "good guys" led by David Naughton were still good and not hopelessly conflicted. So dump all serious pretensions and go back to 1980. It's MIDNIGHT MADNESS . . .

I saw this movie a few days ago for the third time. Boy that movie is such a riot! Leon sure knew how to make a great game with his two girls Candy and Sunshine. I loved it when his apartment kept filling up with nosey tenates who keep complaing about the noise and they wind up joining the fun listening to the results of the game. The teams were pretty cool even though they were stereo types. I now use that new word all the time that Barf made up "faga beefe" to aggravate my brothers. This movie has no sex or terrible violence Very few swear words are heard. Plus they great gags that were new in the 80's thats still funny today. I have a lot of comments to say about this film. I just love the two twins Peggy and Lulu,when they were dancing, eating a man out of business, stealing a man's tow truck and giggling all through out the movie made me laugh and cry. The white team Aka the Nerds were very histarical when they got into a food fight and dressed as bellhops. The Green Team aka the Meat Machine were funny too when they destroyed the arcade and had a run in with the Paps Beery. The Blue team was the best in the movie since they were the crooked team. The yellow team turned out to be the most boring team and also caused most of the cheesy scenes to happen. I'm not going to tell you who wins though, thats the secret of the movie which is sort of expecting. Still over all if you want to make milk come out of your nose buy this film before its too late. I give it nine out of ten stars because of the cheesy parts and the end was too expecting.

Probably the only Disney film to feature extensive Pabst Blue Ribbon product placement and an actress credited at the end as playing "Busty Waitress", Midnight Madness came out in the late 70s/early 80s period of madcap raunchy youth comedies like Animal House and The Hollywood Knights, and its intent was apparently to capitalize on that market while retaining a shiny Disney veneer of innocent fun.

Essentially a more youthful, more superficial It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, but with college kids and the object of their competition being an inexplicably appealing trophy instead of cash, Midnight Madness is similarly silly, fast-paced, and irresistible if you don't take your movie viewing habits too seriously. Adding to its charm is its loose 70s feel, with a cute disco theme song sung by Donna Fein setting the tone for the proceedings.

Among the cast of dweeby dozens you get Animal House's Stephen Furst, a young Michael J. Fox, Dr. Pepper commercial star David Naughton, legendary supernerd Eddie Deezen, and, in a small part, the future Pee Wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens. Catch Midnight Madness tonight and thrill as delinquent arcade dork Michael J. sweats teenage angst and asks in complete earnestness, "What do I look like, a nerd or something?"