Nightmare at Noon (1988)

"Alright, Alex. I'll take Famous Fatalities for 400." - Ken

aka: Death Street USA
A small town becomes the testing ground for a deadly toxin.
Starring: Bo Hopkins, Wings Hauser, George Kennedy, Kimberly Beck, and Brion James

Link to IMDB

When a mysterious scientist, known only as the Albino, begins a top secret experiment on the small town of Canyon Land, Utah, all hell is soon to break loose...

We meet Ken and Cheri Griffiths, a couple of city hot shots on vacation, as they roll into town in their RV. They also picked up a hitchhiker named Reilly, a cool, ex-military drifter type. They sit down for lunch but are soon interrupted when a local man goes full bonkers and attacks them! The cops have to shoot the man to stop his rampage, because he seems to have become some sort of mindless zombie with green blood.
Meanwhile, the Albino and his team of soldiers watch from a distance. They have cut all outgoing communications from the town, and set up an electromagnetic field so that no vehicles can drive out, effectively trapping the entire town.

Ken                                              Cheri                                           Reilly

When Ken, Cheri and Reilly realize they're stuck in town they work with Sheriff Hanks and Deputy Julia to deduce what the heck is going on. As more and more people start going crazy, Ken and the gang rightly suspect that the water has been contaminated with some sort-of toxin.
The town continues to tear itself apart, and our cast of characters become survivors in a war zone. When night falls on Canyon Land, the Albino comes to see his handiwork up close, but he'll be in for surprise when he sees that some of the residents are still organized and demand justice.

"I haven't touched water in years." - Sheriff Hanks

Sheriff Hanks  &  Deputy Julia

This fast moving plot mostly works as intended, giving us a thriller with enough explosions and gunfights to keep up the action. In fact, the plot moves so fast that it's usually falling apart or forgetting where it's even going! It's wonderfully inept in some ways, but still competently made.
It does aim for a serious tone and that builds tension, but overall this is all too deranged to work as a dramatic piece, which had me laughing instead.

The Albino

The movie loses points for not expanding on the Albino, played by Brion James. He doesn't get any dialog, and when the heroes confront him in the third act it just feels uninspired and basically runs dry. There's a shit tonne of explosions and helicopter action, but the climax feels unrelated to pretty much everything else in the story.
There's still a lot of B-movie fun to enjoy along the way, and the excellent cast of actors ham it up with the material they've been given. The movie's fully aware that it's ridiculous, and that's what makes it so enjoyable.


Be sure not to miss:
- The editing makes it look like the Albino is typing the opening credits on his computer.
- Soggy croissants are a recurring theme.
- Charlie's rampage is one for the record books.

Internet review:
"If you can't see the cheesy greatness of this film, you have no business watching B movies." - JLeach

Should I watch it?
Yes.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube. (it's not actually that long)

Nightmare at Noon gets...