Review of Judgment Night (1993) by Shawn W — 07 Aug 2009

Since seeing this film I've never been comfortable with Denis Leary as a comedian because he's so damn convincing as the cold-hearted bad guy in this. I think he's a great actor but this is the movie to see him in as it's A. His best performance and B. One of the best villains ever in movies.

Judgment Night kind of comes across as a modern urban Deliverance. There are many similarities between them but Judgment Night clearly has more excitement. Estevez, Gooding Jnr, Piven and Dorff play well off each other and Piven especially seems to really get into the whiny runt of his character.

Leary plays Fallon, a dangerous criminal from Chicago's bad side. And when the four pals cross him and witness a murder carried out by him a chase across derelict landscapes follows. Peter Greene, an actor I always like to see, plays Sykes, one of Fallon's cohorts as well as Everlast from the rap group House of Pain as Rhodes. They sure do make a threatening impression.

Director Stephen Hopkins (who also did Predator 2 and Blown Away) uses creeping camera movements and neo-noir lighting to provoke multiple eerie moments as well as a great deal of tension. Slow-mo and warped sound effects are also used to great effect in the finale.