| Night Game | |
| Director: | Peter Masterson |
| Producer: | George Litto |
| Starring: | |
| Music: | Pino Donaggio |
| Cinematography: | Fred Murphy |
| Editing: | Robert Barrere King Wilder |
| Distributor: | Trans World Entertainment |
| Studio: | Baseball Productions[1] |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $337,812[2] |
Night Game is a 1989 American slasher film[3] directed by Peter Masterson and starring Roy Scheider, Lane Smith, Karen Young, and Richard Bradford. It follows a police detective attempting to stop a hook-handed serial killer whose murders coincides with nighttime baseball games at the Houston Astrodome.
Along a beachfront boardwalk in Galveston, Texas, a prostitute named Loretta Akers is attacked by an unseen assailant and has her throat slit, making her the latest victim in a string of serial killings. Mike Seaver, a former Minor League Baseball player-turned-police officer, goes to investigate the crime scene, where he finds a shred of a paper reading "best of luck" in Loretta's garter belt. Mike argues with county police officer Kyle Broussard, who is protective over the case, and whom Mike believes is secretly a pimp.
Mike and fellow detective Oscar Mendoza determine that each of the murders have corresponded with a victory of the Houston Astros pitcher Sil Baretto. Mike and Oscar interview Donnie, the boyfriend of one of the victims. Shortly after, Mike receives a radio dispatch alerting him that two young women have been murdered in a funhouse at the seaside carnival where Mike's fiancee, Roxy, works. In the funhouse, the message "best of luck" is scrawled in blood on a mirror. The women's autopsies determine they were slashed to death by a right-handed killer, which is at odds with the notes left behind, which appear to have been written by a left-handed person.
Sportswriter Bill Essicks visits the police station to report he received a phone call from a sobbing man who claimed to have killed the girls. Later, Mike finds someone has broken into his home, presumably searching for Loretta's diary. Later, Mike learns that the first victim was found behind a church on the Fourth of July during Sil's wedding ceremony. Mike and Bill determine that every murder aside from the victims in the funhouse took place after an Astros home game that Baretto won; during the funhouse killings, a television broadcaster incorrectly reported that Baretto was pitching that night.
After another woman is killed on the beach, Kyle accuses Mike of withholding evidence, and a brawl breaks out between them. Broussard is subsequently put in charge of the case. That night, police captain Nelson is visited by Mike, who presents him with Loretta's appointment book. Nelson phones a number that appears throughout the book, and the call is received by Kyle. Mike insists this is proof that Kyle is a pimp and is responsible for the murders.
Mike travels from Galveston to Houston to attend a game at the Astrodome with Bill. Mike learns that the day Barreto was brought onto the Astros, Floyd Epps, the pitcher he replaced, was involved in a road accident resulting in his right hand being amputated and replaced with a hook. Fearing Floyd is the killer and may strike again, Mike flees the baseball game and drives back to Galveston. Meanwhile, Roxy has a drink at the Balinese Room, inadvertently sitting next to Floyd. Baretto wins the game, and a leering Floyd frightens Roxy, who exits the bar onto an empty outdoor patio. Floyd follows and corners Roxy, but Mike arrives moments later and manages to kill him.
Several weeks later, Mike and Roxy are married. Dressed in their formal wedding attire, the two attend a game at the Astrodome, where Baretto leaves the mound to shake Mike's hand, as the crowd gives them a standing ovation.
Night Game was filmed entirely in Galveston and Houston and features such landmarks as the Galveston Seawall, Galveston Cotton Exchange (which is seen as the fictional Galveston Police headquarters), the San Luis Hotel, the Balinese Room (where Epps is killed), Galveston County Daily News compound (including some of the police station scenes depicting the detective office space), the former Broadway Theater, and the Gulf Freeway. Filming was temporarily interrupted by the arrival of Hurricane Gilbert, which forced the cast and crew to evacuate Galveston.[1]
The movie was covered in the July 1989 Houston Astros program on pages 58 and 59. An author is not listed:
Night Games opened theatrically in the United States on September 15, 1989, grossing a total of $337,812 during its fifteen-week theatrical run.[2]
Caryn James of The New York Times wrote of the film: "Maybe Roy Scheider should go back to chasing sharks. His career has taken a long, slow dive from his days as the harassed police chief in Jaws and the tortured Broadway director in All That Jazz. In fact, it seems to have hit bottom in Night Game." The review further stated, "It's hard to see what could have been done to liven up Night Game, short of having someone run into the Galveston Police Department yelling 'Shark!' Too bad no one does."[4]
Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times also criticized the film, noting: "Night Game answers the burning question: Would bad, improbably plotted slasher movies be any better if they had humor, strong characters and pungent dialogue instead of incessant car-crashes and blood-letting? The answer, surprisingly, is no."[3]