Midnight Heat (1983) (Jamie Gillis, Fixed Audio Sync) [SD]

Midnight Heat (1983)

A hired killer goes on the run after being caught in bed with the wife of a mob boss.
While he's holed up in a scuzzy Times Square room waiting for the hitmen he knows are after him,
he reflects back on his life and what brought him to the situation he's in now.

IMDB Review by Nodriesrespect

With the sole (relative) exception of his amazing CORRUPTION, the late Roger Michael Watkins a/k/a "e;Richard Mahler"e; – who tragically passed away in 2007 – was dismissive of his adult work, due to his insistence that he got royally screwed over by an assortment of lowlife producers and distributors cheerfully siphoning away any revenues rightfully his. Anyway, that was his version of the facts, related to yours truly via ferocious e-mail rants. Too bad he died before a much deserved and long overdue career rehabilitation could take place. Best known in cult circles for his anything but mainstream horror movie LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET, on which he was credited as "e;Victor Janos"e;, he dropped into porn as independent film-making was not too far removed from the skin flick industry at the time, both operating on the fringe of legality and outside the unions, avoiding the red tape that stalled many a mainstream project indefinitely. To anyone familiar with DEAD END STREET, it should come as no surprise to learn that Watkins was not the happiest or indeed most well-adjusted of men, a social deficiency that fueled his artistic creations, leaving audiences with some of the darkest and downbeat films ever subjected to the scorching light of a projector beam. This tone is particularly jarring in his porno output, a genre built on the belief that sexual satisfaction could provide the cure for all of society's ills. In a handful of hardcore endeavors, spanning roughly one decade between 1979's HER NAME WAS LISA and 1988's hard to find DECADENCE, Watkins labored hard to expose this conviction as just another pipe dream, one more misguided step on the road to depravity and degradation.

The director's bleak world view has never been more prominently on display than in MIDNIGHT HEAT, a fiercely misanthropic masterpiece making virtues out of limitations imposed through budget and production schedule, modest being the polite term to describe both. The bulk of the action takes place in a single cheap motel room where mafia hit-man Alan (Jamie Gillis in a typically intense performance that ranks among his all time best) awaits his inevitable fate. In flashbacks we learn that he has an auto-destructive streak, intentionally courting trouble that could all too easily upset an already volatile existence. He has slept with both daughter (radiant Tish Ambrose) and wife (appropriately hard-looking Dixie Dew from Ron Sullivan's underrated G STRINGS) of his employer (Fred Rain) who walks in on them and plants the kiss of death full on Alan's lips. Knowing that someone will settle the score when he least expects it, he has sought refuge in the dingy, dirty room that functions as a prison of his own making, a waiting room in hell perhaps. Taking time out from watching the bums and winos littering the street outside, he leafs through the Bible, finding not spiritual salvation but – cynically – the business card for an escort agency instead. He calls in a couple of girls, dyed in the wool Shirley (Joey Carson, a fly by night starlet who did a memorable threesome with Joanna Storm and Ashley Moore in Sullivan's underrated WIDESPREAD SCANDALS OF LYDIA LACE) and inexperienced Diane, the latter a surprising career turn by the usually underwhelming Champagne, the frequently forgotten third party along with Samantha Fox and Lisa DeLeeuw in Chuck Vincent's hit but mostly miss LUSCIOUS and NOT to be confused - as is usually the case though physical resemblance is fleeting at best - with carnal comedienne CHERI Champagne who had a scene-stealing part as the butch catalyst in that same director's very funny PUSS 'N' BOOTS. After the ladies have performed for him in a professional capacity, Alan dismisses Shirley but decides to keep Diane around.

Thus begins the second, more melancholy movement of the film with the introduction of a second lead character in Diane, to be given equal dramatic weight. Both reminisce about their failed marriages (she to a fellow mob hit-man, played by the late Michael Bruce ; he to Sharon Mitchell who accuses him of keeping his emotions bottled up) and their subsequent inability to connect with anyone else. There's a particularly touching flashback to the always vulnerable if physically imposing Susan Nero, who did the tragic tart bit to perfection in Vincent's indelible IN LOVE, as yet another hooker with a heart of gold offering solace rather than sex to the tormented Alan. Meanwhile, Watkins is tightening the noose around necks of characters and audiences alike, leading to a twist ending that hits you like a kick in the teeth. With the artistic equivalent of having his hands tied behind his back, DoP Larry Revene nevertheless delivers the creeping claustrophobia the director was aiming for, effectively eschewing his more customary glamor from the movies he traditionally shot for Vincent. The slow motion images of the derelicts stumbling about on the streets, like zombies closing in, are particularly haunting, their impact augmented by the foreboding score by "e;Andrew James"e; a/k/a James Flamberg, a regular Watkins contributor - now gone mainstream - ever since the days of LAST HOUSE and SPITTOON, a rare (sort of) mainstream credit for porn goddess par excellence Vanessa Del Rio!

Torrent: Corruption (1983) [1080p]
Torrent: her.name.was.lisa.1979.1080p.bluray.x264
Torrent: Decadence - (1988) - QTGMC 60fps + AI Upscale 1080p + x265
Torrent: Luscious (1982) x265 Encode

autephex @ CG: Rip Info:

My rip of the DVDR.

The DVDR had extremely bad audio sync issues, with almost the entire movie being way out of sync. I'm not sure how anybody even watched it like that. I corrected the audio in this rip so its all in sync.

I will probably upload a fixed DVDR at some point, however there seems to be something wonky going on with the actual video in the original DVDR. I first corrected the audio sync using the DVDR video, and whenever I went back to watch the completed sections it would again be out of sync. Its like there's something about the video encoding that is causing it to go out of sync. I had to encode the DVDR to x264 in order to bypass whatever the problem is.

According to the IMDB runtime of 1h 18m, this is cut by 12 minutes. (The DVDR time shows 1h9m, but it actually just has a few mins of blank screen at the end). I can believe it as it definitely seems like some stuff is missing. I see in an IMDB review someone has mentioned a different ending than they remembered, and I'm not sure how that applies here. I'd be interested to see if there is another cut which has a bit more of the actual movie versus the porn. If anyone has any info on the runtime & cuts, leave a comment and let us know.

My Thoughts:
The vibe and look of the film is interesting and I really like the way scenes are filmed. I'm not really interested in sex movies & I find extended sex scenes pretty boring to sit through, and in movies like this I pretty much fastforward through 'em. Still, there is a quite good movie at the core which makes it worth consideration.
Comments: It's been ages since I've seen it, but IIRC the ending IS cut to make it less sick/more ambiguous. According to a magazine article I read waaaay back when it was first released, spoiler: Show in the midst of some rough sex, the "e;hooker"e; confesses that she was sent to kill Gillis' character, and he chokes her to death while he finishes.

Interesting, Zorpox. Thanks for sharing. I can definitely see that being the case - I got the impression something like that was happening due to the expressions on dude's face in the final scenes but it never actually shows anything

Scene Breakdowns

Scene 1. Dixie Dew, Jamie Gillis
Scene 2. Tish Ambrose, Jamie Gillis
Scene 3. Champagne, Joey Karson
Scene 4. Sharon Mitchell, Jamie Gillis
Scene 5. Champagne, Michael Bruce
Scene 6. Champagne, Jamie Gillis

Feature, New York City, Jamie Gillis, Blowjob, Doggy, Missionary, Reverse Cowgirl, Cowgirl, Lesbian, Cunnilingus, Cum on Ass, Cum on Pussy, Facial, Slow Motion

MediaInfo: Show
Midnight Heat.1983.fixed-audio.mkv » General
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Menu
00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 2
00:09:47.592                             : en:Chapter 3
00:14:47.933                             : en:Chapter 4
00:19:48.233                             : en:Chapter 5
00:24:48.992                             : en:Chapter 6
00:29:49.292                             : en:Chapter 7
00:34:50.093                             : en:Chapter 8
00:39:50.893                             : en:Chapter 9
00:44:51.193                             : en:Chapter 10
00:49:51.493                             : en:Chapter 11
00:54:52.794                             : en:Chapter 12
00:59:53.094                             : en:Chapter 13
01:04:53.436                             : en:Chapter 14
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