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5.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Night Alarm remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Is Night Alarm worth your time today? If you like old-school journalism tropes, trench coats, and movies that don't overstay their welcome, then yes, absolutely. If you need your thrillers to make perfect sense or have high-def pacing, you’ll probably want to skip this one.
The movie starts with Hal being absolutely miserable because he’s stuck on the gardening beat. I felt that. We've all had jobs we hated, though most of us don't get to solve a major arson case to get out of them. The way he jumps from pruning shears to political corruption is a bit of a leap, but that’s the charm of these old flicks.
The chemistry between the leads is... well, it's there. It’s a bit stiff, like they’re reading off cue cards that were handed to them five minutes before the cameras rolled. But Judith Allen does a decent job of looking conflicted, even if the script doesn't give her much room to breathe.
The fires themselves are mostly just orange glow effects off-screen, but it works. It reminds me of the pacing in Night World where everything happens in the shadows because they couldn't afford to light the whole set. Sometimes less is more, right? Or maybe they just ran out of money. Either way, it adds a weird, gritty texture to the whole thing.
I kept waiting for Bruce Cabot to do something truly villainous, but he spends most of the runtime looking shifty in doorways. It’s a classic performance. One reaction shot of him lingers for maybe three seconds too long—long enough that I started wondering if he forgot his next line.
It’s not as polished as Twelve Miles Out, but it has a certain scrappy energy. It doesn't try to be a masterpiece. It just tries to tell a story about a guy who wants to be a real reporter. Sometimes that’s enough. 🕵️♂️
The ending is a bit abrupt. Like, bam, credits. I almost spilled my coffee because I wasn't expecting the wrap-up to be that fast. But honestly? I respect the efficiency.