Sexy, Stylish, 80s Psychological Thriller is a mind-bending nightclub.
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
Imagine inheriting a creepy old nightclub from your estranged uncle, only to find out that it was a haunted house where all kinds of dirty things happened behind closed doors during its heyday. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Carol Rivers meets this standard in 1988 Heart of the Nightand while he bit off more than he could chew with this project, his local plans aren’t entirely wrong. The plan makes sense when you consider how many vacant rooms are above the club, which means at least they don’t have to worry about renting an apartment while they renovate.
The problem is that this night club, formerly known as Midnight, has dark secrets that go beyond mere viewing games and bondage rooms. There is an unknown presence that is slowly driving Carol to the brink of insanity, and things get worse when we learn that she doesn’t have a very stable history when it comes to her mental health.
At first I thought Heart of the Night it was going to be a typical, by-the-numbers psychological thriller where a dishonest character unravels while everyone stands by and watches it happen. The setup is all there, and I was fully ready to go. Instead, Heart of the Night you have the ability to lower expectations when you least expect them, leading to attractive promotions and unexpected profits.
Your Typical Unstable Girl Setup
When we first met Carol Rivers at Heart of the Nightall we know is that he recently suffered a mental illness and is recovering. He inherits a rundown nightclub from his Uncle Fletcher (Sam Schacht), whose mother Betty (Brenda Vaccaro) encourages him to sell it to a first-time buyer willing to make a good offer. Carol, desperate for a project to lose, decides it’s a better idea to live above the club in hopes of revitalizing the downtown area.
The club itself is a haunting relic of the past, and Carol soon discovers that every room upstairs was used for adultery. As she settles in and learns the layout of the building, Carol is ambushed and attacked by three thugs who realize she lives alone, prompting her to contact the authorities. Given her past, her claims are dismissed by Detective Ledray (Frank Stallone) and dismissed as nothing more than the concerns of an unstable woman.
After this incident, Carol is contacted by Lieutenant Sharpe (Peter Coyote), who claims to have a history with her uncle and boasts of extensive knowledge of Midnight. What Carol doesn’t realize is that she is talking to a person pretending to be a lieutenant, which leads to a lot of confusion when she chases one man who claims to be Sharpe out of the building, until someone who looks like him quickly arrives, unaware that she has spoken to him. To make matters worse, doors open, and objects are thrown by unknown forces, adding a potentially supernatural element to an already tense situation.
All Go with Him
Heart of the Night it’s worth watching because of how it distorts your perception of events. As a viewer, you know that Carol is being played. When the people who are supposed to be protecting him dismiss his genuine concern for his safety and well-being, it becomes an exercise in frustration. It’s clear that he’s not being taken seriously, and there are strange and mysterious events happening in the middle of the night that everyone seems to know about but him.
The real tension comes from wondering if Carol can piece together what her uncle was really involved in before he signed the doomed club over to her, and how those secrets are still coming out today. To make matters worse, Carol doesn’t get off to a good start in the stable. His history of mental illness is repeatedly used against him, and the trauma of his attacks only heightens his anxiety, discomfort, and fear. Most of the time, that fear feels completely justified. Add in multiple characters who refuse to listen to him or support him, and you start to question where everyone’s loyalties really lie.
If you’re tired of the endlessly recycled psychological thrillers on every broadcast platform, Heart of the Night comes with powerful recommendations. It’s less about solving a mystery and more about seeing if its heroine can survive mentally long enough to face it.
As of this writing, Heart of the Night is streaming for free on Tubi.
