A mysterious albino scientist (Brion James wearing futuristic shades) contaminates the drinking water of small desert town Canyonland, driving the locals homicidal. Drifter Reilly (Bo Hopkins) teams up with celebrity lawyer Ken (Wings Hauser),lawman Sheriff Hanks (George Kennedy) and sexy deputy Julia (Kimberly Ross) to tackle the crazies and hunt down those responsible for the epidemic.

Sci-fi/horror/action flick Nightmare at Noon, from director Nico Mastorakis (the man responsible for notorious video nasty Island of Death),is pure '80s bliss, with a suitably bonkers plot, a terrific cast of B-movie favourites, loads of impressive stunts, plenty of violence, and even a score by future Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer.

Mastorakis keeps the western-influenced action moving at a decent lick, with highlights including old coot Charley (Neal Wheeler) going green around the gills and getting trigger-happy with a shotgun, a shootout at a drive-in between our heroes and the baddies (armed with laser-sighted machine guns and flamethrowers),and an overlong but well-handled helicopter chase around the spectacular rock formations of the stunning Utah landscape. Also worthy of note: buxom beauty Kimberly Beck (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) as Ken's wife Cheri.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb. Would make a fun double bill with Mutant (1984),which also co-starred Hauser and Hopkins.

B movie god Wings Hauser and the always amusing Bo Hopkins are the heroes in this follow-up, of sorts, to the 1984 infection-horror flick "Mutant" (a.k.a. "Night Shadows"). A creepy albino villain (the great screen heavy Brion James) is conducting an insidious experiment on a remote Southwestern town called Canyonlands, contaminating the water supply and turning the citizens into maniacs who attack others and spew green acid instead of blood. Wings is a big city entertainment lawyer who teams up with loner Bo, local sheriff George Kennedy, and Kennedy's hottie daughter / deputy Kimberly Ross to save the day.

Co-written and directed by celebrated cult filmmaker Nico Mastorakis, "Nightmare at Noon" is less of an outright horror film than its predecessor, concentrating mainly on action. And it delivers action in spades: gunfire, explosions, human torches, vehicle stunts, you name it. Overall, it's pretty derivative, but it's also pretty damn entertaining for this sort of low budget fare. It's filmed using gorgeous Utah scenery, has some enjoyably nasty violence, and its story moves along more than adequately. Future "name" composer Hans Zimmer contributes to the score, along with Stanley Myers, and it's good stuff. The final helicopter chase does go on for an absurdly long time, though.

Wings plays a guy who is rather insufferable at first, but he becomes more engaging as he moves into heroic mode. Bo is as watchable as he's ever been. Ever-likable Kennedy, the adorable Ross, "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" final girl Kimberly Beck gets to chew up some scenery as Wings' victimized wife, and Neal Wheeler is a hoot as local old codger Charley, one of the first on-screen victims of the infection who goes psycho in a diner. James, who never has to utter a word, is a true sight to behold, especially when the albino and his henchmen go on horseback towards the end of the story.

A fun movie with a strong Western influence, "Nightmare at Noon" shows B flick enthusiasts a fairly rousing time.

Seven out of 10.

When a mysterious man simply known as "The Albino" (James) decides the best place to try an experiment putting toxins in the water supply is the small town of Canyonland, Utah, all hell breaks loose. Normally-friendly citizens wig out, get extremely violent, and bleed green blood. All this is unbeknownst to entertainment lawyer Ken Griffiths (Wings) and his wife Cheri (Beck),who are traveling through the town in their RV. They stop to pick up the loner Reilly (Hopkins) and when they see the chaos in Canyonland, they decide to fight back. Aiding them is Sheriff Hanks (Kennedy). Will our heroes be able to put an end to the insanity? The first thing you'll notice about Nightmare at Noon is its killer cast. It's pretty much a B-movie dream come true. However, we weren't totally convinced that it was being used to its full potential. Wings' personality should have shone through more, Kennedy is barely involved, and there isn't a lot of meat to Hopkins' laconic tough-guy. Neal Wheeler as Charley, the first victim, is reminiscent of the notorious cover for the Super Nintendo game "Phalanx". Brion James says literally nothing, but is somewhat intriguing as the main villain (backed up by his goons labeled APE, or, the "Agency for the Protection of the Environment"). He mainly looks through binoculars for most of his screen time. If you've ever wanted to know what it would be like if Johnny or Edgar Winter created small-town zombies in a Western setting that spew Nickelodeon-style Gak, here you go.

What director Mastorakis seemed to be aiming for is evident right in the title. "Nightmare" representing the horror aspect of the film, seemingly influenced by I Drink Your Blood (1970) and The Crazies (1973),as well as any number of zombie films, and "At Noon", representing the Western movie aspect. In fact, the characters even pass a movie marquee showing that High Noon (1952) is playing, and the final chase is taken from innumerable Western films.

A hybrid of this type is a worthy idea, but honestly it needed more blood, gore and nudity to rise to the level of an exploitation classic. It does have plenty of action movie-style thrills such as car blow-ups, stunts and much shooting, but it's hard to say if it all exactly fits. A lot of the elements were there, but not all. It's clear here that the golden 80's were ending, and the less-edgy 90's was on the horizon.