-Grindhouse Fest spotlights the cult gems, sleaze classics, and deranged wonders that defined exploitation cinema’s golden run. Proceed with delight and caution-
Directed by Robert Butler
Written by Rick Natkin and William W. Norton
Starring:
- James Brolin as Sean Boyd
- Cliff Gorman as Gus Soltic
- Richard S. Castellano as Lieutenant Tonelli
- Julie Carmen as Maria
- Linda Miller as Barbara Boyd
- Abby Bluestone as Kathy Boyd
Rating: 
New York City in full sweat-soaked pandemonium — peep shows, hustlers, sirens screaming — and right in the middle, Robert Butler’s Night of the Juggler smuggles in a slab of social realism. It’s all there: grimy sidewalks and the kind of sleaze that sticks to your shoes. It’s a white-knuckle ride through a city in decay, with Night of the Juggler packing a crushing blow of concrete-and-asphalt truth into its hysterical, nail-biting chase mechanics. Robert Butler’s vision is equal parts hard-nosed grit and exploitation lunacy. James Brolin convincingly inhabits the role of a desperate, working-class ex-cop and devoted father. When he witnesses his teenage daughter’s abduction by a psychotic man — a product of first-world dysfunction, played by Cliff Gorman — he launches into a propulsive search to get her back. The film plays out as a sprawling, nerve-shredding pursuit, with Brolin’s character fighting through corruption and danger at every turn to save his helpless daughter from a madman holding her for a million-dollar ransom. The big blowouts are a patchwork of quick cuts, chaos, and “blink and you’ll lose track” staging. Butler’s TV-born eye loves the close-up over the epic shot, which sometimes turns the suspense into a head trip instead of a slow burn. But it runs like hell from start to finish, ending in a blink and leaving you high on the thrill of great genre filmmaking done right. The crusty, street-level shots of New York’s outer boroughs pack the social bite; everything else is nothing but roaring, high-octane mayhem. A tight, unsung blast of urban exploitation.
