History Film / TenToMidnight

* ByTheBookCop: Paul [=McAnn=], in contrast to Kessler, chooses to follow the rules and uphold the truth. This gets him coaxed by Stacy's attorney into finding out the truth, and eventually leads him to find out that his partner was FramingTheGuiltyParty midway into the film.

** The morbid photographs Kessler steals from Stacy's apartment early in the film comes back following Stacy's botched trial, when Kessler plants them on the door of the latter's workplace and costs him his office job.
** The police radio [=McAnn=] gives to Laurie early in the film becomes relevant again in the end, when Stacy hears it and consequently reveals Laurie's location to him.

* EnfantTerrible: When Stacy was twelve, he cut a girl with a knife and then threw a dead cat though her parents' window. He's only gotten worse since then.

* HarassingPhoneCall: Stacy makse obscene phone calls to his first onscreen victim, Betty and Dective Kessler's daughter, Laura.

* InsanityDefense: Dante suggests this if the trial doesn't go well; Stacy has to be coaxed into it for self-preservation purposes, since he isn't actually insane and doesn't want to be labeled as such. [[spoiler:He finally gives in and tries to invoke this to prevent his death at the end of the movie, but Kessler knows he's full of it and is far beyond caring.]]

* SerialKiller: Stacy. He specifically goes after women who have romantically rejected him, and kills them by stabbing them multiple times while nude.

* ReverseWhodunit: The audience knows right away who the killer is, and the detective figure this out soon too, with the plot being how they will bring him down.

* {{Vaporwear}}: In a [[{{Flashback}} flashback scene]], when Warren unzips Betty's dress by the Xerox machine without asking, she isn't earing a bra.

* HarassingPhoneCall: Stacy made obscene phone calls to his first onscreen victim, Betty.

* ReallyGetsAround: Betty, Stacy's first victim onscreen, is described as having a guy over every night or so.

* KnifeNut: Stacy's preferred murder weapon is knives, which he uses to finish off his victims by stabbing them in the torso.

* FanDisservice: Lots, ranging from Stacy nude...[[FullFrontalAssault while raping and killing his victims]], to said victims with several stab wounds lying in pools of blood, sometimes nude as well.

* TheSociopath: Warren Stacy, a guy who rapes and murders women who reject him. He's creepy when doing normal interactions, but manipulative in court, perfectly willing to claim a SplitPersonality to get off. Stacy shows little emotion most of the time, lies quite well, and has zero empathy toward others.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Stacy is finally caught out in the open by Kessler and the police, and the latter shoots the former dead to ensure he doesn't cause another rampage ever again. This would likely end up with him serving a few years in prison for summarily executing a suspect. In addition, Laurie is likely traumatized by the deaths of her closest friends and her own near-death experience, [[MaybeEverAfter but it's also heavily implied that she'll end up with [=McAnn=].]] ]]

** Kessler plants blood on Stacy's clothes in a desperate attempt to get him put away for good. [[spoiler:He confesses before the proper trial begins, due to pangs of conscience.]]

* InternalReveal

* PapaWolf: After his daughter Laurie is targeted by Warren Stacy, Kessler pulls out all the stops while protecting her.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Just after Stacy wins the botched trial and rubs it in Kessler's face, the latter decides to get revenge by posting the morbid pictures he stole from Stacy's apartment at his workplace, causing him to lose his job.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Following the botched trial, Stacy threateningly taunts Kessler over the phone that he'll kill his daughter next. This serves as the final straw for Paul, who decides to [[ItsPersonal make the matter personal]], and gets his revenge by planting the morbid photographs he retrieved from Stacy's house at Stacy's workplace, costing him his job.

* WhatTheHellHero: When [=McAnn=] finds out Kessler planted bloodstains on Stacy's clothes, he calls him out on it. This causes Leo to eventually confess his questionable actions just before the trial.

Leo Kessler (Bronson) is a LAPD homicide detective who is investigating serial killings committed by a man named Warren Stacy (Gene Davis). Unfortunately, Stacy is able to worm his way through any charges. However, Kessler gets a breakthrough when he learns that his daughter, Laurie (Creator/LisaEilbacher), is in possession of the diary of one of the victims, which details Stacy's stalking of her. Now that the madman is plotting against own his daughter, Kessler grows increasingly more desperate and ruthless about stopping the killings once and for all.

* TheSociopath: Warren Stacy, a guy who rapes and murders women who reject him.

[[caption-width-right:300:Forget what's legal. Do what's right...]]

Leo Kessler is a homicide detective who is investigating serial killings committed by a man named Warren Stacy. Unfortunately, Stacy is able to worm his way through any charges. However, Kessler gets a breakthrough when he learns that his daughter, Laurie, is in possession of the diary of one of the victims, which details Stacy's stalking of her. Now that the madman is plotting against his daughter, Kessler grows increasingly more desperate and ruthless in stopping the killings once and for all.

[[quoteright:183:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/10_to_midnight.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:183:Forget what's legal. Do what's right...]]

''10 to Midnight'' is a 1983 American {{Thriller}} film made by Creator/TheCannonGroup and starring Creator/CharlesBronson.

The film has been distributed mostly by Creator/{{MGM}}, but also got an Australian theatrical run from Creator/ColumbiaPictures and a collector's edition Blu-ray from [[Creator/ShoutFactory Scream Factory]].

* WhatTheHellHero: When [=McAnn=] finds out Kessler planted bloodstains on Stacy's clothes, he calls him out on it. This causes Paul to eventually confess his questionable actions just before the trial.

Leo Kessler is a homicide detective who is investigating serial killings committed by a man named Warren Stacy. Unfortunately, Stacy is able to worm his way through any charges. However, Kessler gets a breakthrough when he learns that his daughter is in possession of the diary of one of the victims, which details Stacy's stalking of her. Now that the madman is plotting against his daughter, Kessler grows increasingly more desperate and ruthless in stopping the killings once and for all.

* AmoralAttorney: Stacy's lawyer is a slimeball who explicitly states that his client might be guilty, and he'll find an angle to spin regardless.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Stacy is finally caught out in the open by Kersey and the police, and the latter shoots the former dead to ensure he doesn't cause another rampage ever again. This would likely end up with him serving a few years in prison for summarily executing a suspect. In addition, his daughter is likely traumatized by the deaths of her closest friends and her ownnear-death experience, [[MaybeEverAfter but it's also heavily implied that she'll end up with [=McAnn=].]] ]]
* ByTheBookCop: [=McAnn=], in contrast to Kersey, chooses to follow the rules and uphold the truth. This gets him coaxed by Stacy's attorney into finding out the truth, and eventually leads him to find out that his partner was FramingTheGuiltyParty midway into the film.

** The morbid photographs Kersey steals from Stacy's apartment early in the film comes back following Stacy's botched trial, when Kersey plants them on the door of the latter's workplace and costs him his office job.

* CowboyCop: Kersey, who is more than willing to break a few rules just to get his culprit behind bars, including taking evidence from the culprit's house without a warrant and [[FramingTheGuiltyParty planting false evidence against Stacy]]. It helps that he's played by Creator/CharlesBronson, who is known for playing several of these in his career. DeconstructedTrope however, as his willingness to break rules helps to prevent Stacy from being locked up.

* InsanityDefense: Stacy's attorney suggests this if the trial doesn't go well; Stacy has to be coaxed into it for self-preservation purposes, since he isn't actually insane and doesn't want to be labeled as such. [[spoiler:He finally gives in and tries to invoke this to prevent his death at the end of the movie, but Kessler knows he's full of it and is far beyond caring.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Yes, Stacy's attorney is a [[AmoralAttorney slimeball]], but he had every reason to suspect the planted evidence used against his client and the consequences and charges of such actions.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Just after Stacy wins the botched trial and rubs it in Kersey's face, the latter decides to get revenge by posting the morbid pictures he stole from Stacy's apartment at his workplace, causing him to lose his job.]]

* MarriedToTheJob: Paul Kersey is mentioned by his daughter to have been mostly absent from her life, earning commendations as a civil servant and commended police officer during that time.
* NewMeat: [=McAnn=], Kersey's new partner, is established early on as a rookie detective.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Kersey's FramingTheGuiltyParty actions cause Stacy to get out of jail scot-free, and consequently for Kersey to be demoted. This indirectly causes [[spoiler:the death of three more young women, and nearly the death of his own daughter, when Stacy tries one last time to retrieve the diary of his first onscreen victim.]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Following the botched trial, Stacy threateningly taunts Kersey over the phone that he'll kill his daughter next. This serves as the final straw for Paul, who decides to [[ItsPersonal make the matter personal]], and gets his revenge by planting the morbid photographs he retrieved from Stacy's house at Stacy's workplace, costing him his job.
%%* OldCopYoungCop: Kersey and [=McAnn=].

* VillainHasAPoint: Yes, Stacy is murderous and violent thug, but he was right to call out Kersey's CowboyCop actions during the former's police interrogation, and later, his FramingTheGuiltyParty actions just prior to Stacy's trial.
* WhatTheHellHero: When [=McAnn=] finds out Kersey planted bloodstains on Stacy's clothes, he calls him out on it. This causes Paul to eventually confess his questionable actions just before the trial.

'''''10 to Midnight''''' is a 1983 American {{Thriller}} film made by Creator/TheCannonGroup and starring Creator/CharlesBronson.

The film has been distributed mostly by Creator/{{MGM}}, but also got an Australian theatrical run from Creator/ColumbiaPictures and a collector's edition Blu-ray from Creator/ScreamFactory.

* OldCopYoungCop: Kersey and [=McAnn=].

* ScienceMarchesOn: Stacy commits his murders in the nude so as to leave the minimum of evidence. The film was made the year before DNA testing was invented.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Kersey's FramingTheGuiltyParty actions cause Stacy to get out of jail scot-free, and consequently for Kersey to lose his badge. This indirectly causes [[spoiler:the death of three more young women, and nearly the death of his own daughter, when Stacy tries one last time to retrieve the diary of his first onscreen victim.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Stacy is finally caught out in the open by Kersey and the police, and the latter shoots the former dead to ensure he doesn't cause another rampage ever again. This would likely end up with him serving a few years in prison for summarily executing a suspect. In addition, his daughter is likely traumatized by the deaths of her closest friends and her ownnear-death experience, but it's also heavily implied that she'll end up with [=McAnn=].]]