A serial killer contacts a reporter to get a wide coverage of his killings in Kurt Russell’s lesser known 80s thriller that feels like reading a light summer vacation paperback.

The script doesn’t leave much for actors to work on; Russell’s journalist character goes on making one dumb decision after another, putting everybody’s life and the police investigation in jeopardy, and Mariel Hemingway as his girlfriend seems passionless throughout the movie and the chemistry with Russell stays nonexistent.

Although The Mean Season is still a pretty solid thriller out there with no huge flaws to speak, it doesn’t have enough high points either to make it an easy recommendation.

80s-o-meter: 82%

Total: 70%