Review of Kiss Me Deadly (1955) by Stephen C — 22 Aug 2012

Robert Aldrichs masterpiece is also one of the best film noirs ever made featturing as it does Mickey Spillanes low rent private detective Mike Hammer.

Ralph Meeker plays Hammer with the right amount of sleazy charm as he smashes and slugs his way into a mystery involving a runaway girl, a high rolling gangster and a mysterious box containing an unkown item .

Its easy to spot where future directors would pick up many of the films themes ,Tarantino would use the mystery object in a box ,Scorsese the instant an brutal Violence ,and Wim Wenders would use the fall down a flight of steps in his film the American Friend.

The film is packed full of memorable moments from the opening scence to the slamming of fingers in draws,lowering of car jacks on to victims and use of drugs to try to weedle information from Hammer.

The film doesnt really have any hero figures even Hammer is nothing but a two bit private eye who excels in messy divorce cases .

For a film made in the 50s Robert Aldrich holds nothing back in the Violence stakes and the film is nothing short of a pulp classic.