Review of Kiss Me Deadly (1955) by Stuart B — 29 Jan 2011

Possibly the greatest B-Movie ever made and a classic of the Noir genre. Mike Hammer is the ultimate anti-hero, just as violent and sadistic as the criminals he's chasing and he's not above whoring his lover/secretary to make a buck. The opening sequences say it all: a woman (dà (C)but of the great yet imho unfortunately named Cloris Leachman) wearing only a trench-coat jumps in front of his car, he gives her a ride, she spouts enigmatic gibberish, turns out to be escaped from the nut house, they're run off the road, and in the next shot we see only her bare legs as she is being tortured vaginally with pliers and screams some of the most convincing screams I've ever heard in a Hollywood film.

After that we're off for a story that doesn't let up with the betrayal, violence, pessimism, sadism & sexism and it's pretty darn awesome! ^^ Throw in a truly pessimistic ending and you know you've just seen something rather extra-ordinary for its day, and perhaps even for our more modern days.