Review of Point Blank (1967) by Blake P — 24 Sep 2014

"Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now," Uma Thurman snarls in 2003's "Kill Bill Vol. 1". Facing a bevy of henchmen she chopped, cut, and sliced, she is the largest presence in the room. Her victims moan and groan, lying in their own blood, and rather than stare at her in disgust, we watch with an inexplicable allure. As The Bride, Thurman swore she would get revenge on the people who left her for dead and kept her in a coma for four years. Without even a speck of hesitation, she does it, and she does it well. She gets away with all of her actions, even if they're public and outrageously gory.

In the revenge film, the lead character lives in a world where there are no truths or consequences; simply, there is determination and a spectacular amount of deadly sins. Whereas Quentin Tarantino placed The Bride in the center of what could have been a better-than-usual 1970s exploitation film, "Point Blank" slithers around in a bed of neo-noir, shadows, and guns - it's not far off from the dizzying over-the-top cinema of a 60s-based James Bond film.

But instead of Sean Connery, we are given an actor who can pull off an extraordinary amount of exterior roughness, one who can make you faint in fright with just a dirty look. Marvin can wield a movie gun with such believability that his actions don't seem scripted; it's as if we are watching a gangster, post-criminal career, who has become completely derailed in his morality.

He is hell-bent on making right for good reason - formerly a criminal, Walker (Marvin) was part of a plot to take the spoils of a robbery at Alcatraz, but rather than take home his share of the loot, he is shot point blank by his partner Mal (John Vernon), who then runs off with his wife, Lynne (Sharon Acker).

Most wouldn't survive a gun to the head, but Walker has the kind of skin that could easily be peach-colored iron. With a plan in mind and assistance from a mysterious man named Yost (Keenan Wynn), Walker penetrates Mal's organization, known simply as The Organization, and from then on, sees murder after murder but no reward.

"Point Blank"'s story is generic, but the delivery is so avant-garde that the film feels unlike any revenge film in its wake or horizon. The editing is fuzzy and near-dreamlike, like an art-film that can't keep its head away from the clouds. We feel as though we are one in the same with Walker's dusty psyche, as it travels back to the past is sudden flashbacks.

None of the deaths truly occur at Walker's hands, and the jarring quality of the storyline make it easy to wonder if the events are all a dream, with Walker possibly utilizing the highest amounts of his imagination to serve a faux dish of revenge.

Walker, along with his love interest, Chris (played by a shapely and perfectly cast Angie Dickinson), seem straight out of a film noir, and Boorman's direction is influential and innovative. "Point Blank"'s outpouring of different styles make for both a visual and suspenseful treat. Though ignored in 1967, the best films always come out on top. And this is a seriously cinematic one.