It's difficult to surmise whether or not director Robert Aldrich meant "Kiss Me Deadly" to be so overwrought. Perhaps this was the way the filmmaker saw the changing times being reflected in the cinema, and yet the movie is a head-pounding experience. Ralph Meeker plays super-tough private eye Mike Hammer, and he's ideal for the role: convincingly slapping the bad guys around while solving a murder case. Cloris Leachman plays a jittery pick-up on the run from scummy underworld types who involves Hammer in her plight, leading to a wild climax. Subplot involving a supernatural box gives the film an odd horror movie undercurrent, and is amusingly never explained (it's symbolic, providing subtext for many modern filmmakers like Tarantino). Extremely stylish film-noir gained its largest following in France and is now considered a cult classic. **1/2 from ****
Review of Kiss Me Deadly
