Completely surreal and over the top -- the hardest of hard boiled containing every significant marker of this quintessential American genre. Outrageously odd characters and unrelenting cruelty. Meeker is calm, controlled and absolutely deadly, Velma oozes sexuality underscored by a wary cynicism, and Lily is fey, crazy and scary. Every character entertains, crazy quirkiness is rampant and nobody escapes final judgment. The film was astoundingly violent for the mid-fifties and it's psychological cruelty still stuns today. In the end, the cool cynicism and world weariness which marks this genre explodes quite literally and pulls noir out of the darkness into the atomic age.
Review of Kiss Me Deadly
