Kiss Me Deadly (1955) :
Brief Review -
A nihilist film noir set in the backdrop of the Manhattan Project goofs itself with too many red-hot kisses. The film noir genre was at its peak in the 1950s, and everyone wanted to add something extra to the crime noirs of those days. Kiss Me Deadly took its title very seriously, I guess. The film follows a private investigator in Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery after picking up a female hitchhiker. Hungry after something big, he investigates her death and finds himself in troublesome surroundings, which also cause harm to his close ones, such as his girlfriend and a mechanic friend. Like I said and as its title suggests, the film has so many kisses. I won't call them red because it was a black-and-white film, but you smell what I mean. I couldn't understand why there were so many kisses. Every time he meets his girlfriend, she starts kissing him, be it during exercise, in the bedroom, or during a formal meeting. Then he meets Lily, and there are more kisses. The height of it comes when he goes to Evello's house, and before he gets out of his car, Evello's sister starts kissing him within a short meeting of 2 seconds. Kisses were so easy those days, man. Anyways, coming to the screenplay, I found it a little less thrilling than what other critics have called. The performances were okay, though. Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy, and debutants Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman-nobody looked off track. I have failed to understand Robert Aldrich's vision here. What was he really trying to say? If the same man has made a classic like "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane," then I can't understand how he can have a vague perspective towards his content. There are some moments that are worthy, but not the entire film. Still, a one-time watch for its thrilling and lustful attempt at film noir with contemporary effects.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.
A nihilist film noir set in the backdrop of the Manhattan Project goofs itself with too many red-hot kisses. The film noir genre was at its peak in the 1950s, and everyone wanted to add something extra to the crime noirs of those days. Kiss Me Deadly took its title very seriously, I guess. The film follows a private investigator in Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery after picking up a female hitchhiker. Hungry after something big, he investigates her death and finds himself in troublesome surroundings, which also cause harm to his close ones, such as his girlfriend and a mechanic friend. Like I said and as its title suggests, the film has so many kisses. I won't call them red because it was a black-and-white film, but you smell what I mean. I couldn't understand why there were so many kisses. Every time he meets his girlfriend, she starts kissing him, be it during exercise, in the bedroom, or during a formal meeting. Then he meets Lily, and there are more kisses. The height of it comes when he goes to Evello's house, and before he gets out of his car, Evello's sister starts kissing him within a short meeting of 2 seconds. Kisses were so easy those days, man. Anyways, coming to the screenplay, I found it a little less thrilling than what other critics have called. The performances were okay, though. Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy, and debutants Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman-nobody looked off track. I have failed to understand Robert Aldrich's vision here. What was he really trying to say? If the same man has made a classic like "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane," then I can't understand how he can have a vague perspective towards his content. There are some moments that are worthy, but not the entire film. Still, a one-time watch for its thrilling and lustful attempt at film noir with contemporary effects.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.