This independently produced low-budget film was a shining example for the New Wave directors -- Truffaut, Godard, et al -- who found it proof positive that commercial films could accommodate the quirkiest and most personal of visions.
Kiss Me Deadly
Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane’s latest H-bomb!
1955 · 1h 46m · Approved
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by
Robert Aldrich
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Kiss Me Deadly
Overview
One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
The trail leads to a series of amorous dames, murder-minded plug-uglies and dangerous adventures that offer excitement but have little clarity to let the viewer know what's going on.
A crucial influence on what would become the French new wave, an irresistibly seedy trip through the Los Angeles underworld, and a valuable artifact of Cold War anxiety.
It's not the greatest thriller ever, but Kiss Me Deadly is classic film noir.
It's not a horror movie by any means, but like a good horror movie it has images and tiny loose ends that make sense on a subconscious level.
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