for a classic noir i found this only so-so. the mood is great but the acting is really off. i did enjoy the way meeker slapped the country club clerk senseless however.

The noir isn't noiry enough, the mystery isn't mistery'y enough and the writing is pretty poor. It does have a specific charm though.

Late in the genre cycle this B-noir cult classic turned up the chauvanism, the masochism, and the sleaze yet somehow, by making the paranoia connection with cold war anxieties, it transcends all the trashy elements to become somewhat artful, as well as campily off-beat. Among the absolutely most original of the essential film noirs.

Good plot but terrible screenplay (especially the dialog). Indulges too deeply in the bad cliches of hardboiled and only plays lip service to the better ones. I'm not one to flinch at misogyny but this almost comes off as homosexual propaganda it's laid on so thick!

Gritty and interesting, but a good idea does not a good noir make.

Starts great - loses "energy" through the story

The one-and-only post-Hiroshima private-eye masterpiece.

As a fan of the novels of Mickey Spillane, and not much a fan of Film Noir, I did not find this film that great. The acting seemed unpolished and many scenes were surreal. For me, Mike Hammer is Darren McGavin. And in New York.

Style over substance, and the substance is pretty damn good. I found the craft to be subtly inventive, deserving of its reputation.

To be noir you have to live inside a certain world and adhere to certain rules. Kiss Me Deadly does that, but it also goes places that no other noir does, rendering it a singular entity in the genre.

#302

A seemingly normal noir that takes a brilliant third act turn toward the bizarre and existential, getting to the raw roots of what the genre had always been about.

Excellent despite some very shaky acting.

The unspeakable object that this film devolves toward is not us alien as it would have been when this film was released, which makes the ending a somewhat laughable oddity rather than the chilling indictment it might have been. However, the film's noir elements are as hard boiled as ever, with Hammer's cramped humanity slowly revealing itself in his blind pursuit. The women in this film are also striking despite their rather limiting roles, Leachman's unravelling Christina in particular.

Wasn't as steamy or mysterious as I wanted it to be.

The central character of "Kiss Me Deadly" is unrelatable and sexualised even for a noir protagonist, and the *evils* he faces are strangely elusive. When it works, it feels proto-Lynchian (especially that fucking ending, holy shit), the audience is as alienated as any noir protagonist had ever been. Unfortunately, the awkward gimmicky writing and overacting largely lets it down.

# 265

The most important influence for David Lynch's Lost Highway, a key for Mulholland Drive and a mysterious Pandoras box for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Catchy beginning and a movie long dead private eye in distress to help out lost soul Christina Bailey.

well done and i loved Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer, but the ending was slightly dissatisfying, and extremely weird.

A so-called "hardboiled" film noir, with an inexorable private detective diving into matters far too big for himself. Directed with assuredness, style and attitude - this is hardboiled stuff. Aldrich draw a fully nihilistic world and consequently give no happy ending. An entertaining tragedy.

Incredible for the first 10 minutes and again for the last 15 or so. But the middle part is less exciting. Mike Hammer goes to one guy, intimidates him, gets some other guy's name, goes to that guy, gets another name, and so forth. Occasionally someone gets killed, but you never feel the weight of it. It's unusual because it's so dark and the hero is so unlikeable, but that middle section is a bit sluggish.

The most provocative of all noirs. This movie is not only dark and romantic, it's downright violent and sexual. I can't imagine what kind of reaction this must've gotten back in the 50's. It's wholly original and intriguing, if a bit exhausting and with an ending that's a tad corny and disappointing. But oddly enough, it's still one of the most satisfying movies I've ever seen.