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Kiss Me Deadly
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Kiss Me Deadly

1955
Suspense/Thriller
Crime
1h 46m
A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit." (imdb)
Directed by:
Robert Aldrich Robert Aldrich
Written by:
A.I. Bezzerides Mickey Spillane
+1 more
Starring:
Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman Jack Elam Jack Elam Paul Stewart Paul Stewart Wesley Addy Wesley Addy Ralph Meeker Ralph Meeker Albert Dekker Albert Dekker Juano Hernandez Juano Hernandez Marian Carr Jack Lambert Jack Lambert Nick Dennis Maxine Cooper Gaby Rodgers
More
Genres:
Suspense/Thriller, Crime
Country:
USA
Languages:
English, Spanish, Italian
imdb More information at IMDb
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Kiss Me Deadly

1955
Suspense/Thriller
Crime
1h 46m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 67.54% from 966 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

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kasperlKasperL
Rated 18 Oct 2010
90
97th
Late in the genre cycle this B-noir cult classic turned up the male 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.
Rated 18 Oct 2010
prowlerprowler
Rated 24 Nov 2010
28
22nd
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.
Rated 24 Nov 2010
pickpocketPickpocket
Rated 03 Jan 2010
1
12th
Left me feeling pretty cold. Too many characters to keep track of and Meeker was terrible in the lead role. Imagine Mitchum in this movie and my score would immediately go up about 4 points. Has one of the worst endings I've ever seen, I actually had to watch it 3 times because it was so unbelievably terrible. Bad writing, bad acting and too many shots of people's feet. Seriously, there is like at least 5 minutes of footage of various people's shoes. Ridiculous.
Rated 03 Jan 2010
joojooJooJoo
Rated 21 Sep 2012
5
80th
Incredibly mixed reaction. For every moment that makes it, there's another that rubs me wrong. There's a certain actress that seems to be making up her mind mid-delivery through most every scene. I still don't know how to feel about that bizarre twist, but I really have to admire what it took to make something like this in 1955. Especially ballsy in the choice of a widely, staggeringly, otherworldly ending that obliterates any idea of traditional conventions.
Rated 21 Sep 2012
peaceanarchyPeaceAnarchy
Rated 01 Feb 2009
90
94th
It just never pays to want to know what's in a damn box, does it? It starts off with a bizarre attention getting premise, and while it then resets itself as an ordinary noir it slowly unveils a viciousness way beyond what most noirs even dream of reaching. Everything in the film grew on me as time went by and while the ending felt a bit amateurish it was still a very satisfying film as a whole.
Rated 01 Feb 2009
timon88Timon88
Rated 05 May 2018
89
94th
An utterly unique and often strange noir classic--don't miss it. It's got style in spades. It's great to see Cloris Leachman in her first film role. And you gotta love IMDB - I kept wondering why Lily/Gabrielle's delivery was so very odd, and it turns out that Gaby Rodgers was born-in-Germany German. Ralph Meeker was HOT... who knew?
Rated 05 May 2018
mentaculusMentaculus
Rated 23 Mar 2013
99
98th
Evil, cynical, perverse. Everything about it screams Wrong, from its reverse titles, heavy breathing, torture and whoring, and then it gives the American Dream, and what keeps all this debauchery safe, a not-so-subtle Middle Finger.
Rated 23 Mar 2013
alex_watkinsAlex Watkins
Rated 29 Nov 2018
5
91st
In which our ostensible hero is a violent lunkhead, pursuing a mystery greater than himself controlled by forces far more vast and clever than he could ever hope to be...What's most striking about Kiss Me Deadly is how its cynicism - hardly unusual for noir - bleeds over: everybody's a target, and nobody's to be trusted. That, plus the sci-fi elements and the exceptionally lurid depictions of sex and violence, makes this one jump off the screen.
Rated 29 Nov 2018
martintellerMartinTeller
Rated 11 Aug 2007
74
50th
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.
Rated 11 Aug 2007
paxtonPaxton
Rated 10 Feb 2013
91
98th
This movie is so good that reality simply couldn't contain it at the end and thus, it bursts out into sci-fi in the best possible way.
Rated 10 Feb 2013
gleebgleeb
Rated 14 Sep 2008
69
32nd
The lead is OK, but too many of the supporting characters are flat stereotypes. And it could have been half an hour shorter without missing much.
Rated 14 Sep 2008
cinemahellcinema_hell
Rated 26 Jul 2008
100
99th
The ultimate noir!
Rated 26 Jul 2008
worstcasesceworstcasesce
Rated 29 Dec 2010
1
0th
Gritty and interesting, but a good idea does not a good noir make.
Rated 29 Dec 2010
x_humanx-human
Rated 05 Feb 2011
65
22nd
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!
Rated 05 Feb 2011
obdurateObdurate
Rated 22 Jan 2020
90
91st
I'm disappointed with plot twists in movies more than I would like to be, but I wasn't here. It put it on a whole other level, and in the process made it a lot stranger than its peers that I've seen. Some of the acting isn't always great but that's the only criticism I can see. The violence works, it's appropriately dark and nihilistic--almost disturbing at times--and the plot moves at a great pace; never boring or uninteresting.
Rated 22 Jan 2020
johnnyzombieJohnnyZombie
Rated 17 May 2011
90
83rd
Excellent despite some very shaky acting.
Rated 17 May 2011
fantacbobFantacBob
Rated 12 Jun 2009
58
33rd
OK, once.
Rated 12 Jun 2009
rthornhillrthornhill
Rated 17 Nov 2010
78
17th
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.
Rated 17 Nov 2010
cat9mancat9man
Rated 03 Jan 2011
58
17th
Starts great - loses "energy" through the story
Rated 03 Jan 2011
juntakinte99juntakinte99
Rated 06 Aug 2019
50
9th
There should be nothing better than a picture that combines the post war anxieties of 50's noir & sci-fi tropes. But this movie fails from the start, as the screenwriter obviously detested a novel with a psychopathic lead with no redeeming qualities or skills. What makes Kiss Me Deadly unforgivable, however, is the improv troupe level acting, poor editing, and odd blocking and staging. Avoid at all costs and watch better noir flicks of the era (like The Killing or Odds Against Tomorrow).
Rated 06 Aug 2019
fuzzleshnopsfuzzleshnops
Rated 09 Jul 2011
80
61st
Wasn't as steamy or mysterious as I wanted it to be.
Rated 09 Jul 2011
afx237viafx237vi
Rated 09 Dec 2013
65
60th
What a peculiar film. Despite being made when the term "film noir" didn't exist in film-maker's vocabulary, it seems completely self-aware, heightening every noir archetype to the max and taking Hammer's journey of self-destruction to the absolute extreme. I wasn't convinced by some of the acting and the story is just your typically convoluted private eye stuff for the most part. It's certainly an interesting entry into the noir canon, but I can't make up my mind on whether I liked it or not.
Rated 09 Dec 2013
nathan_sNathan S
Rated 07 Mar 2007
4
74th
A stand out noir, walking the razor's edge between tropes of the classic cycle and a new age of sci-fi tinged atomic paranoia. Middle budget, made with the spirit of emerging independence from studio systems, and skirting near the end of Code oversight with particularly severe depictions of violence and sexuality.
Rated 07 Mar 2007
joseywalesjoseywales
Rated 06 Sep 2008
77
79th
Stylish and violent, just like I like em!
Rated 06 Sep 2008
thedicemanTheDiceman
Rated 10 Mar 2015
55
49th
Great up until the end when it got a bit silly.
Rated 10 Mar 2015
hehejajahehejaja
Rated 28 Apr 2008
55
32nd
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.
Rated 28 Apr 2008
charlieCharlie
Rated 14 Feb 2015
85
91st
A real Noir classic.
Rated 14 Feb 2015
erenovErenov
Rated 14 Apr 2024
100
97th
damildamil
Rated 22 Sep 2012
65
54th
Probably the strangest classic film-noir I've seen. It doesn't really become strange until the end, but when it does, it really goes there. I did think the ending was cool, but also just seemed to come out of nowhere. The rest of the film was alright. A lot of the acting was pretty mediocre. The main character was the typical film-noir impossibly cool guy, but I didn't think the actor had the charisma to really pull it off. The character was kind of a dick actually - I didn't like him.
Rated 22 Sep 2012
closefriendCloseFriend
Rated 28 May 2012
65
43rd
Incredible cinematography and use of shadows. The plot kept me in suspense the whole way through. The actors and dialog annoyed me half to death, though. I also didn't care for the sound mixing, with the ambient noises often louder than the speaking (and not in an endearing M. Hulot way, either). I'd still call it a very gripping detective story with a memorable antihero and a MacGuffin that inspired films from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Pulp Fiction.
Rated 28 May 2012
mchaleMcHale
Rated 01 Jul 2010
77
47th
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.
Rated 01 Jul 2010
thedenizenTheDenizen
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
84th
Great suspense, gritty action and a "WTF?" ending.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
fofe84fofe84
Rated 12 Apr 2024
100
87th
capodelnullacapodelnulla
Rated 10 Oct 2017
60
39th
kamera kullanımındaki kıvılcımlar çok kötü harcanmış o açılıştan sonra, yazık olmuş.
Rated 10 Oct 2017
sebbysebby
Rated 25 Nov 2011
80
91st
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.
Rated 25 Nov 2011
wetwillieswetwillies
Rated 27 Jun 2012
95
93rd
Fantastic! Goes from an awesome murder mystery type thing to a sizzling Cold War nuclear paranoia thing! So great. What it lacks in acting it makes up for with a very cool style and plenty of thrills. Worth it just for the badass answering machine. And "Mickey Spillane's Latest H-Bomb" is an amazing tagline. (two times)
Rated 27 Jun 2012
theyshoot07theyshoot07
Rated 01 Mar 2008
87
79th
# 265
Rated 01 Mar 2008
burnmp3sburnmp3s
Rated 17 Aug 2009
95
98th
If Quentin Tarantino had made a noir film in the fifties, this would be it. Way ahead of its time, it's a surprisingly gritty and harsh story of a two-bit PI who finds himself way over his head.
Rated 17 Aug 2009
muutanetmuutanet
Rated 02 Jan 2008
80
83rd
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.
Rated 02 Jan 2008
luna6ixLuna6ix
Rated 25 Jul 2008
80
74th
well done and i loved Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer, but the ending was slightly dissatisfying, and extremely weird.
Rated 25 Jul 2008
billkerwinbillkerwin
Rated 30 Jan 2010
92
89th
The one-and-only post-Hiroshima private-eye masterpiece.
Rated 30 Jan 2010
eldred08Eldred08
Rated 19 Nov 2008
91
87th
Bababoooooooomm!!!
Rated 19 Nov 2008
theyshoot08theyshoot08
Rated 19 Dec 2008
87
74th
265
Rated 19 Dec 2008
brrrpbrrrp
Rated 19 Feb 2024
70
63rd
Huh. Hard-boiled as fuck. The whole thing has this feel of a schlocky B-picture with it's no-name cast (at least to me) and the rabid sexuality and violence. Aldrich keeps it pretty tight though, elevating it above garbage towards that extra special kind of film that leaves your eyebrows raised for a few minutes after the end.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
nobletNoblet
Rated 25 Feb 2012
87
89th
Definitely the darkest classic noir that I've seen so far, and it provides plenty of other things that will stay in my mind for a long time. The plot kind of drags a bit in the middle and there are a couple of lousy minor characters, but overall I think this is a totally unique and electrifying film.
Rated 25 Feb 2012
3drevelation3dRevelation
Rated 25 Jun 2013
85
91st
If this were paced better, this might be at the top of my favorite noirs. Ralph Meeker does a good job of playing the noir badass while he tries to find out why a mysterious hitchhiker is killed and nearly him. A very original noir, and I personally thought the ending was great.
Rated 25 Jun 2013
turinturin
Rated 26 Sep 2007
65
53rd
There's everything in it to make it a great film noir: a handsome and tough private eye as the protagonists, evil gangsters, beautiful cars, fast and deadly women and a sinister plot of world importance. The story is quite memorable, but stays in dissonance with schematic realization and over-acted cliche characters, leaving ambivalent feelings. So, instead of securing itself a place among the greatest films noir , it remains just a somewhat standing out example of hundreds similar productions.
Rated 26 Sep 2007
jeffvjeff_v
Rated 26 Feb 2010
87
97th
Re-watched on 1/11/14. Unfolds like a nightmare.
Rated 26 Feb 2010
francogonzoFrancoGonzo
Rated 28 Feb 2016
13
69th
Star Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated 28 Feb 2016
glm01glm01
Rated 08 Feb 2013
87
91st
87.000
Rated 08 Feb 2013
executgrexecutgr
Rated 16 Apr 2024
40
41st
mack1979mack1979
Rated 12 Sep 2009
85
65th
Alternative, shorter ending is superior
Rated 12 Sep 2009
iyisinekiyisinek
Rated 18 Jun 2012
71
50th
akil hastanesinden kacan kadin, yabanci birini arabaya almak, dedektiflik, bilinmeyen kurban, bilinmeyen kötü adam, kutu, araba tamircisi, merak...
Rated 18 Jun 2012
keebsgsKeebsGS
Rated 21 Jan 2015
90
59th
Mike Hammer, the greatest name of all time...of all time!
Rated 21 Jan 2015
riverriversRiverRivers
Rated 12 Oct 2013
96
99th
In a way, Kiss Me Deadly is the Once Upon a Time in the West of film noir. Like any satire, you'll get a lot more out of it if you're familiar with the genre. It was only my second noir, so everything that makes this so special went over my head. I wasn't in on the joke the first time around, but once I was it became one of my favorites.
Rated 12 Oct 2013
colten97Colten97
Rated 25 Jun 2013
100
88th
Kiss Me Deadly is a terrific film, but after seeing it, you may want to bathe, and may never trust anyone again.
Rated 25 Jun 2013
hulothulot
Rated 27 Apr 2011
80
81st
watched: 2011, 2016
Rated 27 Apr 2011
lisa_iilisa-
Rated 17 Jan 2015
5
70th
an enjoyable but conventional noir filled with male chauvinist tendencies goes completely bonkers in the end. what the fuck? awesome. if it wasn't for that it would have scored at least one tier less.
Rated 17 Jan 2015
guvolefouguvolefou
Rated 10 Feb 2014
83
85th
Bu safkan ve tam anlamıyla "ucuz" film noirımız, tüm zamanların en bombastik finallerinden biriyle nihayete eriyor. Baştan sona sinematik keyfin dorukları.
Rated 10 Feb 2014
mandymandy
Rated 01 Mar 2018
7
73rd
Atmospheric noir with a great opening and ending. The plot would seem ridiculous today but highly enjoyable.
Rated 01 Mar 2018
glmglm
Rated 03 Apr 2012
85
80th
84.500
Rated 03 Apr 2012
dogubombDogubomb
Rated 05 Apr 2012
40
35th
Any lost highways? Lynch takes everything that works about this and runs with it, leaving behind all the bad stuff (a substantial heap sorry to say). No reason to watch this, watch Lost Highway.
Rated 05 Apr 2012
doyler29doyler29
Rated 20 Jan 2021
100
96th
Robert Aldrich's adaptation of Mickey Spillane's novel is one of the greatest examples of someone adapting a novel they really loathed and inverting it in such a way that it is vastly improved. Spillane's Mike Hammer is a thug who uses physical violence to solve every problem and essentially succeeds by being the strongest man. Aldrich and screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides certainly portray Hammer (embodied in a stunning performance by Ralph Meeker) as a thug and a man of violence, but he doesn't s
Rated 20 Jan 2021
moribunnyMoribunny
Rated 19 Dec 2023
65
65th
The genre tropes are here, with all their mundane silliness, but if you scratch the surface a little it might be the weirdest classic noir I've seen. Even when the main mystery is sort-of revealed, many actions and events still feel erratic in retrospect. The "Raiders of the Lost Ark"-like ending, which some find over-the-top, seemed fittingly capricious to me. Even the fact that much of the acting is poor (Jack Elam is a hoot, though) kind of adds to the fun.
Rated 19 Dec 2023
theyshoot10theyshoot10
Rated 13 Jan 2010
85
70th
298
Rated 13 Jan 2010
davidthomsonDavidThomson
Rated 09 Sep 2012
90
80th
A work of such scathing, brimming satire that was still so embedded in a "safe" genre (the old noir game). Kiss Me Deadly is so much more - a black comedy, a serious case of coitus interruptus (because the Spillane sex scenes never come), and the sheer rapture of stupidity and moral self-confidence going hammer, hammer, hammer on the eggshell world until it blows up. Magnificent. It remains a miracle of tact and tone, real yet surreal.
Rated 09 Sep 2012
roofsrunnerroofs_runner
Rated 16 Apr 2012
85
73rd
Being a bit too stretched in time, Kiss Me Deadly posses some haunting atmosphere and style to share.
Rated 16 Apr 2012
icarusIcarus
Rated 27 Oct 2018
81
66th
The style makes this movie. From the opening sequence, the film's atmosphere works its strange, moody way through this story of mystery and madness . . . except that the mad ones are never quite expected.
Rated 27 Oct 2018
theyshoot11theyshoot11
Rated 30 Nov 2011
85
70th
#302
Rated 30 Nov 2011
graveyardtangraveyardtan
Rated 13 Sep 2011
90
84th
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.
Rated 13 Sep 2011
dorkovskyDorkovsky
Rated 11 Nov 2011
9
97th
Style over substance, and the substance is pretty damn good. I found the craft to be subtly inventive, deserving of its reputation.
Rated 11 Nov 2011
coollimabeancoollimabean
Rated 21 Dec 2018
90
0th
With this famous film, Aldrich and Bezzerides effectively put a knife into the back of film noir. Welles's Touch of Evil finished it off a few years later. Meeker's Hammer is an evil thug. (Did he ever have another starring role?) Still, the movie is a stylish, subversive blast, with several notable supporting actors (Leachman, Elam, and Dekker).
Rated 21 Dec 2018
amadeusAmadeus
Rated 20 May 2013
65
20th
Final scene reminded me of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Rated 20 May 2013

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