The Unfaithful - 1948 - USA

The Unfaithful - 1948 - 6/10

 
The prowler forced his way into the house.
Chris, whose husband was away, feared for her life.
The dagger found its way into her hand, then into him.
Open and shut, self-defense, right?
First third of this is Noir, dominated by John Hoyt as the detective.
Middle is the not-so-fast mystery angle, slowly revealed.
Last third is ladies melodrama, peppered with Eve Arden as the barb tongued viper.

Kiss Me Deadly - 1955 - USA

Kiss Me Deadly - 1955 - 7/10 

 
Sleazy detective Mike Hammer picks up a near nude hitchhiker.
The pair are soon kidnapped, the female tortured to death, Hammer almost killed.
Police and Feds advise the two-bit divorce PI to back off, and he knuckles down. 
Hard hitting, two-fisted Noir, one of the very toughest.
Meeker is the definite Hammer to whom all others are measured.
Singled out by a Federal Commission as the #1 menace to American youth.

A Blueprint For Murder - 1953 - USA

A Blueprint For Murder - 1953 - 6/10

 
Uncle Cam hurries to the hospital where niece Polly is critical.
Doctors are baffled.  Then Polly recovers, only to die by dawn.
Just one of those sad things, I guess.
Until Cam’s friend, a pulp mystery writer, speculates about strychnine.
Sure enough.  Stranger still, Cam’s brother, Polly’s dad, had also died mysteriously.
Suspicion falls on the widow, the second wife, who stands to inherit – once little Bobby dies.
More mystery than Noir, neither lead is quite believable.

Exterior Night - 1993 - USA

Exterior Night - 1993 - 6/10 

 
Outside his window, an earlier world beckons.
Steve puts himself into the black and white cityscape, follows the bluesy “Déjà Vu”.
Gangsters, nightclubs, Pulp writer Biff Farley, a mysterious package, the sidewalk shooting.
And the canary, whose face has troubled generations of his family.
Steve is soon enamored by a blonde songbird, who had been haunting his dreams.

 
Caught in a recurring timeslip, Steve tries to sort a buried family mystery.
Borrows from The Purple Rose Of Cairo (1985), and will be great for Noir fans.

Outside The Wall - 1950 - USA

Outside The Wall - 1950 - 6/10 

 
Larry, in the prison since he was 15, receives a pardon and enters the big city at 30. 
His ignorance of society pales next to his innocence of females.
Who, despite his reticence and reserve, are attracted to him, mostly with ill intent.
Basehart does well as the naive Larry, quickly calloused and tempted back into the old life.
Prison itself is misrepresented as a happy place, full of smiles.

Children Of Evil - 2023 - Serbia

Children Of Evil - 2023 - 7/10 
AKA - Deca Zla

 
During an upcoming election, the frontrunner is murdered by a masked intruder.
Police soon find footprints, shoes, a witness, and a patsy.
Yet, the defense attorney reveals the shoes don’t fit, the witness has an alcohol problem.
There are also conflicts of interest in a rigged trial.
Well and good, until it delves into why the man was murdered, as well as the next victims.
Modern Noir, set in Serbia, laced with corruption, curses, and wartime atrocity.

Bewitched - 1945 - USA

Bewitched - 1945 - 5/10

 
“Hey, cupcake, how’d you like some hot frosting to paint a smile on your sad little mug?”
Mouse-faced Joan was a magnet for men: protectors and exploiters.
Truth to tell, it was her other half who attracted the heels, the ones who pictured her ankles kicking high.
The half who lusted to live wild, instead of a mild, buttoned down existence.
Might explain why, in the opening, Joan faces the electric chair.
Early film of split personality suffers from hammy direction (Arch Oboler), tepid supporting cast, and a seemingly miscast Phyllis Thaxter (wild as the darker character, however).
Oboler was best known for the OTR horror show “Lights Out” which Bill Cosby parodied in “Chicken Heart”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3UJr5n6lfk

PTU - 2003 - Hong Kong

PTU - 2003 - 7/10 

 
It will be a long night for the Police Tactical Unit.
A triad detective has been beaten by thugs, his gun stolen.
The thug leader has been murdered, his father vows revenge.
The CID (plainclothes cops) are also active.
All are eyeing each other.

 
Cops are just as violent, as ruthless, as criminals here.
Shot entirely at night, on a tight budget.
Superb Neo-Noir from Johnnie To.

Man On The Prowl - 1957 - USA

Man On The Prowl - 1957 - 6/10

 
Doug’s mom wasn’t the best.  Maybe the best drunk.
Worse, she was lazy.  Maybe why she sent him to a mental institution as a child.
Couldn’t be bothered.  Wasn’t her fault Doug turned out the way he did.
Understand, he liked the ladies well enough.
Until they said “No”.  Or, “I’m not that kind of girl.”
Refusing him, reminding him of Mom.  Reason enough to kill.
Then – look for another.  There were plenty of girls.
Cheapie B-Noir of a serial killer.
Actors are all pretty good, but this is James Best’s film, as the smiling, agreeable headcase.

Scent Of A Spell - 1985 - Japan

Scent Of A Spell - 1985 - 7/10
AKA - Masho no Kaori // 魔性の香り

 
Leaving the waterside poolhall, a journalist sees a women jump into the waves.
He rescues her, forgetting the old rule that when you save someone, you are responsible for them.
Indeed, Akiko moves in with Esaka, and they have a torrid affair.
Even though Akiko is married, and her husband will not grant a divorce.
Akiko’s husband has moved his mistress in with them, yet will not divorce.
Leaving Akiko unstable, unpredictable, and dangerous.
Erotic thriller / arthouse / Noir drenched in rain, waves, body sweat.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370955

Passport To Shame - 1958 - UK

Passport To Shame - 1958 - 6/10
AKA - Room 43

 
So, how’d a nice French girl like Marie wind up in a London brothel?
Under the tutelage of steamy Vicki (very va-va-voom Diana Dors).
Brit Noir is a sleazy exploitation of prostitutes and handlers.
Innocents, vice and shame.

 
At one point, Marie is given a “funny cigarette” and spirals down a lurid dream sequence.
Yielding to the temptations of flesh and easy hedonism.
Strange to see Eddie Constantine as the romantic lead.
Keep an eye out at the quickie wedding site for a young Michael Caine.

The Red Spectacles - 1987 - Japan

The Red Spectacles - 1987 - 7/10
AKA - Jigoku no Banken: Akai Megane // 紅 い 眼 鏡

 
Owing to uncontrolled, rampant crime, Tokyo unleashes a heavily armed, brutally efficient police unit.
Who overstep all manner of propriety with heinous consequences.
Units are disbanded, save for three individuals who flee in full body armor.  Only one escapes.
Such is the prologue, followed by three years later…

 
Fugitive Koichi, carrying a large trunk, returns to an utterly transformed Tokyo.
Secret police pursue, gunfights, captures, escapes, old contacts, betrayals, mind games.
Society has changed, people have changed.
Koichi is told, “Time stands still, we only pass through it,” which he does not understand.
Truly baffling film, immediately reminded me of Alphaville (1965).
Violent, dreamlike, characters and actions caught in a recurring timeslip.
Visually extraordinary, while the plot (at times, quite funny) all but incomprehensible.

Fatal Crossing - 2023 - Norway

Fatal Crossing - 2023 - 6/10
AKA - Pigerne fra Englandsbåden

 
Disgraced following a sex scandal, journalist Nora is placed on leave.
She returns to her childhood home, where she is not exactly flavor of the month.
Nora is unpleasant and meddlesome.
To keep occupied, she starts digging into a decades old abduction of two girls.
(Thought: no way police would cooperate of allow the access she has.)
Midway, the narrative pivots, new characters arrive.  Trying to juice interest.
Arresting premise, moody Scandinavian Noir, desperately needs an editor.
Striving for tension, scenes are lingered over much too long.

The Absent One - 2014 - Denmark

The Absent One - 2014 - 7/10
AKA - Fasandræberne (aka: Disgrace)

 
Before his suicide, a retired detective asks Mørck to look into the old murder of his children.
Mørck dismisses him, then, guilt-ridden, begins to dig though the old files.
Zeroing in on a prestigious boarding school for the rich and troubled.
As with The Keeper Of Lost Causes there are reams of plot and legwork.
The villains are wealthy, prone to Inflicting brutal injuries.
At the center is a witness from decades earlier, now sought by both sides.
Better for fans of police thrillers, rather than viewers who desire in-depth characterizations.

Double Agents - 1959 - France

Double Agents - 1959 - 6/10
AKA - La Nuit des Espions

 
German spies in WWII England have worked out the coastal defenses.
A female agent is dispatched to meet her male counterpart in Occupied France.
Thing is, the Brits learned and have tried to replace one agent or both.
No one knows if this was successful, however, not even the agents.
Both are wary, distrustful and armed.
Slow boil thriller simmers along, boosted by chemistry between Hossein and Vlady.

Account Rendered - 1957 - UK

Account Rendered - 1957 - 6/10

 
Money is a for spending, darling.  What use is it in a bank account?
So declares Lucille, who spends, flirts, cheats, coerces, and winds up dead.
Police have a surplus of suspects, including husband Robert and friend Sarah.
At less than an hour, this has no character development, just a brisk pace.
Suspects, motives, false trails and red herrings.
Solid B-film mystery.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3369085

She Played With Fire - 1957 - UK

She Played With Fire - 1957 - 6/10  
AKA - Fortune Is A Woman

 
Fortunately, the family caught the fire in time.
Only a section of the hall and an expensive painting were burned.
For insurance adjuster, Oliver, a routine accident.
Save for running into an old flame, Sarah, now wed to the rich owner.
Oliver is soon torn between temptation and his instinct for fraud.
Good Brit-Noir bolstered with Gothic lighting and eerie dream sequences.
Well-plotted, rarely steering into assumed directions.

Wicked As They Come - 1956 - UK

Wicked As They Come - 1956 - 6/10

 
“Girls like me don't usually get proposals, just propositions.”
Working-class Kathy cons a pair of men to win a beauty contest.
Prize: Trip to England and $1000.
Once there, she sets her sights high, then higher.
Targeting fat bank account holders.
In an earlier era, this would be Baby Face or Red-Headed Woman.
Here, despite a smoldering Arlene Dahl, this a groping melodrama.
Similar to Douglas Sirk fare.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3369080

Bride’s Revenge - 1985 - Spain

Bride’s Revenge - 1985 - 6/10
AKA - Bahía Blanca

 
Sleazy banalities in a backwater town.
Alida has already murdered one man who had attempted to rape her sister.
Sheriff Carlos and rich patron Ruiz covered it up.
Alida is a prostitute over on the island, lantern hanging when business is open.
Slow film, often stagnant, undercurrents of corruption and withered dreams.
One client too many, a rival woman consumed with jealousy.
A mood of Noir under the hot sun.

The Hollow - 2024 - Bosnia

The Hollow - 2024 - 7/10
AKA - Kotlina

 
A frozen corpse is found outside the National Museum.
Detectives start investigating what appears to be a bad outcome for a homeless man.
Until the  body is stolen from the morgue.  Meaning, who was that person?
Excellent Noir, gloomy, fatalistic, set in Sarajevo, with its bitter history.
The music is downbeat and evocative, characters are hardened cynics.
A lot in five episodes, which conclude with an ironic, fitting ending.