Kiss Me Deadly
Director: Robert Aldrich Run Time: 106 min. Format: Digital Release Year: 1955
Starring: Albert Dekker, Cloris Leachman, Juano Hernández, Paul Stewart, Ralph Meeker, Wesley Addy
Screenwriter: A. I. Bezzerides from the novel by Mickey Spillane
Producer: Robert Aldrich
One of the most enigmatic, haunting, and influential film noirs ever, Robert Aldrich’s surreal Mike Hammer mystery is big screen essential viewing. One evening, detective Mike Hammer picks up a pretty hitchhiker Christina on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum in nothing but a trenchcoat. When Christina is brutally murdered by thugs, Hammer is determined to solve the case, no matter what the consequences. A film that’s filled with stunning cinematography, idiosyncratic performances, and a prevalence of dream logic that would influence countless filmmakers including David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino.