Monday, November 17, 2014

THE KILLERS 1964 (CRITERION)

Very good remake of the 1946 film noir.

Two killers enter a home for the blind and kill a teacher who doesn't fight back, he just stands there and takes his death. This gets one of the gunmen to wondering why this happened.

Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager are the hit men who try and solve the puzzle as to why there victim didn't fight. This leads to many flashback into his life and how it got all messed up because of a dame named Sheila Farr, played by Angie Dickinson. Shelia seduces race car river Johnny North into a life of crime.

John Cassavetes is North, the young racer who wants Farr so bad he can taste it, but she gets him involved with gangsters led by Jack Browning, played by Ronald Reagan. There are plenty of double crosses as the gang steals a million dollars and then Johnny steals it all from them.

The two hit men finally find out the truth and it leads to a very brutal climax in which all is lost. This is excellent filmmaking from director Don Seigel. A remake that is actually as goo as the original.

Criterion gives us both versions and everything looks top notch on both discs. If you haven't seen it, watch it and give yourself a treat. This is a violent and bloody film with excellent actors playing characters you can really care about.

No comments:

Post a Comment