Widely considered a noir masterpiece, Kiss Me Deadly is a nihilistic and unsettling representative of B-noir. Aldrich is really thinking outside the box here (no pun intended) and delivers some wonders. The finale is particularly unsettling, as the inability of one character to keep away from known danger leaves a lasting impression. Mike Hammer gets caught on a purposely vague and twisty road filled with oddball characters, including possibly the most wonderfully unique femme fatale in the history of the genre. Kiss Me Deadly’s dips into the fantastic provide some memorably surreal moments and with a perversely cynical protagonist whose mindset seeps through into the rest of the picture, this has more than earned its critical reputation.

Fin de masculinity. Fin de femme fatale. Fin de violence e sexe. Fin de noir. Fin de cinema. Fin de le monde.

Easily the most bizarre noir you are likely to ever come across. Ralph Meeker plays one of the most casually sadistic and idiotic antagonists we've ever seen, and it gets more and more irresistable to watch at the film stampedes toward a stunning climax.

aim for the body rare, you'll see it on TV
the worst thing in 1954 was the bikini
see the girl on the TV dressed in a bikini
she doesn't think so but she's dressed for the H-Bomb
(for the H-Bomb!)

- Gang of Four, "I Found That Essence Rare"

This and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil are my personal picks as the two best film noirs of all-time. They also happen to be two of the greatest films ever made. Kiss Me Deadly was light years ahead of anything that was being made in 1955, and even by today's standards it feels like a subversive art house classic. Seriously, you think David Lynch's filmography is bizarre... See this film.

Respecting Women 1955

One of the best endings slapped onto a mediocre noir film I have seen to date! A lurching last gasp for air as the words "THE END" slam the screen.

"You don't taste like anybody I know."

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"First, you find a little thread. The little thread leads you to a string, and the string leads you to a rope. And, from the rope, you hang by the neck."

Thankfully, it's more complicatedly explosive than that.

I could watch it every day.

Interesting.... crazy ending, holy shit.

Clearly an influence on filmmakers as diverse as Tarantino, Spielberg, and Lynch, this movie starts off iconic and ends up bonkers, but in the best of ways. Aside from the overly stereotyped ethnic sidekick, the racial politics are something to see - the white protagonist (who can barely claim the mantle of "hero." More like "least despicable character") listens to Nat "King" Cole and hangs out in an African American bar, the only white guy in there. I kind of love that Hammer's such an unabashed brute, a sadistic misogynist, and the movie doesn't attempt to make any excuses for him. Pepper in great character actors like Charles Elam, Cloris Leachman, and Paul Stuart, and top it off with a twisty plot that literally explodes when it tries to explain itself, and you've got yourself one hell of a film.