Subgenre Sampler

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Four Days (2001): Dir. Curtis Wehrfritz
Feat. Colm Meaney, Lolita Davidovich, Kevin Zegers…; This accomplished 'existential thriller', based on 60s crime novel by John Buell, fuses genre conventions with weightier concerns about loneliness…
Trixie (2000): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Emily Watson, Nick Nolte, Dermot Mulroney…; Uneven attempt at a film–noir spoof by cult dir. Rudolph (who did it better in LOVE AT LARGE) with Emily Watson as a low–wattage…
A Slight Case of Murder (1999): Dir. Steven Schachter
Feat. William H. Macy; A light case of noir pastiche, but an engaging one, especially for the film savvy. With confessional asides to the camera, a sly–winking…
Where's Marlowe? (1999): Dir. Daniel Pyne
Feat. Miguel Ferrar; A sly if uneven low–budget comedy that blends (and parodies) two genres – the film noir detective film and the mockumentary. Shooting a…
Unforgettable (1997): Dir. John Dahl
Feat. Ray Liotta, Linda Fiorentino; A modern noir with a conceit lifted straight out of a sci–fi B–movie, cop Ray Liotta's obsession to learn the truth about his wife's…
This World, Then the Fireworks (1996): Dir. Michael Oblowitz
Feat. Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, Chet Baker…; Billy Zane and Gina Gershon play bad seed twins seemingly bonded by irrational behaviour and an incestuous streak in 50s California. Stylised noir…
Underneath, The (1995): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner; A worldweary return to his home–town finds Peter Gallagher tempted all–too–easily into a dangerous criminal enterprise. A…
Wild Side (1995): Dir. Donald Cammell
Feat. Anne Heche, Christopher Walken, Joan Chen…; Bank exec Anne Heche moonlights as a hooker to service a debt and initiates a twisted game of role–playing with miscreants Christopher Walken…
Killer (1994): Dir. Mark Malone
Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Mimi Rogers; Ace hitman Anthony LaPaglia is hired to bump off glamour informant Mimi Rogers, whom he discovers is suicidal. Pacey and atmospheric, with an…
Golden Gate (1993): Dir. John Madden
Feat. Matt Dillon, Joan Chen, Bruno Kirby; Rookie FBI agent Matt Dillon is assigned to expose subversives in McCarthy–era San Fransisco, but years later becomes embroiled with the…
Public Eye, The (1992): Dir. Howard Franklin
Feat. Joe Pesci, Barbara Hershey, Richard Riehle; Fascinating 40s film noir homage with Joe Pesci in a taylor–made role as a tabloid photographer whose seedy contacts enable him to be first on…
Shattered (1991): Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Feat. Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi…; Tom Berenger plays an amnesia victim perturbed with the fragments of his former life and the suspicious antics of his friends. An innocent victim or…
Catchfire (1990): Dir. Alan Smithee
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Jodie Foster; An engaging oddity directed by Dennis Hopper under a pseudonym, after producers cut the film from its original 3hr length. Hopper himself plays a…
Everybody Wins (1990): Dir. Karel Reisz
Feat. Debra Winger, Nick Nolte, Will Patton…; Arthur Miller's first screenplay since THE MISFITS tells the story of a private eye, hired for a murder enquiry by a strange woman who claims to know…
Twin Peaks (1990): Dir. David Lynch
Feat. Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Madchen Amick…; The pilot of David Lynch's milestone TV series in all its enigmatic glory, complete with made–for–video, tacked–on conclusion. Vol…
Kill Off, The (1989): Dir. Maggie Greenwald
Feat. Andrew Lee Barrett, Jorja Fox, Ralph Graff; In a small New Jersey town, everyone has a motive to kill off the town gossip. Fascinating, off–beat story based on Jim Thompson's novel. A…
Angel Dust (1987): Dir. Edouard Niermans
Feat. Bernard Giraudeau, Fanny Bastien, Fanny Cottencon; Accomplished thriller in the film noir tradition about an out–of–luck cop who falls for a woman he later begins to suspect of murder.
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987): Dir. Norman Mailer
Feat. Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini; This curious black comedy–come–film noir enigma will provide fascinating viewing for some. Based on the director's novel, it marked a…
Postman Always Rings Twice, The (1981): Dir. Bob Rafelson
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange; Highly–charged remake of the steamy film–noir classic based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain. Written by David Mamet (in his…
Female Jungle (1956): Dir. Bruno VeSota
Feat. Lawrence Tierney, Jayne Mansfield, John Carradine; Lawrence Tierney, in a rare leading role, plays a hard–drinking cop who puzzles over a nightclub murder encumbered with a 'hangover'. Careful…
Big Combo, The (1955): Dir. Joseph H. Lewis
Feat. Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy; Late period film noir borders on parody, with light and dialogue straight out of some parallel universe. Untouchables–style story has some…
On Dangerous Ground (1951): Dir. Nicholas Ray
Feat. Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond…; Grimly rewarding noir, with real–life tough guy Robert Ryan in one of his best roles. As a cop helping with a protracted rural manhunt, he…
Caught (1949): Dir. Max Ophuls
Feat. Robert Ryan, Barbara Bel Geddes, James Mason; Noir–melodrama hybrid has half–mad millionaire Robert Ryan (a role based on Howard Hughes), wrapping Barbara Bel Geddes in the coils of a…
Body and Soul (1947): Dir. Robert Rossen
Feat. John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, William Conrad…; Vital companion–piece to FORCE OF EVIL with John Garfield again lined up for the fall, as a naive, get–ahead young boxer whose propensity…
Dark Passage (1947): Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall; Smokey Bogie and Bacall noir thriller in which his convicted murderer flees prison and changes his face to prove his innocence. The first third is…
Journey into Fear (1942): Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Orson Welles…; Hitchcockian suspenser set around an American engineer's adventures in WW2 Turkey. Loaded down with a maze–like plot (written by star Joseph…
I Wake Up Screaming (1941): Dir. Bruce Humberstone
Feat. Betty Grable; Betty Grable tackles a dramatic role for this exciting whodunnit surrounding the murder of her sister. Quality film noir with a surprise twist in its…
Angels Over Broadway (1940): Dir. Ben Hecht, Lee Garmes
Feat. Douglas Jr. Fairbanks, Rita Hayworth; Off–beat melodrama about three of life's failures who redeem themselves in one night's gambling in a New York cafe.
World's Best Dicks: Dir. Various; Compilation tape of gumshoes, gangsters, broads and bombshells including Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Moto, Dick Tracy, Mr. Wong and many more.

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Subgenre Sampler