A brilliant, open-ended reaction to and reflection of our current slow apocalypse. There's a specificity to time and place that seldom feels as honest in other "message" films. This combined with a playfully post-modern, cracked collage of observations and details creates an invigoratingly original and political film. The final 35+ minutes are casual, political punk artistry.

Ilinca Manolache"s performance and character is one of my all-time favorites. A fitful and bare ode to righteous living in dead end times.

"IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK."

2024 Highlights

Richard Fleischer gives us maybe the first ever action/suspense scene in a nondescript industrial factory/warehouse. A lot of this is an early dorky cop procedural. Sixty minutes runtime - what a joy. There are a handful of great set pieces and playful moody turns. William Lundigan is a dork which kind of makes you root for him to fail. Dorothy Patrick is a precocious babe and should have gotten more play.

You wouldn't believe me if I told you a dummy likeness of the killer played a big role in solving this case.

Evil and helplessness on the frontier, winter edition. It doesn't fully pay off all of its characters and ideas but it's a grimey bit of fun if you can compartmentalize a lot of this movie is just the outlaws asking their leader when they can assault the women. Robert Ryan is a great sonofabitch and reluctant hero. Quelle surprise... Burl Ives theatrical bullshit works here.

The origin story of a likely serial rapist but the movie wants to think it's a thoughtful coming of age period drama. Vile all around. Few films have hated a woman as intensely as this one. A prime example of validating misogyny, Italian edition. Bellucci has less than 10 lines here.