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Killer's Kiss

  Unrated Closed Captioning

Stanley Kubrick

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Plot Summary

Stanley Kubrick's second feature film covers two days in the life of boxer Davy Gordon — he meets nightclub dancer Gloria Price; the two fall in love, and decide to make their futures somewhere other than New York City. But Vince Rapallo, Gloria's ex-employer, wants her for himself, and not only won't take "no" for an answer but has no intention of losing her to a two-bit boxer. His machinations lead to murder, a police manhunt, and revenge in the best film noir fashion — the very best, in fact, as Kubrick's use of real New York settings gives the action here a startling verisimilitude, as though we're watching a documentary, or the unfolding of actual events. The violence escalates as Davy and Rapallo find themselves going one-on-one, to the death if need be, with a climax in a warehouse filled with department store mannequins and their various component parts. This low-budget film definitely foreshadows Kubrick as one of the most amazing talents in cinematic history.

Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews

TOMATOMETER

83%
  • Reviews Counted: 18
  • Fresh: 15
  • Rotten: 3
  • Average Rating: 6.8/10

Top Critics' Reviews

Fresh: Kubrick worked in an uncharacteristically naturalistic style despite the genre material, with mixed but still fascinating results. – Janet Maslin, New York Times, Jul 16, 2008

Fresh: Kubrick's low-key lensing occasionally catches the flavor of the seamy side of Gotham life. – Variety Staff, Variety, Jul 7, 2010

Fresh: A noirish thriller with experimental trimmings that holds back most of the emotions, sensitive as well as otherwise, that threatened to make Kubrick's first feature mawkish. – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, Jun 24, 2010

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Customer Reviews

Early Kubrick that Rocks

Though this is only Stanley Kubrick's second feature film at the age of 26, and produced on a very low budget, it nonetheless lays the foundation of his later classics. Killer's Kiss is intriguing film noir.

KIller's Kiss

A fascinating film -compelling especially as it foretells much of Kubrick's later masterpieces. The way Kubrick shows how people are feeling simply through images without dialogue and the compact stringing together of scenes reminded me of the "Godfather". Kubrick's cinematography is always striking in every film he made and this was no exception. Broadway in the 50s comes alive and the rooftop chase scenes with the Brooklyn bridge in the background and the sound of boats on the Hudson must have been in Kazan's mind when he made "On the Waterfront". Yes, the story is improbable, the acting nothing to write home about, and the ending contrived. But watch this film to see a young director already beginning to find a unique cinematic style.

Mark Power, Simulacra

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