Upon watching a review of this film I instantly became curious about it. A juvenile delinquency film staring Peter Falk as a murderous counter culture member? Count me in.
My preconceived notion about this film was that it was going to be another cheesy 1950s scare flick, somewhat in the vein of Ed Wood's 'The Violent Years.' What I got, however was a very well acted, well put together and memorable film which even my friends who are not into '50s B-movies seem to enjoy.
The film focuses on two characters, the murderous thug Nico (Peter Falk) and Cliff (Jack Betts) the brother of one of Nico's victims. Nico is an implied drug dealer and popular member of the local counter culture, who becomes obsessed with watching people die after witnessing a man have a heart attack. Eventually, he decides he wants to see another person die, so he and a friend kill a delivery boy by feeding him a laced hamburger.
The police are unable to solve the murder due to the lack of evidence which is generally involved in motiveless crimes, so Cliff decides to take matters into his own hands.
I commonly regard this as one of the best B-Movies the 50s has to offer for reasons other than, 'so bad it's good.' The characters are interesting and well played; I really cannot think of a single actor who played their role poorly. I find the character of Nico's friend Francis to be one of the best acted. Francis was one of the murderers and was instantly paranoid upon witnessing the death of the delivery boy. His paranoia and anxiety is well played by the actor. It almost makes this film a case study in human behavior when at risk of being caught for a crime.
Nico is interesting too, as a murderer he has a calm confidence about him, right up until his end. He is sly and cunning, and seems to understand the human condition well. Peter Falk does a wonderful job demonstrating his acting ability, making Nico a character the viewer loves to hate.
I highly recommend this film to essentially anyone, it's available to view freely online and I recommend that you take a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Highly recommended.
My preconceived notion about this film was that it was going to be another cheesy 1950s scare flick, somewhat in the vein of Ed Wood's 'The Violent Years.' What I got, however was a very well acted, well put together and memorable film which even my friends who are not into '50s B-movies seem to enjoy.
The film focuses on two characters, the murderous thug Nico (Peter Falk) and Cliff (Jack Betts) the brother of one of Nico's victims. Nico is an implied drug dealer and popular member of the local counter culture, who becomes obsessed with watching people die after witnessing a man have a heart attack. Eventually, he decides he wants to see another person die, so he and a friend kill a delivery boy by feeding him a laced hamburger.
The police are unable to solve the murder due to the lack of evidence which is generally involved in motiveless crimes, so Cliff decides to take matters into his own hands.
I commonly regard this as one of the best B-Movies the 50s has to offer for reasons other than, 'so bad it's good.' The characters are interesting and well played; I really cannot think of a single actor who played their role poorly. I find the character of Nico's friend Francis to be one of the best acted. Francis was one of the murderers and was instantly paranoid upon witnessing the death of the delivery boy. His paranoia and anxiety is well played by the actor. It almost makes this film a case study in human behavior when at risk of being caught for a crime.
Nico is interesting too, as a murderer he has a calm confidence about him, right up until his end. He is sly and cunning, and seems to understand the human condition well. Peter Falk does a wonderful job demonstrating his acting ability, making Nico a character the viewer loves to hate.
I highly recommend this film to essentially anyone, it's available to view freely online and I recommend that you take a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Highly recommended.