Kiss Me Deadly

 I watched this on a recommendation of Conor Fitzgerald 

Meeker I recognize from paths of Glory- I learn he was married to Salome Jens- the female changeling from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Meeker is a fine actor. He is physically imposing- I can see why the censors felt compelled to cut a lot of the fighting and violence. Meeker does it too well

Hammer slaps his way into getting what he wants. A teen bullies dream 

The violence is hard. There is an an attempted mugging/murder on Hammer - and Hammer kills the man 

This film left me uneasy and unsettled. It feels raw even after nearly 3 quarters of a century. There is a lot of Noir in Magnum P.I Magnum riffs, and rattles to the beat of Noir. You could even seen a similar relationship with Hammer and his mechanic, as TC and Magnum. People are wearing Hawaiian shirts

Even the what'sit could be from Magnum P.I- Indeed Meeker is almost a facial hair free Tom Selleck 

So it feels familiar but it is colder, sharper and not sharper in the sense of more coherent. This will cut you

You realize the damsel in distress that Hammer picks up is naked under her trench coat

I note that the car Hammer is driving gets a bit of a branch stuck underneath in - something unseen and unrecognized tangled up the machine

There is a lot of screaming.. The two women Hammer meets in this film both suffer terrible fates - I don't like or watch horror films. So I felt this the in the pitt of my stomach- the screams didn't seem to stop 

The ending is unexpected- a murder is not uncovered. Rather a weapon of mass murder*. Maybe Hammer should have just left thing things alone. Maybe I shouldn't have watched this. I am glad I did though

( *I had thought if Peron's milk bottle reactors had been in mind)