Kiss Me Deadly

"Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane’s latest H-bomb!"

1955 1h 46m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🔥

98%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 423🍅98%Rotten Tomatoes★7.5IMDB · 24,017

MysteryThrillerCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

“Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane’s latest H-bomb!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Ralph Meeker
Mike Hammer
Albert Dekker
Dr. G.E. Soberin
Paul Stewart
Carl Evello
Juano Hernández
Eddie Yeager
Wesley Addy
Lt. Pat Murphy
Marian Carr
Friday
Maxine Cooper
Velda
Cloris Leachman
Christina Bailey

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Aldrich
Writers: A.I. Bezzerides
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

71 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Aldrich, shot by Ernest Laszlo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Frank De Vol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Luciano shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ralph Meeker and Albert Dekker and Paul Stewart carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane’s latest H-bomb!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0048261 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Aldrich directs. Ernest Laszlo behind the camera. Frank De Vol scores. Michael Luciano cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
271 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Robert Aldrich, shot by Ernest Laszlo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Frank De Vol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Michael Luciano shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ralph Meeker and Albert Dekker and Paul Stewart carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Blood red kisses! White hot thrills! Mickey Spillane’s latest H-bomb!".
8IMDB entry: tt0048261 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Released under 23 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Original score: Frank De Vol
Editing: Michael Luciano
Makeup / hair: Robert J. Schiffer
Sound: Jack Solomon
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Status: Released
Budget: $410,000
Box office: $726,000
Return: 177% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 24,017 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

1 win & 1 nomination total

Also by

Robert Aldrich

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-03-03
★ 9/10
Yesterday I was looking for a thread, today I'm looking for a piece of string. Mike Hammer is driving down a dark highway when a half naked blonde forces him to stop, this event sends Hammer spiralling on a journey that may have a cataclysmic consequence for all involved. Kiss Me Deadly is a harsh movie, it contains an array of characters that are dislikable in the extreme, nobody can be trusted, and everyone on the surface appears to be selfish in their respective motivations. Taking in torture, murder, violence on tap, and a wonderful mystery plot, it's not hard to see why the film has gained a massive reputation as the years have rolled by - where although it's brutish in substance, the film is a damn riveting piece of work. Ralp Meeker is excellent as Hammer, a character who refuses to lay down, he gets knocked down constantly, but he gets back up tougher than before, he becomes the kind of hard boiled guy who hits first and then asks questions later. The direction from Robert Aldrich is perfect, off-kilter camera work drags the viewer into this skew-whiff world that Hammer has entered, and we often only see shots of the bad guys torsos so as to make them faceless thugs. It's down right aggressive film making that hits the requisite thriller mark. Kiss Me Deadly has influenced many others since its release, be it "Repo Man" or "Pulp Fiction", the impact is still being felt today. Containing a much talked about ending (both the restored and alternate endings work on differing levels to many), it's a film that leaves things up for discussion and debate, but what we do know for sure is that it's explosive and crowns what is now firmly established as a crime classic from the film noir splinter of film making styles. 8.5/10

Production companies