selfish, all at the same time. There was so much to Kiss Me Deadly that I feel I need to watch it at least a second time to give a worthy review. But since I don’t have the time, I’ll give it a try.

couldn’t help but think of Pulp Fiction, especially when it came to the mystery

surrounding the power within "the box," which I felt was the equivalent of Pulp Fiction’s mysterious suitcase. I liked how the box was described as "the head of Medusa" and"from the depths of hell."

Much like the opening "diner" scene of Pulp Fiction, the fade-in of a desperate woman (Christina, played by a young Cloris Leachman in her debut role) running barefoot down the street immediately hooked me. My heart was racing as she tried to flag down somebody to give her a ride. So desperate was she that she risks her life to stop an unsuspecting Mike Hammer. I love how she doesn’t say a word when she first meets him, jesters to him to open her door, then pants throughout the entire opening credits as the melancholy Nat King Cole song "Rather Have the Blues" plays on the radio. Now that’s how films should open.

The large, in-your-face credits spiraling downward were very symbolic of the direction Hammer’s life would unravel (Roman Polanski used a similar technique for the opening credits of Frantic). I loved how director Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen, The

Longest Yard) photographed the entire scene from the back seat of the car. You see their hair blowing in the wind, hear the gears shifting, and are forced to listen her gasping for breath as the song plays on the radio. I felt like I was going on a strange joyride.

After their first stop at the gas station, I liked when the gas station attendant joked, "The only thing I pick up when I go off the road is poison ivy." I laughed when I heard that line because I knew Christina was Hammer’s poison ivy.

The first violent scene takes place within five minutes of the film, when Hammer and Christina are captured by the mysterious "mob." I liked the perspective Aldrich used as he shows Hammer on the floor and only allows the audience to see Christina and the mobster’s feet as they torture her with some sort of metal device. That’s scary stuff ("Is it safe?"). There is also an interesting line at the end of that scene when one thug asks, "Do you know what resurrection means? Raising the dead."

I thought the film really captured the fears (and propaganda) of the 50s Nuclear Age (Communism, McCarthyism, paranoia, the cold war). It was interesting how on several occasions’ characters talked about how bad the world had become. Then, in contrast, one of the most important elements of the film is a poem, which basically talks about innocence lost. I also loved the mystery of how Hammer was so merciless to his victims. He was cold hearted to all women and slapped the weaker supporting characters silly. We also see how brutal he can be when he slugs one guy down the stairs, then beats another guy so bad that the other thug runs out of the room terrified. Made me wonder what the hell he

did to the guy. The same is true when he actually kills the same guy later in the film. The frightened look on the dead body almost looked live Hammer scared him to death. What gives? I still haven’t figured out what he did to him. Pleeeez, clue me in.

As I mentioned before, I loved the supporting cast of characters – from the seductive roommate, desperate assistant, sad opera singer, frightened Ray, depressed Harvey Wallace (played by a young Strother Martin, "What we have here is a failure to communicate"), sinister doctor, tough henchmen (one played by a young Jack Elam, who reminded me of Steve Buscemi), the many cat-like vixens, and my personal favorite character, the excitable auto mechanic, Nick ("Va-va-Voom, POW!," a slogan which pretty much described the film).

If you watched the DVD, please let me know the difference between the newly

restored ending and the alternate shortened ending. I watched the film late and cannot for the life of me figure out the differences, aside from Hammer and his assistant, Velda, getting out of the beach house alive. How is that so vastly different? Please satisfy my ignorance and curiosity.