The hourglass sanatorium
Joseph is taking a train to a dilapidated Sanatorium in order to visit his dying father. Upon arrival he has to break into the place as it appears locked up and in stepping into the building he appears to step into another world. He is advised that his father is dead, but is still living as time has stopped. From there he goes on a strange odyssey that might be purely in his own subconscious as he steps back into his own past and visits places and people long since gone including reflections on the Holocaust.
Hourglass is a dark, beautiful film that does an amazing job of getting into the head-space of someone dealing with grief. The film is beautifully layered and the Blu-ray transfer which is from the recent Polish restoration looks incredible. The film has genuinely amazing cinematography which really imbues the film with an otherworldly feel. If you get the chance pick this up.
Kiss me deadly
Mike Hammer picks up a young woman on the highway after almost running her over. She's terrified and pleads with Hammer for help. Pretty soon they're stopped and Hammer is rendered unconscious while the woman is tortured to death. Hammer begins to investigate and discovers a conspiracy involving a mysterious box and nuclear scientists.
Writer A.I. Bezzerides and director Robert Aldrich take Spillanes novel, discard about 90% of it and opt to do their own thing. They have crafted a pitch black noir thriller with a genuinely weird and paranoid tone designed to satirise Spillane's world view and throw a critical eye on 50's America. Hammer in the books is a rough around the edges guy trying to do the right thing. Here, hes a cheap thug. A fairly dumb misogynist who pimps out his partner Velda to married guys in order to clear divorce cases. He's a guy who doesn't just use violence as a necessary adjunct to his job, rather he seems to get off on it. Trapping a blokes hand in a drawer for example, he leers with pleasure and in other scenes isn't shy about slapping people about when needed. Spillane may not be keen on the film but it remains one of the great noir's of the 50's and a real highlight in Aldrich's career. Certainly its one of Ralph meeker's great roles as Hammer that he seems to relish.
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