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1949, Santa Rosa, California. A laconic, chain-smoking barber with fallen arches tells a story of a man trying to escape a humdrum life. It's a tale of suspected adultery, blackmail, foul play, death, Sacramento city slickers, racial slurs, invented war heroics, shaved legs, a gamine piano player, a β¦liens, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Ed Crane cuts hair in his in-law's shop; his wife drinks and may be having an affair with her boss, Big Dave, who has $10,000 to invest in a second department store. Ed gets wind of a chance to make money in dry cleaning. Blackmail and investment are his opportunity to be more than a man no one notices. Settle in the chair and listen. (Read More)
Subgenre: | absurdismtragedycult film |
Themes: | american mythologygreedexecutionblackmailparanoiadeceptionweddingdrunkennesspregnancyprisonbetrayalinfidelitysuicidemurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | car in watersmall townchurch |
Characters: | homosexualitychristiandetectiveteenage boyteenage girl |
Period: | 1940s |
Story: | confession of crimeheisenberg uncertainty principlefalse promise of the american dreampie eating competitionsanta rosa californiasmall town stereotypeneglected husbandbusiness propositiontitle from poemdominant wifechurchgoersocial isolationpassivitydry cleaningchain smoking β¦medical examinerdefense lawyerpartnershipquantum physicspastichetoupeeduplicitysecrecymiscarriage of justicemusic teacherbingotalking while drivingelectric chairbarbershopmasculinityembezzlementdistrict attorneydeath rowdepartment storeself defensebarberdoubtalienationexistentialismstabbed in the neckitalian americanobesityhypocrisyhaircutcrucifixpsychicfalse accusationtrialimmigrantstabbingpianomirrorcar accidentvoice over narrationdancingfightflashback (See All) |
This is the story of a mild-mannered man, named Tom Stall, who becomes a local hero through an act of violence, he lives a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana. But one night their idyllic existence is shattered when Tom foils a vic β¦ious attempted robbery in his diner. Sensing danger, he takes action and saves his customers and friends in the self-defense killings of two-sought-after criminals. Heralded as a hero, Tom's life is changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which forces him into the spotlight. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to the normalcy of his ordinary life only to be confronted by a mysterious and threatening man who arrives in town believing Tom is the man who wronged him in the past. As Tom and his family fight back against this case of mistaken identity and struggle to cope with their changed reality, they are forced to confront their relationships and the divisive issues which surface as a result. (Read More)
Themes: | american mythologyparanoiadeceptionmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | small townchurch |
Characters: | christianteenage boyteenage girl |
Story: | small town stereotypedominant wifepasticheself defensestabbingfight |
Los Angeles, 1928. A single mother returns from work to find her nine-year-old son gone. She calls the LAPD to initiate a search. Five months later, a boy is found in Illinois who fits the description; he says he's her son. To fanfare and photos, the LAPD reunite mother and son, but she insists he's β¦ not her boy. The cops dismiss her as either a liar or hysterical. When she joins a minister in his public criticism of the police, they in turn use government power to silence and intimidate her. Meanwhile, a cop goes to a dilapidated ranch to find a Canadian lad who's without legal status; the youth tells a grisly tale. There's redress for murder; is there redress for abuse of power? (Read More)
Themes: | executionblackmailparanoiadeceptionprisonmurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | miscarriage of justicedeath rowcrucifixfalse accusationtrialstabbingvoice over narrationfightflashback |
When a younger girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trail begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants t β¦o believe what Father Moore says is true. (Read More)
Themes: | drunkennessmurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | christianteenage girl |
Story: | medical examinerstabbed in the neckcrucifixtrialstabbingpianocar accidentdancingflashback |
Steve Everett, Oakland Tribune journalist with a passion for women and alcohol, is given the coverage of the upcoming execution of murderer Frank Beachum. His attractive colleague Michelle died in a car accident the night before. Bob Findley, Steve's boss and husband to Steve's current affair, wants β¦ him dead and gone as soon as possible. When Steve stumbles across the possibility of Frank Beachum being innocently on death row, Bob feels his time to have come. Now Steve only has a few hours left to prove the innocence of Frank and to be right with this theory, as he definitely will be history if he's not. (Read More)
Themes: | executionprisonmurder |
Story: | miscarriage of justicedeath rowfalse accusationcar accident |
Henry Hill might be a small time gangster, who may have taken part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who might have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners could kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to think about climbing up th β¦rough the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, might be badly affected by his partners' success, but will he consider stooping low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy? (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | paranoiadeceptionweddingprisonbetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Story: | toupeeitalian americantrialstabbingvoice over narration |
Jerry works in his father-in-law's car dealership and has gotten himself in financial problems. He tries various schemes to come up with money needed for a reason that is never really explained. It has to be assumed that his huge embezzlement of money from the dealership is about to be discovered by β¦ father-in-law. When all else falls through, plans he set in motion earlier for two men to kidnap his wife for ransom to be paid by her wealthy father (who doesn't seem to have the time of day for son-in-law). From the moment of the kidnapping, things go wrong and what was supposed to be a non-violent affair turns bloody with more blood added by the minute. Jerry is upset at the bloodshed, which turns loose a pregnant sheriff from Brainerd, MN who is tenacious in attempting to solve the three murders in her jurisdiction. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | greeddeceptionpregnancymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | small town |
Story: | false promise of the american dreamsmall town stereotypepasticheduplicityembezzlementalienationmirrorcar accident |
The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | blackmaildrunkennessbetrayalsuicidemurder |
Period: | 1940s |
Story: | doubtalienationitalian americanimmigrantstabbingdancingflashback |
After a clumsy operation trying to capture a drug dealer, the N.Y.P.D Detectives Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges are suspended for one month by their Captain Romans. Jimmy decides to sell his rare baseball card to pay for his daughter's expensive wedding while his jealous partner believes that his wife β¦ is cheating on him with their next-door neighbor. When Jimmy sells his card to a memorabilia store, the place is burgled by two small-time thieves and the detective loses his card. They track down the thieves. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | executionparanoiadeceptionweddingmurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | italian americancrucifixfalse accusationcar accidentflashback |
Det. John Hobbes is convinced that when killer Edgar Reese is executed, all of his troubles are over. But when people he knows and people on the street start to sing the same tune that Reese sang in the gas chamber, and those same people taunt him, he is told that maybe the cursed fallen angel Azaze β¦l is behind it all. Azazel is cursed to roam the Earth without a form, and he can switch bodies by any contact, making him hard to track. When Hobbes is forced to kill a man possessed by Azazel, he must clear his name while protecting his family and others from the evil, vengeful Azazel. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | executionparanoiadeceptionprisonbetrayalsuicidemurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | death rowitalian americanobesityfalse accusationvoice over narrationflashback |
In the Victorian London, the barber Benjamin Barker is married to the gorgeous Lucy and they have a lovely child, Johanna. The beauty of Lucy attracts the attention of the corrupt Judge Turpin, who falsely accuses the barber of a crime that he did not commit and abuses Lucy later after gaining custo β¦dy of her. After fifteen years in exile, Benjamin returns to London under the new identity of Sweeney Todd, seeking revenge against Turpin. He meets the widow Mrs. Lovett who is the owner of a meat pie shop who tells him that Lucy swallowed arsenic many years ago, and Turpin assigned himself tutor of Johanna. He opens a barber shop above her store, initiating a crime rampage against those who made him suffer and lose his beloved family. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedycult film |
Themes: | blackmaildeceptionweddingmurder |
Story: | barbershopbarberstabbed in the necktrialflashback |
When anti-death-penalty activist David Gale is convicted and condemned to death for the murder of a colleague, reporter Bitsey Bloom sets out to learn the story behind Gale's crime. What she finds challenges her belief in Gale's guilt and, finally, in the justice system.
Themes: | executionparanoiadeceptiondrunkennessprisoninfidelitysuicidemurder |
Locations: | church |
Story: | defense lawyerdeath rowfalse accusationflashback |
Sent from the city to investigate the murder of a teenage girl in a small Alaska town, a police detective (Pacino) accidentally shoots his own partner while trying to apprehend a suspect. Instead of admitting his guilt, the detective is given an unexpected alibi, but this "solution" only multiplies β¦the emotional complexity and guilt over his partner's death. He's also still got a murder to solve, in addition to the blackmail and framing of an innocent bystander being orchestrated by the man they were chasing. There's also a local detective (Swank) who is conducting her own personal investigation... of his partner's death. Will it all come crashing down on him? (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | blackmailbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | detectiveteenage girl |
Story: | confession of crimeflashbackfight |
On New Year's Eve, inside a police station that's about to be closed for good, officer Jake Roenick must cobble together a force made up cops and criminals to save themselves from a mob looking to kill mobster Marion Bishop.
Themes: | executionparanoiadeceptionprisonmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | stabbed in the neckitalian americancar accidentfight |
Patrick Bateman is handsome, well educated and intelligent. He is twenty-seven and living his own American dream. He works by day on Wall Street, earning a fortune to complement the one he was born with. At night he descends into madness, as he experiments with fear and violence.
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | greedexecutionblackmailparanoiadeceptionweddingdrunkennessinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | dry cleaningalienationstabbingmirrorcar accidentvoice over narrationdancing |
Boston, 1926. The '20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out to make his mark on the world. Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston β¦police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city's most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw. But life on the dark side carries a heavy price. In a time when ruthless men of ambition, armed with cash, illegal booze, and guns, battle for control, no one-neither family nor friend, enemy nor lover-can be trusted. Beyond money and power, even the threat of prison, one fate seems most likely for men like Joe: an early death. But until that day, he and his friends are determined to live life to the hilt. Joe embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime that takes him from the flash of Jazz Age Boston to the sensual shimmer of Tampa's Latin Quarter to the sizzling streets of Cuba. Live by Night is a riveting epic layered with a diverse cast of loyal friends and callous enemies, tough rumrunners and sultry femmes fatales, Bible-quoting evangelists and cruel Klansmen, all battling for survival and their piece of the American dream. At once a sweeping love story and a compelling saga of revenge, it is a speβ¦ (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | blackmailparanoiadeceptionprisonbetrayalsuicidemurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | christianteenage girl |
Story: | barbershopitalian americancrucifiximmigrantcar accidentvoice over narrationdancing |
A convicted murderer on Death Row and the nun who befriends him. Through the portrayal of finely drawn characters and their interactions as the days, hours, and minutes tick down to the condemned man's execution, powerful emotions are unleashed. While Matthew Poncelet and Sister Prejean desperately β¦try to gain a stay of execution from the governor or the courts, scenes are intercut from the brutal crime, gradually revealing the truth about the events that transpired. In addition to her temporal help, the nun also tries to reach out spiritually and assist as a guide to salvation. (Read More)
Themes: | executionprisonmurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | teenage boyteenage girl |
Story: | defense lawyerdeath rowcrucifixstabbingflashback |
Mick Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln. When a wealthy Realtor is accused of assaulting a prostitute, Haller is asked to defend him. The man claims that the woman is trying to get some money out of him. But when Haller looks at the evidence against him, he learns that this case β¦ might be linked to an old case of his. (Read More)
Themes: | deceptiondrunkennessmurder |
Story: | confession of crimedefense lawyerdistrict attorneytrialstabbingflashback |
Nazi-Fascist Northern Italy, 1943-44. Four senior members of government, aided by henchmen and Nazi soldiers, kidnap a group of young men and women. They hold them for 120 days, subjecting them to all manner of torture, perversion and degradation.
Subgenre: | tragedycult film |
Themes: | executionweddingbetrayalsuicidemurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | homosexualityteenage boyteenage girl |
Period: | 1940s |
Story: | stabbingpianodancing |
Texas bar owner Julian Marty, who is generally regarded as not a nice person, hires shady private detective Loren Visser, who is able to obtain what Marty requests evidence - in this instance, photographic - that his wife, Abby, and one of his bartenders, Ray, are having an affair. As Ray and Abby r β¦ealize that Marty has found out about them, it allows them to plan for their future away from Marty, while be up front with Marty about the situation. Marty, in turn, decides to hire Visser once again, this time to kill Abby and Ray, and dispose of their bodies so that they won't be found. The out in the open affair and the contract hit lead to some actions based on self interest, and a standoff of sorts between the four players, which is compounded in complexity by some wrong assumptions of what has happened, with an innocent bystander, another of the Marty's bartenders, Meurice, potentially and unwittingly adding to the scenario. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | greeddeceptionmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | pasticheduplicitystabbingmirrorvoice over narration |
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young man is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open-and-shut case of murder soon becomes a detective story that presents a succession of clues creating doubt, and a mini-d β¦rama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. Based on the play, all of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room. (Read More)
Themes: | murder |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | miscarriage of justicedoubttrialimmigrant |
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII.
Themes: | executionweddingpregnancybetrayalinfidelity |
Locations: | church |
Story: | crucifixfalse accusationtrialdancing |
Sam Bowden ('Nick Nolte' (qv))is a small-town corporate attorney/"Leave It to Beaver" type family-man. Max Cady ('Robert De Niro' (qv)) is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, bible-quoting, rapist. What do they have in common? Fourteen years, ago Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, a β¦nd he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey, bibliophile Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss. (Read More)
Themes: | paranoiadeceptiondrunkennessprisonbetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | small townchurch |
Story: | miscarriage of justicetrialfightflashback |
Two Irish brothers accidentally kill mafia thugs. They turn themselves in and are released as heroes. They then see it as a calling by God and start knocking off mafia gang members one by one. Willem Dafoe plays the detective trying to figure out the killings, but the closer he comes to catching the β¦ Irish brothers, the more he thinks the brothers are doing the right thing. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | executiondrunkennessprisonbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | christiandetective |
Story: | italian americancrucifixtrialvoice over narrationdancingfightflashback |
After another hard night at McCool's, bartender Randy runs into Jewel. The seductive lady seems to have evaded a rape pretty closely, and when the man comes back, she puts a bullet in his head. After all these events (and others), Randy takes Jewel home, and the two become a couple. Yet Jewel begins β¦ to develop into a very demanding girlfriend and drives Randy into committing crimes for her and her elaborate lifestyle. Randy's cousin Carl is driven crazy by Randy's incredibly sexy girl as well as the investigating officer, Detective Dehling. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | drunkennessmurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | bingodepartment storeself defenseobesitypsychicvoice over narrationflashback |
The high stakes thriller Paranoia takes us deep behind the scenes of global success to a deadly world of greed and deception. The two most powerful tech billionaires in the world ('Harrison Ford (I)' (qv) and 'Gary Oldman (I)' (qv)) are bitter rivals with a complicated past who will stop at nothing β¦to destroy each other. A young superstar ('Liam Hemsworth' (qv)), seduced by unlimited wealth and power falls between them, and becomes trapped in the middle of the twists and turns of their life-and-death game of corporate espionage. By the time he realizes his life is in danger, he is in far too deep and knows far too much for them to let him walk away. (Read More)
Themes: | greedblackmailparanoiadeceptiondrunkennessbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Story: | chain smokingcar accidentvoice over narrationdancingflashback |
As children, Lorenzo Carcaterra - Shakes to his friends - Michael Sullivan, Tommy Marcano, and John Reilly were inseparable. They grew up in Hell's Kitchen, a far from perfect neighborhood, one filled as Shakes says with scams and shake downs, but one where the rules were known by its residents. The ⦠one adult who they admired was Father Bobby Carelli, who understood them as kids more than most adults and more than he himself would like to admit. In 1967, their lives would change forever when a typical teenage prank went wrong which led to the four of them being sentenced to various terms at Wilkinson Home for Boys, a reformatory. There, they were physically, emotionally and sexually abused primarily by Sean Nokes, the head guard of their cell block, and fellow guards Ralph Ferguson, Henry Addison, and Adam Styler, although there were other caring figures of authority at the home including other guards. Their time at the home affected the four, not all who were able to emerge from the experience to regroup their lives. In their want to forget about the experience, they made a vow not to talk about it either between themselves or with others. Fast forward thirteen years, with Tommy and Johnny being career criminals, Michael an assistant district attorney and Shakes a newspaper writer, their friendship on the surface more loose than it was when they were children. When Tommy and John spot Nokes, it leads to Shakes and Michael banding together to exact revenge not only on Nokes b⦠(Read More)
Themes: | deceptiondrunkennesspregnancyprisonbetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | teenage boy |
Story: | district attorneyitalian americancrucifixtrialvoice over narrationfightflashback |
Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks -- the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he's part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and β¦disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedycult film |
Themes: | deceptiondrunkennessbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | self defensealienationexistentialismstabbed in the neckpianomirrorcar accidentdancingfightflashback |
Sarah Tobias goes to her local bar and is gang-raped by three men. The district attorney on the case is Katheryn Murphy who wants to prove that although Sarah had taken drugs that night and was acting provocatively while in the bar, this is no reason for her to be so brutally attacked and the men re β¦sponsible should be brought to justice. (Read More)
Themes: | deceptiondrunkennessbetrayal |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | medical examinerdistrict attorneytrialmirrorcar accidentdancingfightflashback |
The true story of serial killer Aileen Wuernos who was convicted of luring men to their death and eventually executed in 2002. In 1989, she was working as a prostitute and finally makes a friend when she meets and begins a relationship with a young woman, Selby. Determined to straighten out her life β¦, she tries to find legitimate work but with little education and limited social skills, she fails at every turn. She starts working as a hooker hitching rides along the local interstate highway and after robbing a few clients has an encounter with a vicious client whom she kills in self-defense. After that however she just takes to killing clients taking their money and car. Once arrested she claims self-defense but is eventually convicted. (Read More)
Subgenre: | tragedy |
Themes: | executiondrunkennessprisoninfidelitymurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | christianteenage boyteenage girl |
Story: | death rowtrialcar accidentvoice over narration |
Tom Reagan (played by Gabriel Byrne) is the right-hand man, and chief adviser, to a mob boss, Leo (Albert Finney). Trouble is brewing between Leo and another mob boss, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), over the activities of a bookie, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) and Leo and Tom are at odds on how to d β¦eal with it. Meanwhile, Tom is in a secret relationship with Leo's girlfriend, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who happens to be the sister of Bernie. In trying to resolve the issue, Tom is cast out from Leo's camp and ultimately finds himself stuck in the middle between several deadly, unforgiving parties. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | blackmailbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Story: | pastichetoupeeitalian americanmirrorcar accident |
After the murder of his beloved wife, Danny Parker is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. On his journey he befriends slacker Jimmy the Finn and becomes involved in rescuing his neighbor Colette from her own demons. Danny is antagonized by undercover narcotics agents and sadistic dea β¦ler Pooh-Bear. (Read More)
Themes: | blackmailparanoiadeceptiondrunkennessmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Story: | district attorneycrucifixvoice over narrationflashback |
Earl Brooks is a highly respected businessman and was recently named Portland's Man of the Year. He hides a terrible secret however: he is a serial killer known as the Thumbprint Killer. He has been attending AA meetings and has kept his addiction to killing under control for two years now but his a β¦lter ego, Marshall, has re-appeared and is pushing him to kill again. When he does kill a couple while they are making love, he is seen and photographed by someone who also has his own death and murder fetish. In a parallel story, the police detective investigating the murder is having problems of her own. She is going through a messy divorce and a violent criminal who had vowed revenge some years before has escaped from prison and is after her. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | blackmaildeceptionpregnancyprisonsuicidemurder |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | stabbed in the neckstabbingmirrorcar accidentdancingflashback |
Astrid Magnussen is a 15 year old girl, living in California. Her mother, Ingrid, is a beautiful, free-spirited poet. Their life, though unusual, is satisfying until one day, a man named Barry Kolker (that her mother refers to at first as "The goat man") comes into their lives, and Ingrid falls madl β¦y in love with him, only to have her heart broken, and her life ruined. For revenge, Ingrid murders Barry with the deadly poison of her favourite flower: The White Oleander. She is sent to prison for life, and Astrid has to go through foster home after foster home. Throughout nearly a decade she experiences forbidden love, religion, near-death experiences, drugs, starvation, and how it feels to be loved. But throughout these years, she keeps in touch with her mother via letters to prison. And while Ingrid's gift is to give Astrid the power to survive, Astrid's gift is to teach her Mother about love. (Read More)
Themes: | paranoiadrunkennesspregnancyprisoninfidelitysuicidemurder |
Characters: | christianteenage boyteenage girl |
Story: | hypocrisyhaircuttrialvoice over narrationflashbackfight |
After completing a lengthy prison sentence, one-time drug kingpin Frank White returns to New York intent on reestablishing his empire and making things as they were before he left. Others of course have taken over the business during his absence but that clearly isn't going to stop White. While he i β¦s gunning down the opposition, he decides he's going to give away the money he'll make to modernize the hospital in his old neighborhood. Drug dealers aren't the only thing he has to worry about however: a group of rogue cops decide they are going to take him down. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | executiondeceptionweddingdrunkennessprisonmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | defense lawyeritalian americancar accidentdancing |
Jeff Bailey, small-town gas pumper, has his mysterious past catch up with him one day when he's ordered to meet with gambler Whit Sterling. En route to the meeting, he tells girlfriend Ann his story. Flashback: Once, Jeff was a private eye hired by Sterling to find his mistress Kathie who shot Whit β¦and absconded with $40,000. He traces her to Acapulco...where the delectable Kathie makes Jeff forget all about Sterling... Back in the present, Whit's new job for Jeff is clearly a trap, but Jeff's precautions only leave him more tightly enmeshed... (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | blackmailbetrayalmurder |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | detectiveteenage boy |
Period: | 1940s |
Story: | talking while drivingvoice over narrationflashback |
A mother lives quietly with her twenty-eight-year-old son, Do-joon, providing herbs and acupuncture to neighbors. One day, a girl is brutally murdered, and Do-joon is charged with the killing. Now, it's his mother's call whether to prove him innocent or to leave him imprisoned.
Themes: | blackmaildrunkennesspregnancyprisonbetrayalmurder |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | detectiveteenage girl |
Story: | false accusationmirrorcar accidentdancingfightflashback |
Upon moving to Britain to get away from American violence, astrophysicist David Sumner and his wife Amy are bullied and taken advantage of by the locals hired to do construction. When David finally takes a stand it escalates quickly into a bloody battle as the locals assault his house.
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | drunkennessmurder |
Locations: | small townchurch |
Characters: | teenage girl |
Story: | masculinityself defensealienationhypocrisymirrorcar accidentflashbackfight |
JJ 'Jake' Gittes is a private detective who seems to specialize in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray when she suspects her husband Hollis, builder of the city's water supply system, of having an affair. Gittes does what he does best and photographs him with a young girl but in the ens β¦uing scandal, it seems he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest, and municipal corruption all related to the city's water supply. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | paranoiadeceptiondrunkennessbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | barbershopbarberfalse accusationcar accidentfight |
In the not-too-distant future, a less-than-perfect man wants to travel to the stars. Society has categorized Vincent Freeman as less than suitable given his genetic make-up and he has become one of the underclass of humans that are only useful for menial jobs. To move ahead, he assumes the identity β¦of Jerome Morrow, a perfect genetic specimen who is a paraplegic as a result of a car accident. With professional advice, Vincent learns to deceive DNA and urine sample testing. Just when he is finally scheduled for a space mission, his program director is killed and the police begin an investigation, jeopardizing his secret. (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | blackmailparanoiadeceptiondrunkennesspregnancysuicidemurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | false accusationpianocar accidentvoice over narrationdancingflashback |
A well respected Chicago surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble has found out that his wife, Helen, has been murdered ferociously in her own home. The police found Kimble and accused him of the murder. Then, Kimble (without Justifiable Reason) was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. However, on the way to β¦ prison, Kimble's transport crashed. Kimble escapes and is now on the run. Deputy Samuel Gerard from Chicago takes charge of the chase of Kimble. Meanwhile, Kimble takes up his own investigation to find who really killed his wife, and to lure Gerard and his team into it as well. (Read More)
Themes: | greedparanoiadeceptiondrunkennessprisonbetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Locations: | small town |
Story: | miscarriage of justicedeath rowfalse accusationflashbackfight |
In South Boston, the state police force is waging war on Irish-American organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello. While Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan, a hardened young criminal wh β¦o has infiltrated the state police as an informer for the syndicate is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by their double lives, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations they have penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there is a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy - and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save themselves. But is either willing to turn on their friends and comrades they've made during their long stints undercover? (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | executiondeceptiondrunkennesspregnancyprisonbetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Characters: | christiandetective |
Story: | doubtitalian americanstabbingcar accidentfightflashback |
Set in the Southern United States, 'Monster's Ball' is a tale of a racist white man, Hank, who falls in love with a black woman named Leticia. Ironically Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's husband. Hank and Leticia's interracial affair leads to confusion and new ideas β¦ for the two unlikely lovers. (Read More)
Themes: | executiondrunkennessprisonsuicide |
Story: | electric chairdeath rowobesityhaircut |
Set in the year 1999 during the last days of the old millennium, the movie tells the story of Lenny Nero, an ex-cop who now deals with data-discs containing recorded memories and emotions. One day he receives a disc which contains the memories of a murderer killing a prostitute. Lenny investigates a β¦nd is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of blackmail, murder and rape. Will he survive and solve the case? (Read More)
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | blackmailparanoiadeceptionbetrayalsuicidemurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | church |
Story: | crucifixmirrorflashbackfight |
In New York City, detective Billy Taggart goes to court for the murder of the rapist Mikey Tavarez, but the Mayor Nicholas Hostetler and the Chief of Police Carl Fairbanks vanish with important evidence and Billy is declared not guilty by the judge; however, he leaves the police department. Seven ye β¦ars later, Billy is a private detective and lives with his girlfriend Natalie Barrow, who is an aspiring actress and the sister of Mikey's victim. His secretary Katy Bradshaw (Alona Tal) is trying to collect part of the debts to save their business. In the week of the elections, Hostetler summons Billy and offers $25,000 to investigate his wife, Cathleen Hostetler, whom he believes is having a love affair. Billy discovers that Cathleen is meeting Paul Andrews, who is the coordinator of the campaign of Jack Valliant, the opponent of Hostetler and favorite in the election. When Paul is found dead on the street, Billy finds that he had been double-crossed by Hostetler and he decides to investigate the truth behind Paul's murder. (Read More)
Themes: | blackmailparanoiadeceptiondrunkennessbetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | false accusationtrialcar accidentflashbackfight |
Betty Anne Waters (Swank) is a high school dropout who spent nearly two decades working as a single mother while putting herself through law school, tirelessly trying to beat the system and overturn her brother's (Rockwell) unjust murder conviction.
Themes: | prisonmurder |
Locations: | church |
Story: | miscarriage of justicedistrict attorneyfalse accusationtrialstabbingmirrordancingflashbackfight |
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling acces β¦sory. Brilliant in her own right, she works at the U.N. and is involved with a struggling artist who fulfills her emotional needs. When her husband discovers her indiscretion, he sets out to commit the perfect murder and inherit her considerable trust fund in the bargain. (Read More)
Themes: | greedblackmailparanoiabetrayalinfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | stabbed in the neckstabbing |
This urban nightmare chronicles several days in the life of Caine Lawson, following his high-school graduation, as he attempts to escape his violent existence in the projects of Watts, CA.
Subgenre: | cult film |
Themes: | executionparanoiadrunkennesspregnancyprisonbetrayalmurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Characters: | detective |
Story: | voice over narrationflashbackfight |
Charles is worn down by his home life where he and his wife struggle to cope with the demands of their daughter's illness and his job. When he meets Lucinda on the train to work in Chicago, there is an immediate spark between them. Soon they are doing lunch; dinner and drinks follow. This leads to a β¦n adulterous rendezvous in a hotel. However, no sooner have they torn each other's clothes off than their room is invaded by a thief who beats Charles and rapes Lucinda. Because of the illicit nature of their relationship, Charles agrees with Lucinda who is reluctant to go to the police and soon finds he is powerless to resist the demands of the thief. (Read More)
Themes: | blackmaildeceptionprisoninfidelitymurder |
Mood: | neo noir |
Locations: | car in water |
Story: | embezzlementfalse accusationstabbingflashback |
High powered lawyer Claire Kubik finds her world turned upside down when her husband, who she thought was Tom Kubik, is arrested and is revealed to be Ron Chapman. Chapman is on trial for a murder of Latin American villagers while he was in the Marines. Claire soon learns that to navigate the milita β¦ry justice system, she'll need help from the somewhat unconventional Charlie Grimes; meanwhile, Claire's sister, Jackie, is falling in love with wet-behind-the-ears Lieutenant Embry assigned as the official defense lawyer. And most of the eyewitnesses have rather too conveniently died. (Read More)
Themes: | pregnancymurder |
Locations: | car in water |
Story: | confession of crimedefense lawyerfalse accusationtrialcar accidentfightflashback |