Kiss Me Deadly is Robert Aldrich's violent, twisted journey through a murky world of noir. Opening with beautiful Christina (Cloris Leachman's debut) desperately running for her life and running Mark Hammer (Ralph Meeker) off the road. Once the legendary backwards credits that are powered by Leachman's erotic panting arrive we already have been given a taste of the twisted pleasures that will come with the rest of the film. Hammer and Christina's brief time together ends up becoming the film's driving force; her brief presence -- Leachman gets not more than 10 minutes of screen-time -- is climaxed by the infamous "torture scene" where the camera watches as Christina's legs flail around with a sadistic calmness. Aldrich does not shy away from violence when it was still viewed as taboo by most critics and audiences which lead to the film banning struggles, but its daring use of a glorious supply of gruesome, corrupted characters with our hero Mr. Hammer, a private eye whose methods launch a full-fledged attack on taste, being the most jaded of all.
