Murder by Contract (1958)'s comments

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

Camille Deadpan

The constant music in the background is superb. And the movie is strangely modern, it could surely be made in the 80's and 90's.

10 years 10 months ago

greenhorg

Deserves to be on the top 50 noir list.

11 years 1 month ago

marcelorenno

A great Noir, with a great style and unforgettable mood. A real gem, should be more widely known.

12 years 10 months ago

panagos

Surprisingly good! Low budget, stylishly directed, weird but effective score. Vince Edwards was born for this role... 7,5/10

1 month 3 weeks ago

What a cool flick! Maybe one of the funniest noirs (do they have such a category?) thanks to the bickering, anxious pair of contractors. Together with the great lead and the easygoing soundtrack it makes for a little noir gem, although the script could have been better for the final act. Still really liked it.

1 year 7 months ago

captain canuck

A great low budget film noir about a contract killer. Whereas Samouraii is about the ‘act’ of killing this is more about the thought of killing and the psychology required to do that. Vince Edwards (never seen him in a movie before) is great as the killer. Some great existential dialog and a sparse look.

3 years 9 months ago

Rodney Dangerfield

Cool movie.

10 years 3 months ago

nbats

https://youtu.be/xUfDdK7uvQQ

3 years 6 months ago

Siskoid

In a way, Murder by Contract is a send-up of the hit man narrative. Vince Edwards' cool, collected killer Claude (how's that for alliteration?) wastes his handlers' time because he's overly cautious but doesn't let on, and when he finally gets to brass tacks, he misses the mark several times, completely discombobulated when he realizes his target is a woman. He's cautious to a fault, but then things go out of control, and you could make a Looney Tunes cartoon out of this, with him as Sylvester and the pianist marked for death as Tweety. Normally, if you tell me a hit man movie is all about waiting, I expect the killer to get frustrated, unravel, but not Claude. He's the one who makes you wait, you and his handlers, a darkly comic double act who don't understand his process or the philosophy he puts into his work and persona. Though apparently filmed in seven days, this "cheap" indie has nice photography and a memorably spare guitar soundtrack that bomps along playing the waiting game until it needs to push the suspense. Cockiness, like crime, doesn't pay though.

3 years 10 months ago

ClassicLady

Slightly disappointed with the ending but I suppose it actually is rather fitting.

3 years 10 months ago