TAPE! Editorial • Chris Attrill • 5 Min Read

6 NEO-NOIRS
YOU NEED IN
YOUR COLLECTION

To celebrate William Friedkin's cult classic TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. coming from Arrow Video July 6th, here's a look at six essential neo-noirs that deserve a place in every serious film collection.

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01 / 06

ONE FALSE MOVE
(1992)

Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton (who also co-wrote the screenplay) Bill Paxton and a terrifying Michael Beach give masterful performances in this grisly drama about a small town police chief who awaits the arrival of a gang of killers. Tragic fate, pure evil and past demons collide in a deceptively simple “fugitives-on-the-run” yarn that, like a great novel, unravels to something much deeper. Made on a shoestring budget, One False Move can make for a tough watch, mainly due to the stripped down performances that feel uncomfortably un-melodramatic, especially for a noir film. This layered, taut and challenging thriller comes from the massively underrated Carl Franklin and demands being rediscovered.

02 / 06

THIEF
(1981)

In what is truly one of the great directorial debuts of all time, Michael Mann delivers an exceptional character study wrapped in an irresistible neo-noir package. If that wasn't enough, James Caan gives one of the finest performances of his career as Frank, a self-made safecracker determined to build a normal life while powerful external forces conspire to keep that dream out of reach.

A rain-soaked crime classic through and through, Thief sees Mann emerge fully formed, bringing with him the visual style, complex masculinity and moral ambiguity that would define much of his later work. Complemented by Tangerine Dream's mesmerising electronic score, every frame drips with atmosphere. Tough, stylish and endlessly influential, this remains essential viewing for noir enthusiasts.

03 / 06

UNDER THE SILVER LAKE
(2018)

A modern cult gem that takes the grand noir tradition of the “missing person” mystery and gleefully turns it on its head. Affable but utterly directionless, Sam (Andrew Garfield) becomes entangled in a bizarre and increasingly labyrinthine conspiracy after the sudden disappearance of his neighbour, Sarah.

These surreal, meandering black-comedy noirs aren't for everyone, but those willing to surrender to the film's peculiar wavelength will find plenty to enjoy. Packed with hidden clues, pop-culture obsessions and Raymond Chandler-style absurdity, Under the Silver Lake is a refreshingly unfettered rabbit hole from a then-burgeoning A24, and one of the most fascinating film oddities of the last decade.

04 / 06

BLOOD SIMPLE
(1984)

Another masterful debut on this list, Blood Simple sees the Coen Brothers immediately take hold with a concentrated dose of neo-noir filmmaking made with the kind of precision and confidence that would later define classics such as Fargo and No Country for Old Men. M. Emmet Walsh is wonderfully sleazy as an amoral private investigator hired by a jealous husband to eliminate his wife (Frances McDormand, in her film debut) and her lover (John Getz), setting in motion a chain of increasingly violent misunderstandings and disastrous decisions.

Darkly funny, suspenseful and endlessly inventive, this brooding tale of paranoia and dread slowly tightens its grip frame by frame before building to a finale you'll be thinking about long after the credits roll. Beautifully photographed by Barry Sonnenfeld and elevated by Carter Burwell's unforgettable score. If you're already a Coen Brothers fan and somehow haven't seen it yet, chances are you're going to love it.

05 / 06

NIGHT MOVES
(1975)

From the moment Gene Hackman strolls into his private investigator's office, barely acknowledging the messages piling up on his chunky 1970s answering machine, all while Michael Small's wonderfully funky jazz theme drifts through the soundtrack, you know you're in capable hands. Hackman anchors Arthur Penn's haunting neo-noir with a performance that is equal parts world-weary, intelligent and quietly cynical.

What begins as a seemingly routine runaway case gradually evolves into something far darker and more unsettling, pulling Hackman's bewildered gumshoe from Los Angeles to an isolated lake house in the Florida Keys where secrets lurk beneath every surface. The term "hard-boiled" is often overused, but Night Moves earns it with ease. Sharp, atmospheric and deceptively understated, this superb slice of 1970s pulp remains one of the most criminally underrated neo-noirs ever made.

06 / 06

...and of course let's not forget...

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.
(1985)

As both a mid-career comeback for the late William Friedkin and one of the great conversation pieces on 80s crime aesthetic, to say a neo-noir collection is incomplete without this film is putting it mildly. This scintillating and at times brutal cop thriller stars an unhinged, dog-off-the-leash William Peterson as a reckless (i.e. corrupt) federal agent who unravels while attempting take down a mastermind counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe, in an early standout performance). Friedkin infuses this raw but stylish crime saga with kinetic cinematography and one of the great electronic scores of all time by those Dance Hall dudes Wang Chung. A brazen, propulsive noir that brought Friedkin back to his French Connection roots while managing to, in some ways, surpass that earlier breakthrough film.