Lots of target hit here:
American paranoia over crime and violence (check out the TV police bulletin near the beginning),
mob mentality (neighbours ratting on everybody else),
vigilantism (a parking garage full of criminals can't wait to lynch the perp),
inept cops,
scheming mobsters and compliant media.
For a Hollywood remake of a classic foreign film this is well above average. Maybe because it's shot as a B movie noir rather than a slick A-list reproduction.
OK, sunny L.A. isn't exactly known for its street grit. But the director's choice to show most of the murderer's stalking very nearly as silent film dials up the creepiness despite the sunny skies. The other thing about scuzzy 50s B movies is they couldn't afford shmaltzy scores from A-list composers so these movies, esp viewed in the 21st century, aren't ruined by soaring violins and over-done timpanis, and various other musical tricks used by big-budget directors to tell us how to feel when we watch their movies.
The movie hits a bit of a road bump when the flat-foots consult a head-shrink for some 1950s psycho-babble. Thankfully, that's over and done within a minute or two. I bet it was shot and added after the film was finished and cut, at the request of the Hays Office or some clown in the executive suite.
I thought the perp's semi-coherent psycho-drivel near the end was quite effectively delivered. I couldn't decide whether the director wanted us to feel sympathy for him, or to show what a load of bollocks psychiatry is. In any event, a compelling ending.
I'd like to see it back-to-back with the Frtiz Lang version, which is a nearly perfect film.
Review of M
