Wrings a shocking amount of dread and tension from its brisk runtime and kid-centered POV.
Would pair with The Night of the Hunter (obvious but apt) or Quiet is the Night for a fairy tale nightmare kiddo terror double that’s more Brothers Grimm than Disney.
Recommended on the Summer Discoveries 2024 episode of the Pure Cinema Podcast
Doesn’t quite earn the Bummer of the Year Award, because it’s not without considerable neon slime-soaked pleasures, but when it derails, these moments - along with the combined weight of X and Pearl - make the crash all the more baffling. Senioritis, perhaps? But if it’s true that all’s well that ends well, how bad could it really be if you end with a loving nod to Nightmare (1981)?
Rock-solid, intimate revenger with an effective, emotional lead and a trio of the nastiest goons this side of Dick Tracy’s rogues’ gallery. The inclusion of a young Dominique Pinon as one of these bastards gives Shot Pattern another level of kinship with Death Wish and its ‘82 sequel, as they feature both Jeff Goldblum and Laurence Fishburne as equally scary, pre-fame heavies.
Cold and capable, Annie Girardot makes for a refreshing addition to the vigilante canon - and though Black List is stylish with all the wild bursts of action required of the genre, there’s a vulnerability in her viciousness that goes deeper than her more masculine counterparts might dare.
This could make an interesting pairing with Haneke’s The Piano Teacher as a visceral, unsettling Girardot-as-mother to a daughter-in-crisis double.
