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The Killer Is Loose

Play trailer Poster for The Killer Is Loose 1956,  1h 13m,  Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 67% 6 Reviews Tomatometer 41% 100+ Ratings Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Humble bank teller Leon Poole (Wendell Corey) participates in a heist that doesn't go as planned. When police surround his apartment, there's a shoot-out, during which Detective Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) unwittingly kills Poole's wife. Poole is subsequently captured and jailed, but three years later he's back out on the street and hell-bent on revenge. Wanting the punishment to fit the crime, he vows that he won't kill Wagner -- just his wife (Rhonda Fleming).

Critics Reviews

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Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness May 23, 2006
B+
Plays out like some sort of slow-motion fever dream. Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce Slant Magazine May 1, 2006
Handed a narrative stuffed with cat-and-mouse violence, the filmmaker plays down dark hysteria in favor of grayish curtness, and the film is no less tense for that. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Jan 5, 2025
3/4
A sturdy revenge flick. Go to Full Review
Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television Aug 10, 2011
Strange, moody film noir, filled with observations on daily life, technology and gender in the 1950's. Go to Full Review
Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Jul 25, 2011
A rather creaky attempt at a film noir with very little of the psychological violence and use of landscape that would define [Boetticher's] later films. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Apr 14, 2003
C
A typical 1950s noir. Go to Full Review
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The Killer Is Loose

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Cast & Crew

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Budd Boetticher

Director

Joseph Cotten

Det. Sam Wagner

Rhonda Fleming

Lila Wagner

Wendell Corey

Leon Poole

Alan Hale Jr.

Denny

Michael Pate

Detective Chris Gillespie

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The Killer Is Loose

The Killer Is Loose (1956) The Killer Is Loose (1956) The Killer Is Loose (1956) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Humble bank teller Leon Poole (Wendell Corey) participates in a heist that doesn't go as planned. When police surround his apartment, there's a shoot-out, during which Detective Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) unwittingly kills Poole's wife. Poole is subsequently captured and jailed, but three years later he's back out on the street and hell-bent on revenge. Wanting the punishment to fit the crime, he vows that he won't kill Wagner -- just his wife (Rhonda Fleming).
Director
Budd Boetticher
Producer
Robert L. Jacks
Screenwriter
John Hawkins, Ward Hawkins, Harold Medford
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Crown Productions
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 2, 1956, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2016
Runtime
1h 13m
Sound Mix
Mono
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