THE KILLER IS LOOSE (1956) - ♦♦♦♦ 

Directed by - Budd Boetticher

Written by - Harold Medford, John Hawkins, Ward Hawkins

Starring - Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey

"THE KILLER IS LOOSE is an overlooked fifties thriller, which surprisingly even predates the similar CAPE FEAR. 

A deceptively mild mannered bank robber escapes prison and seeks revenge on the cop who accidentally killed his wife during a gun battle. THE KILLER IS LOOSE is not particularly stylistically remarkably directed, as the film seems to all too often undermine its obvious psychological depth in favour of a more structures thriller nature. 

However, the performances alone elevate its standards. JOSEPH COTTEN manages to almost single handedly make his character incredibly intense and conflicted despite his own internal struggles following the pivotal gunfight accident being quite a heavy and important one, with his amazing acting intensity and masterful dramatic understanding of his role. 

Ultimately, it is the underrated WENDELL COREY, in his equally underrated turn as the villain Foggy who is frighteningly wooden, quiet and seemingly harmless yet terribly focused and dangerous that provides a real chill factor in a film that all too often shows undiscovered potential."

Thriller, USA