Sitting Target (Hickox, 1972): Cinema Museum, 7.30pm
This is a Lost Reels screening. Lost Reels is an independent film organisation dedicated to bringing forgotten, lost, or unavailable films back to UK cinemas. Visit Lost Reels at lostreels.co.uk
Cinema Museum introduction:
After earning the dubious distinction of being one of the first
British films to be given an ‘X’ rating entirely for on-screen violence,
Douglas Hickox’s Sitting Target was overshadowed by Get Carter (1971) and Villain (1971) as just another grim, seedy British crime thriller and is now
mostly forgotten. Oliver Reed plays the brutish convict Harry Lomart who
after learning his wife Pat (Jill St. John) has become pregnant by
another man, plans a daring prison escape with his friend Birdy (Ian
McShane) so he can kill her in murderous revenge. A truly nail-biting
breakout sequence is followed by a series of audacious action set-pieces
including fist fights, shootings and thrilling motorcycle and car
chases, with the near-maniacal Reed unrelenting in his quest for
vengeance. Strikingly filmed by Edward Scaife, director Hickox keeps the
film moving at breakneck speed and provides a heavy dose of
gun-fetishism along with the action for good measure. Never released on Blu-ray and unavailable in any format in the UK,
Lost Reels is proud to present a special screening of this fast-paced
hard-bitten action thriller from a rare high-definition 35mm scan
sourced from the US.
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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