Good example of Fuller's "tabloid" filmmaking style, displaying the contradictory politics and pugnacious visual style that earned him the label "American primitive."
A self-serving reporter (Breck) has himself confined to an asylum so he can uncover a murder and win a Pulitzer Prize. He is sucked into the maelstrom of the asylum, which is presented as a microcosm of contemporary society, and eventually loses his mind. Fuller plays cinematic bully here,
forcefully confronting us with unpleasant characters and situations in a way that makes us rethink our preconceptions about insanity and civilization. The bravura camerawork, by Stanley Cortez, is a marvel. Origi...
Released:
1963
Rated:
NR
Length:
101 mins