A man hitch-hikes his way across the US to rejoin his lost love in Hollywood. Along the way he gets picked up by another gent, who suddenly dies. Our man assumes his identity, fearing the police will assume he murdered the stranger. He then picks up a woman who, it turns out, also knew the deceased.

Wow what a raw, dark, hot & sweaty gem of a film this is. It only clocks in at just over an hour but in that time Ulmer manages to paint a vivid, frightening picture of the world by spinning a tale of woe like no other.

This is a low budget piece. The simple sets, unknown actors & un-fussy camera work all stand out. And yet Ulmer and his cast embrace the limitations and use them to their advantage. Everything is simple, giving the characters and the dialogue room to breathe. It’s efficient and free of filler or distractions.

The real star of the show is Ann Savage, who plays the femme fatale trying to tempt our protagonist into exploiting his current situation for the most cash possible. She lights up the screen from the first few frames she appears and never relents.

Ordinarily this B-movie level noir would be forgotten over time. The success of the film feels almost accidental. However, the unique plot and on-screen talent that surprised audiences in 1945 still works, and makes Detour an unforgettable classic.

http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/10/29/detour/

Sleazy Nightmare!

Playing out as some kind of fate accompanied nightmare, Detour demands repeat viewings since the running time is so short it leaves you hankering for more come the end. We follow the protagonist Al Roberts on the road, and watch (with accompanied narration) a sequence of events that see him in the middle of nowhere at a diner fearing for his future.

Devilishly dark in tone, the film relies on a fine underplayed performance from Tom Neal as Roberts, and a gloriously annoying harpy femme fatale turn from Ann Savage as Vera. The film was made for next to nothing in only one week, and the whole film screams out as a low budget movie shot with a sleazy tint and less than stellar tech credits. Yet money can't buy this type of atmospheric misery, where the vagaries of fate play their brutal film noir hands.

Upon release, it was just a poverty row "B" picture, and it passed by almost quietly. Unsurprisingly a few years later "French" cineastes picked up on it and as the years rolled by it has garnered critical reappraisals. So much so the likes of Scorsese and The Coen Brothers cottoned on and gleefully let the influence wash over them. Director was one Edgar G. Ulmer ("The Black Cat", "Bluebeard", "Strange Illusion", "Ruthless"), and here he shows himself the master of low budgetary nous and devilish story telling. 9/10

I think that in order to get anything from this film noir, you have to accept from the outset that the acting is pretty poor. An implausibly weak Tom Neal, a downright irritating Ann Savage & an especially wooden Claudia Drake make this something you might win a perseverance award for, for sticking with. Tom Neal is driving across the USA when he makes a decision he soon regrets - picking up a rude, gobby woman (Ann Savage) on the highway who proceeds to rob, bully & blackmail him. Accidentally, she comes a cropper and (aside from a general feeling of thank the Lord from the audience) his relief is palpable. The route to his predicament is relayed via his somewhat pathetic retrospective narrative and her relentless onslaughts and they both combine to really grate after a while (say 20 minutes). It has little to redeem it, I'm afraid - neither the photography nor the script inject much pace and/or menace - it's just a tiresome tirade.

This was excellent. One of my very favourite film noirs--and at a fraction of the budget. It made me instantly want to see ALL of Ulmer's films--as well as a lot more of Ann Savage. A priceless find for the adventurous cinephile.