The city in question is Manchester in this Hammer Films gripping police procedural, which counts at least as impressive a genre outing as the SF and horror films which made the studios name. Shot in a stark, sinister noir(ital) of black, white and miserable greys, it stars Baker as the Inspector after the thieves who steal jewels from Pleasance and who turn out to be implicated in the murder of a teenage girl. Both turn in fierce performances and Guests direction gives the movie a splendidly wrought realism, capturing a nasty underworld Britain rarely envisioned since.
Hell Is a City Review
Committed but seen-it-all police inspector Martineau rightly guesses that after a violent jailbreak a local criminal will head home to Manchester to pick up the spoils from his last job.
Release Date:
10 Apr 1960
Running Time:
88 minutes
Certificate:
PG
Original Title:
Hell Is a City
Gritty, urbane and stylish Brit thriller
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