1035. Get Carter (1971)

Starring: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland

Director: Mike Hodges

Running Time: 114 mins

Get Carter is a British film about a brutal London gangster who, after finding out his brother has died, travels to his old hometown of Newcastle and strike fear into the locals until he finds out what happened.

This is a very exciting and intriguing revenge thriller. It may not have the extreme violence and fast-paced nature of modern thrillers, but it’s still extremely gritty, especially by early 1970s standards, and has a top-quality central performance by Michael Caine, who transforms the story into a genuinely frightening one as well.

Caine plays Jack Carter, who is simply one of the most vicious and intense anti-heroes you’ll ever see in a film. He’s effectively a villain, and if it weren’t for the fact that it’s Michael Caine in the role, he’d be pretty despicable, but this central character is both intriguing to see act so violently as well as frightening to behold throughout.

The violence here is pretty intense, and although it may be a little more understated by modern standards, it’s still very gritty to see, and its understated qualities may in fact be even better, as they turn the more violent scenes into more eerie and scary ones, heightening the intensity and fear factor of the whole film.

Now, the problem that most viewers will have with this film is that it is pretty slow-paced and occasionally meandering, what with it revolving around Michael Caine circulating Newcastle and ‘interviewing’ various people with regards to his brother’s death, and although there are spurts of violence and more high-octane excitement, this isn’t necessarily the most intensely thrilling revenge story you’ll ever see.

Overall, though, this is indeed an exciting and intriguing film, with a top-notch central performance by Michael Caine that adds an extra frightening element to the whole film.