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Detour (1945)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 4,837

My Rating

Movie Info

Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour begins when hitchhiker Al Roberts (Tom Neal) accepts a ride from affable gambler Charles Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald). When Haskell suffers a fatal heart attack, Roberts, afraid that he'll be accused of murder, disposes of the body, takes the man's clothes and wallet, and begins driving the car himself. He picks up beautiful but sullen Vera (Ann Savage), who suddenly breaks the silence by asking, "What did you do with the body?" It turns out that Vera had earlier

Sep 26, 2000

Cast

All Critics (19) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (0) | DVD (4)

Uniformly good performances and some equally good direction and dialog keep the meller moving.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One of the most daring and thoroughly perverse works of art ever to come out of Hollywood.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It lives on, haunting and creepy, an embodiment of the guilty soul of film noir. No one who has seen it has easily forgotten it.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The zenith of the B-movie genre.

January 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

Ulmer's threadbare bondage-noir masterpiece

October 14, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

You can't take your eyes off the screen, and with the devilish Savage up there you wouldn't dare to.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

an effective emotional rollercoaster that explores the dark side of human nature, and its concise, pessimistic view of the American Dream is still admired today.

June 15, 2007 Comment

A film that must be seen to be (dis)believed.

August 31, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

quintessential noir territory

August 20, 2006 Full Review Source: Cinema Writer | Comment
Cinema Writer

Like great garage rock, however, Ulmer's landmark film ultimately derives its raw, jittery vitality from its very crudeness.

May 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Passion joins with folly to produce termite art par excellence.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Tawdry, textbook example of classic "B" film noir.

June 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | Comment

Strange, paranoid thriller using minimal sets and budget.

January 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Classic Film and Television

Reveals the masochistic strain in film noir characters, who fume bitterly about their bad luck without ever taking responsibility for their actions.

November 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | Comment

Detour, for those who have not seen it, may be the greatest achievement in B-movie making in history.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

For some, being outside the system is as natural as walking in the fog.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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Audience Reviews for Detour

Doh! Hate it when I think I there is a great movie that I haven't seen - and it turns out I've actually seen it. Pretty killer z-budget noir. Great femme fatale / nagging sloppy drunk live-in girlfriend. Lesson: fate will crush a wus, everytime.

March 30, 2007
brooklynspo

Super Reviewer

Moody noir that, like many others of the time hasn't really aged well. Stuck in the cliches of the genre, depending on huge coincidences and what not. Worth a check for anyone interested in the genre, but nothing you will remember much.

November 6, 2010
DragonEyeMorrison
Tsubaki Sanjuro

Super Reviewer

    1. Vera: Stop makin' noises like a husband.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Detour (1945) (DE)
  • Detour (1945) (UK)
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