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Cul-de-Sac (1966)

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Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 19
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 3

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 2

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Movie Info

The fact that there isn't a single likeable character in Cul de Sac does not diminish its artistic value in the least. Ageing, furtively kinky Donald Pleasence is married to sexy young Francoise Dorleac. The couple's hermitlike tranquility is shattered when wounded gangsters Jack MacGowan and Lionel Stander invade their home and hold them hostage. As Dorleac urges her tremulous husband to do something, the two criminals begin behaving in a fashion that can only inadequately be described as

Unrated, 1 hr. 51 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Comedy

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Written By: G�rard Brach, Roman Polanski

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1966 Wide

On DVD: Aug 16, 2011

MGM

Cast

Donald Pleasence
George
Fran�oise Dorl�ac
Teresa
Lionel Stander
Richard
Jack MacGowran
Albert
William Franklyn
Cecil
Robert Dorning
Mr. Fairweather
Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline
Marie Kean
Mrs. Fairweather
Geoffrey Sumner
Christopher's Father
Renee Houston
Christopher's Mother
Iain Quarrier
Christopher
Trevor Delaney
Little Nicholas

Critic Reviews for Cul-de-Sac

All Critics (19) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (3) | DVD (5)

As a study in kinky insanity, Cul-de-Sac creates a tingling atmosphere. This sags riskily at times when the director unturns the screws and does not keep control of his frequently introduced comedy.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

After two clean hits -- Knife in the Water and Repulsion -- Roman Polanski is entitled to one wild swing.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

This much sounds like a standard horror-film outline, especially since Stander looks amazingly like Frankenstein. But Polanski ignores the horror to concentrate instead on macabre humor.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

One of the best and purest of all his works.

September 6, 2003 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Polanski tributes the [gangster-invasion film] by adding his own conceit: when there's no community worth salvaging, a threat will leave all involved floating, sans shoreline.

October 27, 2011 Full Review Source: Film International

| Comment

Matthew Sorrento

Film International

Polanski uses all kinds of off-kilter angles an close-ups and his actors are absolutely fearless. The pacing is a little off, as there are stretches where it gets a little long, but it upends convention at every turn and that s pretty thrilling.

October 27, 2011 Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com

| Comment

Eric Melin

Scene-Stealers.com

pure Polanski through and through, made with no restraints and little outside influence, but it stumbles on its own absurdist tendencies, demonstrating how sometimes too much is too much

August 31, 2011 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk

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James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

... as assured and as perfectly crafted as anything in Polanski's career, a miniature where every facet offers multiple reflections.

August 22, 2011 Full Review Source: Parallax View

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Sean Axmaker

Parallax View

A violent spoof of social dead-ends blisters beautifully on Blu-ray.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Joseph Jon Lanthier

Slant Magazine

It's an actor's pic, where plot is insignificant.

July 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Neat little chiller with Polanski honing his abilities as a director and standout performances from Pleasence, Stander, and Dorleac.

February 18, 2010 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

I kind of expected the film to keep up some kind of momentum with a slam-bang beginning like that. It never slows down to a crawl, but it never gets as good as its first ten minutes.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

If the subject matter is bleak and bitterly serious, the tone throughout is darkly comic, while the precise imagery effortlessly conveys the tension, the claustrophobia, and the madness of the situation.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Roman Polanski's character study is strange, creepy, and often compelling.

September 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

The troubled dynamic of a castle-bound couple is further distorted by the arrival of a gangster who is marginally less vile than Carol's phantom.

April 9, 2004 Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY

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Jason Anderson

eye WEEKLY

One of Polanski

January 21, 2004 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Cul-de-Sac

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Roman Polanski's "Cul-De-Sac" is probably the most 'Polanski-ish' film the director has made. Every sensibility of the famed auteur is on display here. From the genre bending, to the mental games of imposition, to the stylish cinematography, to the loopy performances. "Cul-De-Sac" also delights in being

August 29, 2011

Steven Carrier

Super Reviewer

Well, this was quite the pleasant surprise! (Pun Very Intended!!) Cul-De-Sac is the tale of a gangster, whose past is left ambiguous; and the (kind of) newly-wed couple he holds hostage in their precious island "fortress." The movie is incredibly stylish, and should be recognized as much more than just Polanski finding

August 23, 2011

Austen Rudnick

Super Reviewer

Cul-de-Sac Quotes

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1. George: Get the hell out of my fortress!
– Submitted by Jean M (6 months ago)
1. Richard: Here we are.
2. Albert: Where?
3. Richard: In this shit.
– Submitted by Jean M (6 months ago)
1. Little Nicholas: That froggy bitch pulled my ear off!
2. Mr. Fairweather: Here, here, here! Who taught you to speak like that?
3. Little Nicholas: Mum did!
– Submitted by Jean M (6 months ago)