NOT BY LYNCH continues on Saturday 7 February at
@the_cinema_museum .
The second screening in the season is Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly (1955) — a ferocious, end-of-the-line noir that turns pulp detective fiction into something radioactive and uncanny.
The screening will be accompanied by a small printed booklet, including a newly commissioned programme note by writer Alison Rumfitt (
@alison.zone ), author of Tell Me I’m Worthless and Brainwyrms, available exclusively on the night.
Curated by
@hairyabao
Presented in collaboration with
@cinemayearzero .
Graphic design by
@jj_designed
About KISS ME DEADLY
A loose adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novel, Kiss Me Deadly strips noir back to its bare elements — a man, a mystery, a series of violent encounters — only to push them toward something stranger and more apocalyptic. Aldrich’s film feels less like a whodunit than a descent: plot gives way to obsession, atmosphere thickens, and the world itself seems to vibrate with dread.
Long recognised as a key precursor to New Hollywood, the French New Wave, and filmmakers from Godard to Lynch, Kiss Me Deadly is haunted by the sense that something unspeakable lies just out of view — contained, hidden, but ready to burn through everything. A perfect early expression of the Lynchian, before it was ever named.
🎟 Saturday 7 February, 7.30 pm
📍 The Cinema Museum, London
🔗 Link: cinemamuseum.org.uk
