Guillermo del Toro's newest movie, Nightmare Alley, follows Stan Carlisle, an aspiring carnival worker whose life becomes a game of manipulation and deception as he masters the art of fooling an audience. Set in the dismal and unrelenting underworld of clairvoyants and con men, it is one of the only recent neo-noir films to attract widespread attention.
Neo-noir is a term used to describe more modern successors to the hard-boiled film noir of the 40s and 50s, especially those that homage or even directly reference those films. Checking out some of del Toro's favorite neo-noir films can give new viewers a good frame of reference on their style and technique before watching his own contribution to the genre.
Le Samouraï (1967)
Jean-Pierre Melville's classic crime film Le Samouraï follows Jef Costello, a professional assassin who finds himself trapped in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a persistent superintendent determined to get his man. On Twitter, del Toro called the dark, masterful neo-noir "as cool and controlled as its main character", and noted that it was an inspiration for many contemporary filmmakers.
The life of a hitman is expressed in all its bleak mystery by Alain Delon's breathtaking, aloof lead performance, which alone would make the film worth seeing. Like Nightmare Alley, this is a visually gorgeous journey whose polished exterior opens up to reveal a heart of loneliness and misery.
Cape Fear (1991)
Martin Scorsese's 1991 psychological thriller his seventh collaboration with De Niro.
The film was a rousing success, pocketing nearly $200 million worldwide and earning several awards nominations for the performances of De Niro and Juliette Lewis. It's a must-see for fans of classic noir or of its renowned director, who del Toro has called "a sage" and "a master".
Heat (1995)
Michael Mann's inimitable Heat is a crime drama for the ages, starring Robert De Niro as the leader of a gang of professional thieves and Al Pacino as the LAPD detective tasked with bringing him down. As the line between heroes and villains blurs, making a bloody showdown seemingly inevitable, both sides start to feel the heat.
Fans of neo-noir can't do much better than this for thrilling action, brooding performances, and the stylish, nocturnal atmosphere d with the genre. It's a gritty examination of lives marred by corruption, and a film described by Del Toro as "part of the lexicon of the medium".
Zodiac (2007)
Based on del Toro's Zodiac, among other things, a "permanent love", the 2007 detective drama has been a huge influence on his storytelling. Detailing the search for the notorious Zodiac Killer, who taunted investigators and journalists with coded letters in the midst of his crime spree, the film paints a one-of-a-kind picture of spiraling obsession.
Featuring standout performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac is one of the greatest films of the 21st century.
Blood Simple (1984)
The Coen Brothers made their film debut with Blood Simple, a tribute to classic noir dramas that takes its title from a Dashiell Hammett novel. A sleazy, neon-drenched descent into the dark corridors of the South, the film details the chaos that ensues when a bar owner pays to have his wife and her lover killed.
The Big Lebowski, this genre classic is as ripe for reconsideration as ever.
Sorcerer (1977)
William Friedkin, the prolific director of The Exorcist, considers the 1977 thriller Sorcerer his most personal film. Like Nightmare Alley, Sorcerer is based on a novel that had been previously adapted into a classic noir film.
Its story follows four drivers with vastly different backgrounds, tly tasked with transporting two trucks loaded with dynamite across more than 200 miles of jungle terrain. In response to a tweet about the film, del Toro, not one to waste words, simply said "masterpiece".
A Simple Plan (1998)
Sam Raimi's melancholy neo-noir drama A Simple Plan is a heavy deviation from the norm for the director responsible for the Evil Dead films and the Spider-Man trilogy, but it's also one of his best movies. The story follows three men in rural Minnesota who find a crashed airplane containing millions of dollars in cash. Though they vow to share it, their lust for money soon gets the better of them.
The rare film that matches Nightmare Alley in its ghastly depiction of evil, it's no surprise del Toro enjoys this "chronicle of greed turning the meek into beasts".
Blow Out (1981)
Brian de Palma's Blow Out stars John Travolta as a sound man who accidentally captures evidence of a prominent politician's murder while recording foley for a low-budget horror movie. As he becomes obsessed with finding the killer, he befriends a young woman who might be the key to solving the mystery.
A loose reimagining of Michelangelo Antonioni's classic Blowup, Blow Out combines edge-of-your-seat excitement with still-relevant ruminations on systemic corruption. Del Toro describes it as a movie that "starts as a political thriller and ends up as a meditation on the cannibalistic nature of art".
Breathless (1983)
An American remake of Jean-Luc Godard's French New Wave crime drama of the same name, Breathless stars Richard Gere as a car thief who falls in love with a French student while on the run from police.
As del Toro knows from making Nightmare Alley, it's no small task to outdo one of the greatest noir films of all time. That could explain why he thinks the 1983 version of Breathless is "criminally overlooked" compared to its critically-acclaimed predecessor.
Underworld USA (1961)
One of the few films that del Toro actually listed as a direct inspiration for Nightmare Alley, Underworld U.S.A. is a bitter revenge story burdened by a similar layer of grime. Written and directed by the influential Samuel Fuller, the film revolves around Tolly Devlin, a man who sets his sights on tracking down the mobsters who killed his father.
Del Toro says of Underworld U.S.A: "Most noir characters, when faced with incredible odds, they bet on one side or the other. Whether 'right' or 'wrong', they go for broke. [Underworld U.S.A] still has that grittiness."
