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Tightrope

Tightrope

Mystery · Thriller · Crime · 1984

Wes Block is a detective who's put on the case of a serial killer whose victims are young and pretty women. The murders are getting personal when the killer chooses victims who are acquaintances of Block. Even his daughters are threatened.

Movie details

Tightrope

“A cop on the edge.”

1984 Mystery · Thriller · Crime 1h 55m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Wes Block is a detective who's put on the case of a serial killer whose victims are young and pretty women. The murders are getting personal when the killer chooses victims who are acquaintances of Block. Even his daughters are threatened.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Tightrope?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

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Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.

Cop

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Crime · 1988

An obsessive, insubordinate homicide cop is convinced a serial killer is loose in the Hollywood area and disobeys orders in order to catch him.

The Echo

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An ex-prisoner moves to an old apartment, where one gets to see in the middle of a domestic problem between a police officer, his wife and his daughter. When he tries to intervene, he will be caught in a mysterious curse.

Kiss the Girls

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Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

Novocaine

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A dentist finds himself a murder suspect after a sexy patient seduces him into prescribing her drugs.

Farewell, My Lovely

Farewell, My Lovely

Crime · 1975

Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Richard Tuggle

Written by

Richard Tuggle

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood

Wes Block

Geneviève Bujold

Geneviève Bujold

Beryl Thibodeaux

Dan Hedaya

Dan Hedaya

Det. Molinari

Alison Eastwood

Alison Eastwood

Amanda Block

Jenny Beck

Jenny Beck

Penny Block

Marco St. John

Marco St. John

Leander Rolfe

Rebecca Perle

Rebecca Perle

Becky Jacklin

Court is in session

Put Tightrope on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Cool Ironist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.