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The Hot Spot

The Hot Spot

Romance · Crime · Thriller · 1990

Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.

Movie details

The Hot Spot

“Sex is never safe. It’s dangerous.”

1990 Romance · Crime · Thriller 2h 10m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.

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 The Hot Spot?

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.

True Romance

True Romance

Action · 1993

Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.

The French Connection

The French Connection

Action · 1971

Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

Kiss of the Dragon

Kiss of the Dragon

Action · 2001

Liu Jian, an elite Chinese police officer, comes to Paris to arrest a Chinese drug lord. When Jian is betrayed by a French officer and framed for murder, he must go into hiding and find new allies.

Avengement

Avengement

Crime · 2019

While on a prison furlough, a lowly criminal evades his guards and returns to his old stomping ground to take revenge on the people who turned him into a cold blooded killer.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Action · 2014

Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Action · 2013

Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.

Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

Crime · 1992

A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White, newcomer Mr. Orange, psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde, bickering weasel Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie -- unravel.

War

War

Action · 2007

FBI agent Jack Crawford is out for revenge when his partner is killed and all clues point to the mysterious assassin Rogue. But when Rogue turns up years later to take care of some unfinished business, he triggers a violent clash of rival gangs. Will the truth come out before it's too late? And when the dust settles, who will remain standing?

Rise of the Footsoldier

Rise of the Footsoldier

Action · 2007

Rise of the Footsoldier follows the inexorable rise of Carlton Leach from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late eighties and early nineties.

The Dead Pool

The Dead Pool

Action · 1988

Dirty Harry Callahan returns for his final film adventure. Together with his partner Al Quan, he must investigate the systematic murder of prominent figures. By the time Harry learns that the murders are part of a sick game to predict such deaths, it may be too late.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Dennis Hopper

Written by

Charles Williams · Nona Tyson

Don Johnson

Don Johnson

Harry Madox

Virginia Madsen

Virginia Madsen

Dolly Harshaw

Jennifer Connelly

Jennifer Connelly

Gloria Harper

Charles Martin Smith

Charles Martin Smith

Lon Gulick

William Sadler

William Sadler

Frank Sutton

Jerry Hardin

Jerry Hardin

George Harshaw

Barry Corbin

Barry Corbin

Sheriff

Court is in session

Put The Hot Spot on trial.

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

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Form is the argument.”

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

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

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