Threat, The

Killer Red Kluger (Charles McGraw) busts out of Folsom Prison and makes for a bleak desert hideout. But first he makes a violent detour to Los Angeles to kidnap the three people he blames for his ticket to the gas chamber: a cop (Michael O'Shea), the DA (Frank Conroy) and ex-girlfriend (Virginia Grey) he believes betrayed him. Before Red gets out of the country, he's going to get even, one sweating, sadistic murder at a time. In this gripping, relentlessly paced B-movie, film noir great McGraw -- who breathed menace even when he played a cop or a detective -- dominates the screen with a presence so ice-cold cruel not even the pitiless Mojave sun could melt it. Jittery with fear and suspense, The Threat is the kind of little-known gem every film fan rejoices in discovering.

• crime
• drama