Double crossed and left for dead, a determined man (Lee Marvin) goes up the increasingly treacherous mob ladder, not so much to retrieve his stolen loot, but to exact retribution. John Boorman's Point Blank (remade as Payback with Mel Gibson) is a cold revenge thriller depicting shocking violence with a taciturn Marvin erupting in anger. The picture is well-made and superbly edited, with Carroll O'Connor and John Vernon playing effective baddies. Although it's a film of its time, even dated, it still garners respect today and has to be one of the more continually influential flicks of the period.
*** out of ****
