If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There is a remarkable scene toward the middle of 'The Sniper': when it's clear to the police they've a serial killer of women on their hands, a dragnet hauls in every known sex-crime perp in town. Line-up after line-up is brought in, each fidgety gonif is subjected to a barrage of sarcastic and genuinely funny stand-up comedy from the head cop re their respective proclivities: rapist, peeping tom, child-toucher, etc., a smoke-filled audience of police and reporters guffawing throughout. The film's p.o.v., when it's good, is that of the compulsive criminal maniac -- the film makes a case that public ridicule poses an exacerbation to their madness, and this scene serves well to demonstrate how making them pariahs creates obstacles to crime prevention.Nice surprise at this scene's conclusion to see a very young Richard Kiley as the forensic psychiatrist. He is tasked with delivering exposition regarding psychological theory behind profiling the serial killer -- a bit of a thankless job for an actor, but Kiley gives it dignity and gravitas, and an active intelligence.Frank Faylen as the crusty chief of detectives defines hard-boiled -- the kind of guy who starts his day hopeless and angry and goes downhill from there. He's a master of humorous despair. (I wonder if this role got him cast a few years later as Dobie Gillis's irascible Dad?) At the core of the film is the Edward Dmytryk/Arthur Franz collaboration in creating the title character -- it's a wonder to see. Franz is a skilled and subtle technician -- much of the film is ostensibly his character reacting silently to a world he experiences as hostility and pain. Dmytryk stages the killer's subjective perception realistically, but the add-up informs us we are looking through a damaged lens: to the killer, every interaction is a slight or humiliation, every woman is a bullying harpy -- even little girls, and every mother is cruel to her children. Every look is a dirty look. The heartbreak is that Franz, as the monster, maintains a childlike expectation of approval; his constant disappointment in this regard feeds his rage. The killer's wandering through his tortured wallflower life contrasted with the cops and the shrinks and the public at a loss to identify him makes for a terrifying symmetry. That the film is mostly shot on location in San Francisco gives it a gritty urgency.Added plus: George Antheil's beautiful original music. Antheil was a young avant-garde composer in 1920s Paris, famous for his revolutionary and disturbing 'Ballet Mécanique', utilizing airplane propellers and ambulance sirens, etc. It did my heart good to discover Antheil picked up solid Hollywood paychecks from the '30s to the '50s . . .***Fun factoid: The director of 'Sniper' was blacklisted 'Hollywood Ten' lefty Edward Dmytryk. He cast crusty old Adolphe Menjou as a chief cop in the film. Menjou was a staunch right wing Republican. When asked how he could appear in a film directed by a communist, old Adolph replied tersely: 'I am a whore.' Allegedly. :D

IMDb 7.1/10 ROTTENTOMATOES 6.5/10 A young man who hates women cries for help, but no one listens to him. And so the killing begins.This film has some interesting details, like the attempt to explain the sniper's behaviour and it has a couple of pretty good scenes.Unfortunately, acting is very weak, storytelling mediocre and the psychiatrist' talks were feeling out of context (it was like being in a seminar in the middle of the movie).Probably this film was ahead of its time in 1952, but unfortunately it didn't age well.

Stanley Kramer was in the beginning of his career, when his company made this film for Columbia. In 1952 Columbia was not yet, nor near the powerhouse movie studio they eventually became.The writers Edwin & Edna Anhalt were at the beginning of their noted writing careers.Edward Dymtryk was resuming his career after being involved with the Hollywood 10, blacklist & the HUAC.The cast includes many known performers of the era. Only a few stand out. The acting is just routine.The plot today is contrived, with scenes telegraphed in advance,cued by camera angles or music.It could have been shocking then. I doubt it though.It was filmed in San Francisco. To be blunt I was very disappointed since I have recently read some good reviews of this.I cannot remember what I thought of this film in 1952. I more than likely saw it as part of a double bill. I doubt it was the main feature.Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 68 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10)

The prologue of this film tells us that this is the story of a man whose enemy was womankind. I just recently have seen this 1952 film. I guess with the current film Zodiac in theaters about a real serial killer frightening San Francisco in the 1960's, Turner Classics dug this out of vaults. This is a fictionalized story of a serial killer frightening San Francisco in the 1950's. I had heard of this film and was happy to have finally seen it. This is an early 1950's b-movie crime drama that would in later years fall into the Film Noir category. This is shot on location in San Francisco and uses actual outdoor settings that give this a documentary feeling to it's look. Because so much filming utilized actual city locations it also makes for a wonderful photo album of what San Francisco looked like in the mid 20th century. Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz) is a seemingly meek and mild delivery driver for a dry cleaning service. He has some unresolved issues with his mother that are not fully explained to us but it has led him on path of abusing and hating women that has led to several arrests including a recent 18 month stay in a psycho ward for assault with a baseball bat. His immediate boss at the dry cleaners (Geraldine Carr) is constantly riding his case for tardiness and inferior work and this probably sends him to the ultimate next step in his hatred of women and that is killing them. Miller lives in a boarding house run by a kindly elderly landlady (Mabel Paige) who is probably the only woman he likes. A client of the cleaners befriends him when he delivers to her house. Joan Darr (Marie Windsor) is a lovely piano player in a neighborhood tavern and has a tough street-wise edge to her. Darr's innocent and friendly brush off of Miller is the last straw that sets off his murder spree. Armed with a M1 carbine and scope that he had stolen and that can be broke down and carried in a briefcase he goes hunting in the city. Lt. Frank Kafka (Adolphe Menjou), Sgt. Joe Ferris (Gerald Mohr) and Insp. Anderson (Frank Faylen) are the police team assigned to capture him with the help of psychologist Dr. James Kent (Richard Kiley) who gives an early version of police profiling to the story and is sympathetic to the killer as suffering from mental illness and not as someone evil. Miller sends notes to the police urging them to stop him but he makes no effort to turn himself in and can't control his murderous thoughts and actions. For a low budget B-movie there are some talented filmmakers involved. Stanley Kramer who as a director/producer earned nine Academy Award nominations for such films as High Noon, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Defiant Ones is the film's producer. Edward Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood 10 blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and who received an Oscar nomination for Crossfire and also directed such films as Murder My Sweet and The Blue Angel is the film's director. Burnett Guffey who won Oscars for Bonnie and Clyde and From Here to Eternity and who was nominated for three more in his long career is the film's cinematographer. Edward Anhalt who won two Oscars for Beckett and Panic in the Streets, was nominated for an Oscar for this film for Best Writing along with his former wife Edna Anhalt. Scriptwriter Harry Brown also worked on this film. Aaron Stell who edited such films as To Kill a Mockingbird, Fear Strikes Out and Baby the Rain Must Fall is the film's editor. Look for Wally Cox in a small role. If you are a seasoned follower of the Zodiac Killer story you will find several interesting references and similarities throughout this film. Despite the talented filmmakers and cast this isn't the greatest example of Film Noir but it has it's merits and is a very unusual film. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10 and recommend looking for it.