THE WICKED GO TO HELL

Though best known to French moviegoers as an actor in RIFIFI and the popular ANGELIQUE film series, Robert Hossein also carved out a fascinating, unexpected second career as a director. Drawn to pulpy material and crime stories in particular, Hossein’s works were quite different from other French New Wave filmmakers of the era.

THE WICKED GO TO HELL is a tough-as-nails prison break tale that spins into a fatalistic noir, oozing with atmosphere from its striking compositions and explosions of violence. In a grimy penitentiary, two prisoners fight off the rumor that one of them denounced a recently executed inmate. With their fellow convicts at their throats, they join forces and escape. Along the way, they hole up in a remote beach cabin where they take the angel-faced occupant (Marina Vlady, 2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER) as their hostage while they figure out their next move.