Point Blank (1967)

“There are two kinds of people in his up-tight world: his victims and his women. And sometimes you can’t tell them apart.” After he’s shot and left for dead on Alcatraz Island during a money drop gone bad, Walker (nobody seems to know this guy’s first name) somehow manages to swim across the deadly waters of San Francisco Bay and relentlessly pursues his revenge. In other words, this guy is a total badass! Walker’s first target is Mal Reese (John Vernon, best known as “Dean Vernon” of Faber College from Animal House), who double-crossed him and also ran off with his wife Lynne (Sharon Acker). He then goes on a reckless pursuit of the $93,000 he’s owed up through the ranks of a mysterious criminal syndicate simply known as “The Organization.” Walker even enlists his beautiful sister-in-law Chris (Angie Dickinson) in the cause. The great supporting cast includes Keenan Wynn as “Yost,” Carroll O’Connor as “Brewster” and Michael Strong as “Stegman.” Also look for Sid Haig (The Devil’s Rejects) in a brief role as one of the security guards at the fortress-like penthouse. Directed by John Boorman (Deliverance), Point Blank was adapted from The Hunter, a 1962 novel by Donald E. Westlake writing under the name “Richard Stark.” One interesting theory is that after Walker is shot on Alcatraz, the entire rest of the film is a dream sequence (how the hell did he get off Alcatraz Island and end up on that ferry anyway?). Point Blank was the first film to shoot on location at Alcatraz, which closed its doors as a federal prison in 1963 (Escape from Alcatraz was filmed there in 1979).

Leave a Reply

Close Menu