Theres been debate about whether film noir is a genre, or if its more of a mood or a style. Whatever it is, its been an indelible part of film history for the past 70 or so years. The emergence of film noir was almost an accident- during the World War II years certain American filmmakers began creating dark dramas, inspired somewhat by German Expressionism, which were coined by French filmmakers as film noir. Film noirs that came out after the 1950s became known as neo-noirs. Think of Roman Polanskis Chinatown or even Martin Scorseses Taxi Driver. Of course, the noir genre, or style, has many hidden gems, some classic, and some more modern. To celebrate Noirvember, the unofficial month of watching and writing about film noir, or whats left of it, I thought it was time to put a focus on some underrated noirs, ranging from classic to neo noir, and everything in between. These films provide directors with stories to play with stylish techniques. Most importantly, they explore the dark areas of the human soul and occasionally have very grim outlooks on life.