Stanley Kubrick: Ranking His Films From Worst To Best

Much like Fear and Desire, Killer's Kiss was produced on a tiny budget of $75,000, paid for entirely by Kubrick’s friends and family. The film follows a failed, washed-up boxer and a dancer as they fall in love on the mean streets of Manhattan.

This was Kubrick’s second attempt to be noticed by the industry, and in a way, he was. This film was released to critical success but was ultimately a failing in the box office. When looking back at the movie, it can mainly be seen to be a warm-up for Kubrick’s talents which would be ironed out in later films. Not only did Kubrick direct the feature, but he co-produced, photographed and edited it from his own screenplay. Killer's Kiss has many striking images and shows the grime of New York City, perhaps building from Kubrick’s previous work as city photographer.