2. Dante's Inferno - Brighton Rock (1947)
Think Brighton and your mind immediately travels to the pier. Its an amusement park, seafront pavilion and a beautiful example of Victorian architecture all in one. And it is also where Fred, gang traitor-cum-newspaper columnist, takes to while on the run from teenage gangster Pinkie and his cronies. Hiding amongst the large crowds, he attempts to lose his pursuers by riding the Dantes Inferno ghost train, only for Pinkie to sneak on with him. The ride is presented by a mixture of ghostly flying images and, with the seemingly distant screams of other passengers accompanied by the pre-recorded, demonic laughter,proves to be a surreal moment in a (mostly) grounded film. While the other riders sit in exaggerated fear, Fred is experiencing a much more real horror. Held in place by Pinkie, he is eventually thrown off into the sea below, his screams blending in with that of the rides. And all the while, Richard Attenboroughs Pinkie keeps his calm demeanour, a broad smirk on his face; the false horrors of the train do nothing to him. The sequence is a quick bout of action in the film that cements the rising gangster in our minds as incredibly dangerous, repressing his cruelty behind the mask of youth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH5tKJxvXI