"Just you wait, it won't be long, the man in black will soon be here, with his cleaver's blade so true, he'll make mincemeat out of you!"
87 years after its release and yet remarkably not a second of Fritz Lang's M feels dated. It's a cold, expertly crafted serial killer thriller and sits right along side another Lang masterpiece Metropolis as quintessential examples of cinema far ahead of its time. With some films it can be difficult to appreciate how influential they proved to be for elements of modern filmmaking because unfair or not, having already seen the future, going back to the past later on can feel redundant. M is not one of those films. Having fallen in love with cinematic serial killer storytelling thanks to the work of artists like Fincher, Demme and Hitchcock, I am able to soak in all that they clearly learned from a master like Lang, whom upon reflecting on his own career declared that M was his favorite of all his work. I can see why.
5/5
