Taxi Driver
1976 · USA · 114m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legallyThe same story told by people who knew the protagonist was unwell.
Vigilante
1971–1985 · 19 films catalogued
The city has failed, the courts have failed, and an ordinary man buys a gun.
Vigilante films are thrillers in which an ordinary citizen, or a cop working outside the rules, punishes criminals because the police and courts will not. The cycle ran from Dirty Harry (1971) into the mid-1980s, powered by American urban decay and the widespread belief that nothing was going to be done about it.
The two originals
Dirty Harry (1971) put the vigilante inside the police. Death Wish (1974) took him out of it: Charles Bronson as an architect and self-described bleeding-heart liberal who, after his family is attacked, starts walking the subway at night hoping to be mugged.
Death Wish was a phenomenon and produced four sequels, each stupider and more brutal than the last.
The politics
They are reactionary, and mostly not accidentally. The films argue that due process is a luxury, that cities are lost, and that the answer is an armed man acting alone. Michael Winner knew exactly what he was selling.
What makes the good ones worth watching anyway is that a few of them notice the cost. Taxi Driver (1976) is the same story told by people who understood that the protagonist is unwell. Rolling Thunder (1977), written by Paul Schrader, does something similar with a returning POW.
Where to start
Rolling Thunder, for the last twenty minutes.
Vigilante films on file
All 19 Vigilante films →
Dirty Harry
1971 · USA · 102m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legallyThe vigilante with a badge. Pauline Kael called it fascist and was not wrong.
The Warriors
1979 · USA · 93m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legallyBarely exploitation, entirely brilliant. A subway ride as Greek epic.
Death Wish
1974 · USA · 97m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legallyBronson as a liberal architect who buys a gun. A phenomenon, and reactionary.
Assault on Precinct 13
1976 · USA · 91m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legallyCarpenter remaking Rio Bravo for $100,000. The ice cream scene is still shocking.
Death Wish 3
1985 · USA · 92m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyAbandons realism entirely. Bronson defends a housing block with a machine gun.
I Saw the Devil
2010 · South Korea · 141m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyRevenge as a chew toy. Nobody in Korean cinema has been crueller for longer.
Maniac Cop
1988 · USA · 81m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyA dead cop stalks New York in uniform. Larry Cohen writes, Robert Z'Dar's jaw does the rest.
Class of 1984
1982 · Canada/USA · 98m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyDeath Wish enrols at high school and the faculty loses.
The Exterminator
1980 · USA · 99m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyA flamethrower and a meat grinder. Death Wish with the restraint removed.
Walking Tall
1973 · USA · 101m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyOne sheriff, one hickory club, and the blueprint for every Southern vigilante picture after it.
Coffy
1973 · USA · 87m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyPam Grier's arrival. Jack Hill knows exactly what he has.
Ms. 45
1981 · USA · 80m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyFerrara's best. Zoë Lund is extraordinary and the ending is a genuine image.
Rolling Thunder
1977 · USA · 95m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyPaul Schrader script, and the last twenty minutes are perfect.
Thriller: A Cruel Picture
1973 · Sweden · 107m
Obscurity: known. banned somewhereThe eyepatch Tarantino copied. Contains real hardcore inserts and a real animal death.
Across 110th Street
1972 · USA · 102m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyGrim, well acted, and the best film in the cycle by some distance.
Vigilante
1982 · USA · 90m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyLustig doing it straight. Robert Forster deserves better and knows it.
Street Law
1974 · Italy · 105m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyCastellari's Death Wish. An ordinary engineer, brutalised and ignored, arms himself.
Switchblade Sisters
1975 · USA · 91m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyJack Hill doing Othello with teenage gangs. Much smarter than it needs to be.