The most intense movie I have ever seen is this French thriller from 1953. Henri-Georges Clouzot was a French writer/director who became so renowned from the international success of this film that he was able to make any film he wanted and even successfully outbid Alfred Hitchcock for the rights to his next film, Diabolique. Clouzot and Hitchcock, in fact, were cut from the same cloth and both directors specialized in heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat excitement.

The Wages of Fear is about two Frenchmen, a German and an Italian (Mario, Jo, Bimba and Luigi) who are stranded in a South American town called Las Piedras. The town is completely surrounded by desert and the only communication to the outside world is an airstrip on the edge of town, but the four men are too poor to buy plane tickets out of the town. The only form of employment in town is the Southern Oil Company, but they overwork and underpay their employees and ignore local law enforcement. One day, a large fire develops at one of the oil fields and the only way to contain it is through an explosion of nitroglycerin. The quickest way to transport the nitroglycerin is in jerrycans transported on two large trucks, however, the roads are mountainous, rugged and unkempt, making the trip extremely dangerous. Mario, Jo, Bimba and Luigi take the job for $2000 per person, making this their ticket out of Las Piedras. Luigi and Bimba are in one vehicle and Mario and Jo are in the other, paced 30 minutes behind in case of disaster. To get to the site, the drivers must cross a rotten platform over a ditch, an extremely rough patch of road known as the “washboard”, as well as other natural obstacles.

I refuse to reveal anything beyond that in case you have interest in watching it. Much like the film below, you have to go into the film with no knowledge of how it ends to get the full experience. Suffice to say, if anything, I think I’m underselling it.

Bonus Review: The Sixth Sense

Another film where the director was basically given carte blanche following the incredible success of one film. The Sixth Sense is also a movie that is best seen with little to no information prior, so unfortunately, I’m gonna keep this one short and sweet. Watch this movie.