This film is part of Free
Crosstrap
Stuck out in the country, two rival gangs fight it out with increasing savagery.
Overview
Critics were horrified when this pithy shoot-out B picture was released back in 1962. Even now, its nihilism and continual double-crossing can’t help but impress as one rival gang gains the upper hand over the other and a newly-wed couple, caught in the middle, gives as good as they get. It may centre on some stolen jewels in a country holiday home but really it’s about power play and chaos.
Included on the BFI’s Missing Most Wanted list back in 2010, the black and white negatives for Crosstrap were discovered in a film lab just a few a years later and then digitally scanned. At the time of its original release, the Daily Cinema said it included a "climactic blood-bath where corpses bite the dust as freely as Indians in a John Ford western" and that it was an "incredible but lively tale of gang-warfare, packed with hearty action and intrigue, plus a spot of sex for flavour." Robert Hartford-Davis' hard yet very English movie certainly set pulses racing.
Related
Good-Time Girl Good-Time Girl
Drama 1948 92 mins Location: Islington
Find out what happens when a good girl goes bad in this controversial post-war Brit noir thriller starring Jean Kent.
Trapped by the London Sharks Trapped by the London Sharks
Comedy 1916 83 mins Silent
Nefarious nightclub hosts blackmail a drunkard into fleecing their customers
The Silent House The Silent House
Crime 1929 82 mins Silent
Spooky house thriller directed by Walter Forde, replete with secret panels and snake-filled rooms.
Dear Murderer Dear Murderer
Drama 1947 94 mins
A frosty Greta Gynt goes head to head with jealous husband Eric Portman in this pitch-black British noir.
Enemy Enemy
Thriller 1976 60 mins
Frightening events unfold that may or may not be figments of Marigold’s imagination.
Trapped by the Mormons Trapped by the Mormons
Drama 1922 92 mins Silent
Unscrupulous criminals in the Manchester suburbs abuse the Mormon faith to lure young women away from their families.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.