'Underrated' brutal revenge thriller Dead Man's Shoes hailed as 'one of the greatest films of all time'

Dead Man's Shoes is widely regarded as an 'underrated' British classic.

The 2004 psychological thriller, directed by This is England's Shane Meadows, features Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) and Paul Fraser.

The film tells the story of a paratrooper (Considine) returning to his hometown in Derbyshire to inflict revenge on the gang that abused his brother.

Take a look at the eerie trailer below:

Dead Man's Shoes is set in a small, dark, northern UK town, where crimes and social injustices occur without intervention.

But it's Considine's performance that makes Dead Man's Shoes the classic that it is today.

If there's one scene that encapsulates the 'beauty' and the 'horror' of whole film, it's when Considine's Richard and gang leader Sonny (Gary Stretch) go face-to-face in an epic stand off.

Some believe the scene is 'one of the greatest in British film' and Considine somehow dominates the screen without barely moving a muscle.

Warp Films

As the two men square up against one another, Richard is not at all afraid of Sonny, as his goons wait in a nearby car.

The scene highlights Sonny's terror, alongside Richard's rage, with viewers saying it's 'a scene of incredible tension in a superb film'.

But, despite an impressive 91 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, critics only gave it a 58 percent.

"One is confronted here with an extraordinary level of artistic and social unconsciousness," one critic wrote.

While a second added: "A very competent technical director replicating scenes of formulaic visual tableaux, all in the service of a slightly juvenile vigilante narrative."

A third critic also wrote: "Though Meadows makes a lot of it, he mucks it up before it's over."

Meanwhile, general viewers were full of praise for the film.

Warp Films

One person called it a 'true masterpiece of British film-making'.

Another said: "Dark film... great actors. It's probably lost on some who may not get the accents and location which is their loss. It's worth we'll better scores."

While someone else said: "Brilliant, and so true to life. If you want to understand certain elements of British culture in the 20th century, look no further.

"But this film is far deeper the meets the eye. Just about every aspect of humanity, from loyalty to betrayal, is expertly portrayed. I would describe it as a terrible and beautiful film."

“Dead Man's Shoes is one of the greatest British films ever,” someone else added.

Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity

Anish Vij

Anish has an MA in Multimedia Journalism and is passionate about delivering sarcastic/mildly amusing content. After studying business at undergrad, Anish realised that he’d much prefer getting paid to rant about a topic, rather than to find a solution to it. Apart from that, he loves the ‘Four F’s’, as he calls it - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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