Absolutely Fantastic

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Stealing a slogan from Gilda to describe such evil woman like Margot Shelby,although the plot was unbelievable,this picture is a real gem and l thrilled when heard that it will be came out shortly,after to watch it didn't disappoint me,in a blood killer woman,greedy femme fatale like few,she behave like a spider,handling every men at your feet,dragging down,pushing, hurting with no feelings at all...apart the methylene blue and another holes that come along in a low budge noir..all remains is fantastic,so sorry for too short time picture!!!Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5

Jack Bernhard directed this obscure cult item and bizarre film noir/horror hybrid that stars Jean Gillie as a ruthless Femme Fatale who seduces gangster Jim Vincent to break into a prison where her husband(played by Robert Armstrong) has just been executed in the gas chamber, but she knows a way of reviving him so that he will tell her where his fortune in cash is buried! The plan works until Jim kills her husband in a fit of jealousy, forcing them to find the money with an incomplete map. Sheldon Leonard plays the policeman in pursuit. Strange film has a ridiculous plot, but Jean Gillie is something else as the lethal leading lady, truly an unrepentant sociopath to the bitter end.

"Decoy" features the most heartless woman in film noir history. Jean Gillie is a horrible person--the best femme fatale you can find. The film begins with her dying--and she tells the police what led her to this fate. What follows is a story of one betrayal after another after another, as Gillie's loyalty, it seems, is to her self alone.Her story begins with Gillie's boyfriend (Robert Armstrong) on death row. The problem isn't that she cares about him, but he knows where a huge pile of loot is hidden--and she is determined to somehow save him because he won't just tell her where it is. The plan is medically impossible, but she finds a very gullible doctor (Herbert Rudley) and gets him to agree to give him an injection of some weird drug that will supposedly revive him. Naturally, along the way, Gillie kills off everyone--even her revived boyfriend. But, sadly for her, he plans don't work out--but I don't want to say more as it would spoil the film.The film has some exceptional moments--most of which are Gillie's. For instance, the scene where she shoots the doctor as she laughs is reminiscent of Richard Widmark in "Kiss of Death". There also is the that that after one of men is killed, she makes out over the lifeless corpse below her! What a horrid person! The only negatives are the silliness of the revival of the executed man AND the complete lack of blood when the doctor is not only shot but drags himself to a final confrontation. I know in the 1940s they tended to avoid using blood--but NONE! Also, this is not a problem with the film per se, but it was odd and tough to see Sheldon Leonard playing a cop--and a non-crooked one to boot! He was almost the quintessential mobster and accepting him as a detective was tough. Still, it's well worth seeing and exciting for any fan of the genre.

We open on a man who seems disoriented and who is walking on the side of a country road and moving slowly and deliberately like a zombie. Who is this strange man? And, what is he up to? We see him hitchhiking, getting a ride, and getting into town. He arrives at an apartment building, and as he goes up the elevator and on his desired floor, we see he is armed.Newcomer Jean Gillie narrates this story by flashback. She tells of how her man was in stir. She wants him out so that she can get her hands on his stolen loot that he had hidden and only he can find. The hitch is that he is about to get the chair, and she with an accomplice are planning on stealing a corpse and bringing him back to life.This definitely is a curiosity piece and perhaps the weakest of the lot in the Classic Film Noir Set #4. But still worth a look for its relatively fast pace and unique plot that, while it feels ahead of its time, it bites off more than it can chew. With its outlandish elements, the viewer may feel somewhat disappointed and/or dissatisfied. But overall for 70 minutes, it does entertain.