A police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.A police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.A police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.
- Awards
- 5 nominations
Ed O'Neill
- Det. Schreiber
- (as Edward O'Neil)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTwo of the notorious gay bars featured in the film - Mine Shaft and Eagle's Nest - eventually barred William Friedkin.
- GoofsThe medical examiner discusses the serrations in the wounds of a murder victim but the killer did not use a serrated knife on him.
- Quotes
Steve Burns: Hips or lips?
- Crazy creditsThe film only opens with the title in large letters, across the screen. It is only at the end where the filmmakers are credited.
- Alternate versionsUK cinema and 1987 video versions were cut by 54 secs by the BBFC. The 1997 Maverick Directors video release was cut by 39 seconds to remove subliminal shots of anal sex during the murder scenes (one of which appears in the film though heavily darkened) and to edit a pan shot of a gay bar interior and shots of a knife being traced over a bound victims body. Although the uncut version was shown by Sky TV the film was resubmitted to the BBFC in 2003 for a FilmFour showing and many cuts were restored apart from a 1 sec edit to remove the subliminal shots. For the initial release on UK DVD in 2008 all the cuts were waived.
- SoundtracksThree-Day Moon
Performed by Barre Phillips
Featured review
a question of taste
This is a FRIEDKIN movie. Consequently, it is soulless, dark and physical. There are no heroes, the range goes from unclear/mixed up/tortured souls/loonies to the dephts of hell. It is also highly interpretative, you can not expect a logical script and a "I did it" smile or a "walk towards the sun" type of ending. So, it's a question of taste if you like his movies or not. I DO. I very much doubt that Pacino or Sorvino regret making this film. It is riveting. For one, characters are not even gray, they are a mystery. Sorvino's character, for instance is so blank, that you even wonder if he cares about anything, including Burns' fate. Pacino's character is pretty ambitious, but other than that he is completely controversial. Although he shows some kind of goodness (towards his neighbor, for instance), the ending even kinda questions that (was it because he had sexual intentions with the guy or that he just wanted to do some good?). Also, he sometimes feels overwhelmed by the undercover job ("I don't know if I can do this") but then he starts to adapt. One of the possible ideas of this movie is: you dance with the devil and then you start to like it. In any case, it leaves conclusions to the viewer. The atmosphere and especially the music are truly amazing and original. 9/10
helpful•13227
- dixxjamm
- Feb 14, 2005
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- William Friedkin's Cruising
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $11,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $19,798,718
- Gross worldwide
- $19,815,314
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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