Sorcerer (1977)

The fifth film in our Existential Thriller cycle is William Friedkin's grim and precise Sorcerer (1977).

Released in the shadow of Star Wars and Friedkin's own masterpiece, The Exorcist, this bizarre down-and-out adventure film was a total financial failure. Critics didn't much like it either. But time has a funny way of shuffling the deck, and Sorcerer has found itself with a lucky draw. Film critics, nerds, and aficionados have reclaimed Sorcerer as a lost masterpiece. But some at Film Trace are skeptical. Is the Letterboxd set being hyperbolic or was Friedkin's fatalistic road trip movie really a high mark of the auteur golden age?

For our chaser film, we transverse the wobbly Deathtrap (1982) and try to plot its bewildering narrative convulsions.

Special Guest: The Mikes from Forgotten Cinema, a podcast for forgotten films that deserve a second chance.