Directed by Amos Poe | 92 mins | 1978
Described by its director as an “anti-homage,” Poe’s noir-inflected tale follows a French secret agent (Eric Mitchell), arrived in NYC on a mission whose exact nature is unclear, and targeted by enemies whose grudges are equally ambiguous. Shot with a mere $5,000 and largely improvised—including Cramps frontman Lux Interior’s pulling of a knife on Mitchell in a fight scene at CBGB’s—"The Foreigner" is a work of desolate beauty and creeping menace.