Description:Mike Hodges’ bleak gangster film was released in 1971 to controversy and mixed reviews. Three decades later in the British Film Institute’s millennial poll, the film was voted one of the 20 best British films of all time. Steve Chibnall’s enjoyable and fresh account relates the film to others in its genre like Point Blank and Dirty Harry, profiles the people involved in its making and presents a fascinating analysis of the film text itself. He completes the story-so-far, looking at the critical reception, and cultural context and the two remakes: the 1972 blaxploitation film Hit Man and the new Stephen T. Kay movie, set in the US.