Cruising (1980)
Directed by William Friedkin
When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, rookie cop Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.
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3 films that influenced Cruising
What critics say influenced Cruising
But the feeling isn't the same as it was when Janet Leigh was murdered in Psycho for example.
William Friedkin had already dealt with homosexuality at the birthday party adaptation of The Boys in the Band and had enjoyed enormous commercial and critical success with The French Connection and The Exorcist.
On the DVD "making of" supplement, Jurgensen, who served as a consultant on Cruising (among other films, including Friedkin's The French Connection), testifies to its accuracy of detail, going so far as to vouch for the historical veracity of its most improbable and infamous flourish: the bizarre entrance of a giant black police officer into a tense interrogation room where, wearing nothing but a cowboy hat and jockstrap, he bitch-slaps a cowering suspect.
Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist [1973], The French Connection [1971]) seems to be keenly aware that the movie is an anomaly.
Not to mention that just about every Friedkin film except The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973) has been misunderstood in its own time.
William Friedkin had already dealt with homosexuality at the birthday party adaptation of The Boys in the Band and had enjoyed enormous commercial and critical success with The French Connection and The Exorcist.