Introduction

“From January through December deep shadows, clutching hands, exploding revolvers, sadistic villains and heroines tormented with deeply rooted diseases of the mind flashed across the screen in a panting display of psychoneuroses, unsublimated sex and murder most foul”, the exciting detective film classified and stereotyped into the Film Noir genre seemed almost dead with newer genre’s taking over. However, Frank Miller’s comic book’s set in a noir style was brought to life with the help of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Although the question remains as to whether the new genre has been able to capture the essence of the 1940’s loved genre, Film Noir. Does the 21^st century re-make ‘Neo-Noir’ remain the same as ‘Film Noir’ or is it a misconception and has it been wrongly stereotyped into this new genre?