Steve Burns changes after entering this world, but exactly what happens remains deliberately ambiguous.
Unresolved questions include whether Burns killed Ted, when he recognized his sexuality, whether he was already bisexual, how many killers exist, his relationship’s future and his reaction to his girlfriend wearing the clothes.
Burns’s weight training blurs professional preparation with attraction to the bodies he sees in clubs.
Whether Burns killed Ted is disputed: one voice suspects him, while another emphasizes his affection and connection with Ted.
An internet theory making Burns the only killer is rejected because other killings are shown; multiple killers or copycats remain possible but unaccepted explanations.
Ted’s murder remains disputed: the boyfriend is a possible intended suspect, while the captain’s reaction may implicate Burns; jealous behavior is offered against the categorical claim that Burns could not kill.
What the captain knows at the end remains unclear, including whether he suspects Burns and will summon him back the next day.
Whether Party Size was scripted or a Pacino improvisation is unknown.
Whether Burns completed hookups, especially with Ted, remains unresolved; a possible Ted hookup makes the jealous boyfriend a plausible killer to one interpretation.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Origins; protests; missing footage; Pacino choices; budget; soundtrack; production; disclaimer

In the discussion (24)

Approx. transcript time · 00:06:43Read transcript

Protests reportedly ruined sound and contributed to multiple killer voices; around 40 minutes of explicit club footage were removed, described by Friedkin as pornography.
The film derives from Gerald Walker’s 1970 novel, which Friedkin disliked; unsolved leather-bar murders, Village Voice articles and undercover officer Randy Jorgensen helped motivate his interest.
Friedkin’s retrospective explanation frames the film as a murder mystery in an S&M setting rather than an anti-gay statement, with the timing amid gay liberation and AIDS shaping its reception.
The city’s 1970s seediness is recalled through the blackout and Times Square; critic Nathan Lee’s enthusiastic reappraisal is placed uncertainly in the 2000 s or 2010 s.
Pacino’s dramatic-star run precedes reported refusals of Han Solo, Close Encounters, Apocalypse Now and Kramer vs. Kramer; he wanted Slap Shot but his inability to skate reportedly cost him the role.
Friedkin reportedly criticized Pacino’s eloquence, lateness and lack of creative ideas; the onscreen performance is defended against that judgment.
The club participant reacting to the lubricated arm is identified as Bruno Kirby, surprising the others; the cast also prompts recognition of Mike Starr, William Russ, Powers Boothe and Ed O’Neill.
The reported budget is 11 million dollars and gross 19.8 million, characterized as a hit.
Karina Longworth’s podcast is cited for an interpretation of erotic thrillers partly as AIDS allegories, not solely reducible to that reading.
A cited interpretation connects the captain’s limp to compromised masculinity; the author is not remembered and the reading remains interpretive.
The novel’s protagonist is described as racist, unlike the film’s more valuable transformative journey.
The soundtrack discussion lists Willy DeVille with “the moment” and “Pulling My String,” the Cripples, John Hiatt’s “Spy Boy,” Madelynn von Ritz, the Germs’ “Lion’s Share” and Rough Trade; only one intended Germs song was used.
Mutiny’s “Lump” is identified as the opening song and the only funk track; another female-sung disco-tinged track is characterized as fundamentally rock.
The earlier uncertain collaborator name is corrected to Travis Mathews in the discussion of Interior. Leather Bar.
The missing explicit footage reportedly no longer exists, having been destroyed in fires according to Friedkin.
Friedkin reportedly worked with Mafia members because they owned many of the city’s gay bars.
The morgue sequence is reported as the first film given permission to shoot there; medical examiner Michael Baden allegedly lost his job over the decision before later television fame.
Karen Allen reportedly never received the complete script because her character was meant not to know what Burns was doing; the implications for her final costume scene are questioned.
Journalist Arthur Bell is identified as the early organizer of opposition.
A protest reportedly drew 1000 marchers through the East Village, and Bell’s Village Voice articles are recommended.
The Mineshaft refused filming; Friedkin reportedly submitted the initially X-rated film 50 times and removed 40 minutes, inconsistently claiming the cuts either did not affect the story or obscured Burns as a possible killer.
Writer John Rechy reportedly persuaded Friedkin to remove a gay-liberation slogan from the opening body-recovery scene because it could be misread.
An initial disclaimer disavowing judgment of gay life is recalled as controversial, though absent from the current viewing and not quoted exactly.
The explicit club footage reportedly used actual patrons and leather-scene participants rather than primarily actors.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 00:30:54Read transcript

Ebert gives two and a half stars, praising visualization, authentic subculture and sustained suspense while questioning the refusal to declare a central meaning. No denominator is spoken.

Casting What-Ifs

Gere signed; Spielberg considered directing

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:25:22Read transcript

Richard Gere was reportedly signed before Pacino, but is judged too handsome and insufficiently raw or believable as this kind of New York cop.
Spielberg reportedly circled the film, prompting disbelief and joking speculation about an entirely different cultural history.

Recasting Couch

Bernthal first; Affleck second; Driver, Damon and young Berenger alternatives

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:25:59Read transcript

A young Tom Berenger is imagined as a strong alternative, recalling Looking for Mr. Goodbar, though perhaps not a large enough star.
Adam Driver is the initial remake choice, followed by enthusiastic support for Bernthal.
Matt Damon and Affleck are added as remake possibilities; the final preference ranks Bernthal first and Affleck second.

Picking Nits

Infertility clue; heterosexual relationship; front-page killings

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:35:55Read transcript

The killer’s infertility clue is criticized as a tired trope.
Burns’s line that his girlfriend does not know much about him feels overly obvious; their relationship’s history, appeal and future are unclear, and the film understands leather culture better than heterosexual romance.
A three-victim gay-community serial killing making the front page is questioned, then defended as tabloid sensationalism.

Best Double Feature

Poster unavailable

The Warriors

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:43:30Read transcript

The Warriors followed by Cruising is the proposed double feature, connecting the two films’ New York energy.

Producer review

More sexual exploration or visible struggle; ambiguity defended

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:50:00Read transcript

The invited producer wants more depiction of Burns’s sexual exploration or struggle, rather than only showing his eventual fluency in the world; others partly agree.
The response emphasizes ambiguity gained through rewatches and the original shock value; contemporary access to pornography and possible desensitization may alter expectations.