This collection features three film noir classics. SPY HUNT (1950) – The manhunt that rocked the world! Noir great Howard Duff (Johnny Stool Pigeon, Woman in Hiding, Shakedown) stars with the beautiful Märta Torén (One Way Street, Deported, Sirocco) in this compelling Cold War thriller. Steve Quain (Duff), escorting two zoo-bound black panthers on a train from Milan to Paris, is unaware that a secret agent, Catherine Ullven (Torén), has concealed an incriminating microfilm in the collar of one of the animals. But when the train is derailed in the Swiss Alps and the panthers escape, she is forced to involve him in her mission, which now includes enemy spies hunting the microfilm, the animals, Catherine and Steve. Directed by George Sherman (Larceny, The Sleeping City, The Raging Tide) from the novel Panther’s Moon by Victor Canning (Golden Salamander, Family Plot, Masquerade).

THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957) – Are mental patients turned loose too soon? Ray Danton (Outside the Law, The Big Operator, The Longest Day) stars as Roy Turner, a man with a violent past who is prematurely released from an overcrowded institution. Realizing that he cannot handle the pressures of big-city life, he moves into a small-town beachside motel and falls in love with Susan Mayes, warmly played by Colleen Miller (Four Guns to the Border, Man in the Shadow, Step Down to Terror), the daughter of the motel’s owner. When her father finds out about Roy, he threatens to have him recommitted unless he leaves his daughter alone. Roy snaps, and commits a crime from which there is no turning back. Abner Biberman (The Price of Fear, Behind the High Wall, Gun for a Coward) directs this black-as-night yet sympathetic look at mental illness.

STEP DOWN TO TERROR (1958) – Step by step…he made a career out of love…and murder! Based on the same source material as Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, this suspense-soaked noir stars Colleen Miller (Playgirl, The Night Runner, Hot Summer Night), Charles Drake (I Was a Shoplifter, Female on the Beach, No Name on the Bullet) and Rod Taylor (The Time Machine, The Birds, Darker Than Amber). Pursued by detectives, killer Johnny Walters (Drake) leaves the city to visit his family in a small California town. Among the household: his dead brother’s alluring widow Helen (Miller), who soon is attracted to him. But ominous events and conflicting evidence leave Helen suspicious of her beloved brother-in-law, as director Harry Keller (The Unguarded Moment, Quantez, The Female Animal) expertly ratchets the tension.

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Video Quality

Spy Hunt, The Night Runner and Step Down To Terror come to Blu-Ray with the three films each given their own disc. These films share a lot of the same qualities, so I will mostly be judging them as a group while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. All three films come to high definition with a new 2K master that provides an admirable viewing experience for each film. The quality amongst these three mostly stays in the “perfectly solid” range with the occasional ebb and flow in quality. Every film retains a bit of underlying print damage and other source anomalies to one degree or another, but nothing that truly tanks the viewing experience.

The black-and-white photography delights across every film as they make the most of their high definition debut with natural grain intact. The contrast is firm with only a minor level of density fluctuation in the print. Black levels could dig a bit deeper, but there are no substantial occurrences of black crush or compression artifacts across the three. This grain can be slightly inconsistent in certain moments, yet we appreciate that nothing has been managed or scrubbed of its texture. Even when it is more on the thick side, nothing ever appears swarmy or unnatural. Specks and scratches are not a foreign sight, but it is clear that these have been cleaned up significantly. There is an agreeable amount of detail present throughout with distinct textures in the environments, clothing and production design. Kino Classics continues to do good work with these sets.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray set comes with fairly good DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio tracks for each of these three films which show some limitations but manage to deliver a fine listening experience. The most obvious deficits come in the form of some faint hissing, humming and crackles that more than likely date back to the source elements. Dialogue comes through clearly without sounding muffled or weak. It is balanced well with the environmental elements so information stays forefront in the mix. The three scores that accompany these films never overshadow the dialogue or other important information, but they can sound a little weak or shrill at the highest peaks. Kino Classics has provided a fine audio experience for these. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for all feature films.

Special Features

Audio Commentary for Spy Hunt: Entertainment Journalists/Authors Bryan Reesman and Max Evry deliver a very fun and informative commentary track in which they discuss this film as a feat of adaptation, the careers and lives of the talent involved, the cinematography of Irving Glassberg, the precious (and vicious) kitties, the thematic beats of the story, the film’s reception upon its release and more.

Audio Commentary for The Night Runner: Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin and Dr. Eloise Ross provide a nifty commentary track in which they discuss the parallels to Psycho, the themes of the feature, how this fits into the era in which it was released, the backgrounds of those in front of and behind the camera, the shooting locations, the swirling of genres, the legacy of the film and more.

Audio Commentary for Step Down To Terror: Entertainment Journalists/Authors Bryan Reesman and Max Evry return for another commentary track in which they discuss how this serves as an abridged version of Shadow of a Doubt, how the two film compare to one another, the work of filmmaker Harry Keller, this film as a tale of emotional abuse, the careers of the talent involved, the legacy of the film and more.

Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Night Runner (2:09) and Step Down To Terror (1:56). There are also trailers provided for The Sleeping City, The Raging Tide, The Secret Ways, The Price of Fear, Behind the High Wall, Man In The Shadow and The Female Animal.

Final Thoughts

The Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XIII collection is far from the strongest entry in the series, but there is still quite a bit to like within it. Colleen Miller is a charming presence in the latter two entries which helps smooth over some of the less innovative aspects. The cinematography of these three efforts is rarely less than stellar, and the pacing remains a benefit across every feature. All of them are worth a watch, but it is hard to classify all of them as a complete home run. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray set featuring a good A/V presentation and an array of informative commentary tracks. This set is still worthy of your time if you are a film noir fan. Recommended

Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema XIII [Spy Hunt/The Night Runner/Step Down To Terror] is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.