After a semi-experimental 1952 effort called Fear and Desire, 1955’s Killer’s Kiss became Stanley Kubrick’s second feature. This one took him into the noir genre.

Once a promising boxer, a glass jaw limits Davey Gordon’s (Jamie Smith) pugilistic success. With his career in limbo, Davey intends to head back to Seattle to work on the family farm.

However, Davey becomes involved with a neighbor, taxi dancer Gloria Price (Irene Kane). Because her boss Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera) has his own violent designs on Gloria, conflict ensues.

While we can detect some signs of Kubrick’s later cinematic tendencies and talent, Kiss itself seems fairly bland and self-consciously stylized. Kubrick attempts a film noir impression but the movie lacks a plot to work within that genre.

Rather than provide an energetic tale, Kiss just kind of idles for most of its brief running time. To call the story sketchy would acts as a compliment.

Kubrick makes the movie look pretty good, so its visuals deliver a fairly sophisticated effort for such a young filmmaker. However, Kiss falls flat because it often appears empty – ie, style for style's sake.

The focus sticks closely to the characters, but they also seem ill-drawn and unformed. The acting feels decent but unexceptional and we never get much of a sense for the roles other than that they appear sad and semi-desperate.

Kubrick appears to want to say something about human nature but he never quite spits it out. This means the movie just diddles along semi-aimlessly until its conclusion.

That ending actually becomes the one exceptional thing about Kiss. It doesn’t seem special or extraordinary in any way except for the fact that it exists as part of a Kubrick film.

In that regard, the finale sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison with his other pictures. I won't give away the ending, but let's just say that no other Kubrick movie concludes in a similar manner.

I didn't dislike Killer's Kiss but I think it seems bland and unremarkable, terms the rarely describe the work of Stanley Kubrick. Although it only lasts 67 minutes, it feels longer, and that ain't a good thing.

Killer’s Kiss appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Given the movie’s age and origins, this became a terrific Dolby Vision presentation.

Not that one should anticipate a visual showcase. A low-budget production, Kiss showed its roots.

Nonetheless, the movie looked better than expected, with sharpness that consistently seemed accurate and concise. Little softness crept into this well-defined image.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent, and grain seemed natural, albeit heavy.

Blacks appeared deep and dense, while shadows felt clear. HDR gave a boost to whites and contrast. This became about as good as the movie will ever look.

In addition, the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack worked fine. Again, no one should think they’ll get sonic delights from a 70-year-old mono mix.

Within those confines, the audio seemed fine. Dialogue came across as a bit reedy but the lines remained easily intelligible and lacked edginess.

Though the score didn’t show great range, music offered reasonable clarity. Some effects became a little shrill – mainly cheering at the boxing match – but these elements generally seemed adequate.

The track came with some awkward looping and foley work. Again, nothing here impressed but the track held up well enough after 70 years.

To date, Killer’s Kiss only made one Blu-ray appearance: as a bonus on Criterion’s 2011 release of Stanley Kubrick’s third film, 1956’s The Killing. How did this 4K UHD version of Kiss compare to Criterion’s 2011 BD rendition?

Audio showed improvements. Of course, both came with the same iffy looping and foley, but the 4K’s soundtrack lost the harshness and distortion of the Criterion BD.

The Dolby Vision UHD brought major improvements, as it felt much tighter and more dynamic. When I reviewed the BD, I thought the issues stemmed from the source, but the 4K proved that wrong, as it delivered a substantial upgrade.

In terms of extras, the main attraction arrives via an audio commentary from film historian Imogen Sara Smith. She presents a running, screen-specific look at the film’s genesis and director Stanley Kubrick’s early career, story/characters/influences, filmmaking techniques and visual choices, cast and crew, some production elements and themes/symbolism.

Overall, Smith provides a balanced and informative track. While I admit I’d probably prefer a few more nuts and bolts, the discussion nonetheless covers the various domains in a satisfying manner.

The disc also provides trailers for Killer’s Kiss, The Killing and Paths of Glory.

His second feature, Killer's Kiss doesn't become Stanley Kubrick's worst film, but it also doesn’t seem memorable. Despite a few glimmers of the director’s talent, it tends to feel dreary and mawkish. The 4K UHD comes with excellent visuals, acceptable audio and a commentary. Kiss deserves a look for historic value but the movie itself seems mediocre.