Cruising (1980) Movie Overview

Cruising is a 1980 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a New York City serial killer targeting gay men in the 1970s, in particular those associated with the S&M scene. Today, Cruising is owned by Warner Bros. Pictures. Poorly reviewed by critics, Cruising was a modest financial success, though the filming and promotion were dogged by gay rights protesters. In New York City during the middle of a hot summer, body parts of men are showing up in the Hudson River. Police think it is the work of a serial killer who is picking up homosexual men at West Village bars like The Eagle’s Nest, The Ramrod and The Cock Pit and then taking them to cheap rooming houses or motels and stabbing them to death after tying them up. Officer Steve Burns (Pacino) is sent deep undercover to the urban world of gay S&M Leather bars in the Meatpacking District of the West Village in order to track down the killer. He rents an apartment in the area and befriends a neighbour, Ted Bailey (Don Scardino) a young openly gay struggling playwright. His undercover work takes a toll on hi… Source

• Cruising Movie Details
• Director: William Friedkin
• Tagline: Al Pacino is Cruising for a killer.
• Country: USA , West Germany
• Run Time: 102 min
• Genre: Drama , Mystery , Thriller

• Cast Overview
• Al Pacino as Steve Burns
• Paul Sorvino as Capt. Edelson
• Karen Allen as Nancy
• Richard Cox as Stuart Richards
• Don Scardino as Ted Bailey
• Joe Spinell as Patrolman DiSimone

Cruising Movie Review from New York Times

New York City detective Steve Burns Al Pacino receives orders from Captain Edelson Paul Sorvino to solve a series of brutal murders in the gay community. Steve scours the gay bars that caters to same-sex sadomasochism in a desperate attempt to solve the crime. As he infiltrates the scene, he slowly comes loose from the moorings of his own reality,… Source

Cruising Movie Details from Imdb

A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York’s S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society. While ba… Source

Cruising (1980) from YouTube