Publication Date: 08-04-2026

Death Wish (1974) review

Dir. Michael Winner

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

Michael Winner’s Death Wish, a definitive staple for the vigilante genre, suggests that many idealistic, liberal-minded individuals are just one personal tragedy away from abandoning their principles and becoming just as angry and menacing as their ideological counterparts. That theory could very well be true; I can’t say I’m immune to such a switch in my mentality in the wake of devastating circumstance. It’s a serious question that gives the film more depth and value than your average, run-of-the-mill thriller of this era and genre.

Death Wish has one thing that most vigilante films don’t have and that is a brain in its head. For a film with a murderous concept and a title that implies frequent moments of carnage, Death Wish is a surprisingly taut and slowburn film with a lot on its mind and a sense of order in showing what exactly is on its mind as a film.

Charles Bronson stars as Paul Kersey, a humble architect living in Lower Manhattan with his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) and adult daughter Carol (Kathleen Tolan). Shortly after the opening credits, we see Joanna and Carol are being followed home by a trio of thugs who pose as deliveryman in order to get into their apartment to rob and assault Joanna and rape Carol. Joanna winds up succumbing to her trauma, which prompts Paul to become even more withdrawn from a society to which he was never fully attached.

After spending an evening looking at pictures of their Hawaiian vacation together, Paul grows even more upset by the loss of his wife and is motivated to take a handgun he purchased to the streets of New York. His first victim is a mugger who attempts to rob him along the boardwalk until Paul pulls the trigger, shocked and dismayed by what he has just done, but aghast at his safety or lack thereof. After the incident, he keeps a close ear to the nightly news, which reports endlessly regarding the whereabouts and potential motive and identity of the vigilante who always disappears at the sound of sirens. Meanwhile, Paul’s life in the daytime mostly consists of trying to remain somewhat productive on top of making sure his daughter’s depression is under control through conversations with Jack (Steven Keats), his son-in-law.

Soon, NYPD officer Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) gets on Kersey’s case, despite his initial avoidance of law enforcement. He first sees Paul coming out of his apartment and stops to ask him a few questions. Paul’s squarish ways eliminate any indication of suspicion or guilt, so Ochoa lets him walk; what doesn’t leave is Ochoa’s own convictions of Paul’s involvement with the murders despite a lack of evidence to prove his theory.

The most problematic element of Death Wish, during the time of its initial release in 1974 and in modern contexts, is its advocacy for vigilante justice and individuals taking the law into their own hands, so to speak. Its advocacy works against the original intent and focus of author Brian Garfield’s Death Wish novels, the first one on which the film is based. Garfield’s book revolved around a man who was entranced and bitterly burdened by primal thoughts of violence and reactionary vigilantism whereas the film adaptation creates a character that passionately succumbs to his desires.

Turning Garfield’s anti-vigilante novel into a vigilante film is not ideal, but neither was the notion that it would merit anything worth viewing. Unlike contrived and repetitive vigilante schlock like The Exterminator, Death Wish is a film that’s far more meditative and respectful of its lead character despite his heinous actions. Paul Kersey isn’t as much unlikable as he is ill-equipped to emote, which results in these violent tendencies and this sudden change of heart. A once passive man, who had things done onto him and quite possibly his family is now assuming a more active role in his life. Whether or not you find it justified or reprehensible is up to the discretion of your own moral compass.

Bronson gives a solid performance here, clearly complimented by Wendell Mayes’ desire to let moments breathe and incendiary situations brew over time rather than creating a film that’s sole purpose is to shock and upset. Outside of a rape scene as troubling and as ugly as the one in Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls, Death Wish is a tame film in the modern day. Its inky-black cinematography by Arthur Ornitz sometimes feels like it’s obscuring some of the uglier, more flagrant bloodshed, while perhaps suggesting someone like the controversial William Freidkin or Sidney Lumet would’ve been able to bring more of a distinct visual style to the film.

Death Wish could’ve also used more of a difficult morality situation at its center, one that is only detailed with moderate success by offering an understated view of Paul’s private life and personal opinions on his actions. But unlike its genre, the film has a crafty way about its desire to show a man’s descent into violence by ways that aren’t so easily defined nor motivated by greed and ego but by cut-and-dry revenge and contempt for society. One thing I can always admire about the vigilante genre is commitment to threadbare ideas that sometimes appear neater once the loose ends are tied up.

My review of Death Wish (2018)

Starring: Charles Bronson, Vincent Gardenia, Kathleen Tolan, Steven Keats, and Hope Lange. Directed by: Michael Winner.