Combining traditional noir with esoteric horror themes, Rolfe Kanefsky’s latest thriller is a unique hall of funhouse mirrors that mixes the director’s signature dark humor with a nightmarish landscape that feels new for the prolific director.

Steven Man is Mickey Lewis, a down and out artist type who gets into a “cart accident” at the grocery store with the gorgeous Katrina Webb (Katherine Randolph) and she offers him a job painting her house. Of course, her invite is so laced with honey-burnished sexuality, Mickey would be a fool to pass it up. She’s unhappily married to Arthur (Steven Bauer) and as in any noir; Katrina becomes the femme fatale offering sex for murder.

To go past this thread bare synopsis would do One in the Gun harm because the surface is all anyone should know before going into Kanefsky’s arcane trip into a world lodged somewhere between ours and hell. The first half of Gun is immersed in uniquely shot flashbacks while the latter half is presented with a desert setting so desolate your throat will dry up just staring at it. What is currently happening, what has happened and what lies ahead is played out as one big puzzle for the viewer to dissect.

The first half of Gun is the strongest, with tons of witty double entendres that aptly captures the height of the noir frenzy. It recalls movies like Double Indemnity but pushes the reminiscent into something fresher with beautiful photography, even sexier dialog and, of course, the cryptic twist which is the second half of Gun. Here the movie becomes an isolated, bizarre chiller where nothing is quite as it seems, defying the narrative without alienating the audience. The second part is way more out there, but remains connected to the earlier half as we follow Mickey, discovering the mystery with him. The locales are fantastic, and although not as strong as the first half, fans of colorfully odd small town atmosphere will enjoy the David Lynch vibe.

Gun is chock-full of brilliant and much loved character actors such as Bauer, Robert Davi, James Russo and Kanefsky regular Robert Donovan, all of whom have small but important roles in the mystery (and keep an eye out for the producer Esther Goodstein in a fantastic part), but the standout here is Katherine Randolph as Katrina. Randolph is a strong, beautiful actress who commands every frame she graces. The film would be less without her slinky delivery, and she is perfect in the role.

This movie feels like a bit of a departure for Kanefsky, whose most popular films are the horror comedies There’s Nothing Out There, The Hazing and Nightmare Man, yet it keeps some of that characteristic humor he’s so well known for. In Gun the comedy lies mostly in the absurdity of Mickey’s situation, with conundrums that take Gun from thriller to otherworldly surreptitious terror. At first, these elements seem impenetrable, but it does come together by the end. This is one tough film to categorize (or to even write about), but it’s entertaining and unique and will wow fans of neo-noir longing for a unique stylization to the tried and true formula.

One in the Gun is closing the Soho International Film Festival on Sunday, February 21st. Check it out if you can.