— So, what are you doing then? On your holidays?
— No, I’m visiting relatives.
— Oh, that’s nice.
— It would be… if they were still living.

When Get Carter was first released, it was excoriated in some quarters for its “extreme” violence; seen today, the violence itself looks almost tame — but the cold ferocity  of Michael Caine’s performance is still unnerving, even frightening. — Bill Warren

Get Carter is unrelentingly dark and alive but it remains bound by the conventions of its genre. It’s basically one-note nihilism. The world depicted is outside psychological, economic, or social explanations, it’s based solely on an implicit metaphysical belief in the triumph of the forces of destruction. If one expects nothing more, Get Carter is a triumph. It remains one of the best British gangster films ever made. — Leonard Quart