Private Property is a great little neo noir vehicle, outstanding in that its inherent quality, belies the shoestring budget upon which it was made. All the creative elements fortuitously came together for writer/director Leslie Stevens. He gets a great central performance from Corey Allen as deviously shrewd drifter Duke, as well as a distinctly arousing turn from Kate Manx as domestic goddess Ann, seemingly the object of every man's desire, apart from her husband Roger. Then on top of all that, he manages to score the highly experienced Ted McCord as his cinematographer. He must have thought all his Christmases had come at once.

One part home invasion, one part voyeuristic thriller, and one part social critique, considering it was made 60 years ago, Private Property still manages to be quite confronting. It's fairly upfront in its treatment of sexual themes and desires. It looks remarkably good for a film made on such a low budget, even going as unexpectedly far, as featuring some quite extensive underwater photography. I have to be honest and balance my praise, when adding the musical soundtrack however is frequently over-intrusive and not always quite appropriate, for the accompanying scenes.

Stevens comfortably helms the project making excellent use of both his car and home to site the majority of the action. On the evidence of this film, one feels it's a pity we didn't see more cinema work from him, as for much of his career, he worked in theatre, later transitioning to television, where he is arguably best remembered as being the creator of the original Outer Limits.

Very few people seem to have heard of, let alone seen, this bizarre and strange film, but it is ripe for re-discovery as a precursor of the harsher realism that American movies were able to explore once censorship restrictions were lifted. It is open to all sorts of interpretation; is it a critique of capitalism in which the marriage partner becomes "property"? Is there a hidden homosexual motivation between the two buddies who can, apparently, only attain their "manhood" when in the company of each other? It is perhaps wrong to read too much into early movies using today's sensibilities, but subversive this film most certainly is, and reflects much of the thinking expressed in a ground-breaking book of that era entitled "The American Sexual Tragedy". Passion, when repressed, always runs morbid, and this film illustrates that notion with realism and skill.

Duke (Corey Allen) and Boots (Warren Oates), two young thugs, hold up a California gas-station owner. Duke, virile and savage, taunts the slower and psychologically-confused Boots because he has never made a sexual conquest.

This film came about due to press agent Stanley Colbert, who hoped to move Leslie Stevens from Broadway (where he was a playwright) to Hollywood. Along the way, Colbert introduced Sevens to Kate Manx, and they were soon wed. The three combined birthed Daystar Productions, and with it, "Private Property".

The hiring of the camera crew happened by accident, and was fortuitous; the picture looks great. Colbert hired a nobody, Conrad Hall. And Hall brought with him a minor legend: Ted McCord, a veteran of "East of Eden" and "Treasure of Sierra Madre", as well as scores of others. Hall today is better known than McCord, as he went on to great things over the next three decades -- not only as a regular under Stevens on "Outer Limits", but as the cinematographer for such classics as "Cool Hand Luke" and "American Beauty".

How long has this film been buried? Apparently it had become largely lost and forgotten because it couldn't get a production seal in America. Today, the film is tame, but apparently not then. Making a profit in Europe before disappearing, in 2016 it was recovered and given the proper Blu-ray treatment. If nothing else, it deserves this for the names involved: Leslie Stevens (creator of "The Outer Limits"), Corey Allen ("Rebel Without a Cause" and Warren Oates ("Dillinger"). These three men had only just begun in 1960, but were each soon giants in their own way.

But it also stands on its own as an interesting crime film. Part home invasion story, part "Without Warning", and part "Of Mice and Men", it is hard to categorize. Not quite film noir, but still something different. It almost evokes the feeling of a BBS film, something independent that might have been more at home in the 1970s. Coupled with strong performances from the three leads, it is worth tracking down. There is an unusual exchange between Manx and Allen when he reveals that he has been squatting next door that has to be seen to be believed, it is so hypnotic.

The Blu-ray's greatest feature is the film itself, but it also has some highly informative liner notes and an 18-minute interview with photographer Alexander Singer. Singer covers a wide range of topics, from his time on Kubrick's "Killer's Kiss", to the more technical explanations of "softening" the lens and how it has been accomplished over the years.