Consider the role of sound in this film. How does Aldrich use overlapping sounds, ambient, diegetic sounds (whether street noise, or radios or tapes playing in a given scene), and sounds issuing from off-screen? What particular effects do these sounds have, and how do they come together to form an overall sound design for the film? How is sound united with image? Or conversely, how does sound play off against image?
Consider visual elements as well as sound, in order to characterize the overall style of the film. Consider especially the use of lighting, the camera angles, the complex relations of foreground and background in many scenes, and the pace imposed by the editing,. What emotional effects does Aldrich achieve through these techniques?
How does this film fit into the film noir genre? What kind of expectations does it fulfill or frustrate? What do you make, especially, of the ending?
Where are we placed in relation to the action of the film? To what extent do we identify with the protagonist, Mike Hammer (taking 'identify' in the strictest film sense--sharing his point of view or perspective)? And to what extent to we like or dislike him, feel sympathetic with him or not (taking these terms in a much broader sense than 'identify')? Is our quest, as an audience, for "the great whatsit" analogous to Hammer's?
What do you make of the way gender roles and gender attitudes (particularly Hammer's and Soberin's interactions with various female characters) are presented in this film?