Cruising (1980)

Cruising is a 1980 crime thriller written and directed by William Friedkin, and starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino and Karen Allen. It is loosely based on the 1970 novel by The New York Times reporter Gerald Walker about a serial killer targeting gay men, particularly the men associated with the leather scene. The title is a double entendre, as "cruising" can describe both police officers on patrol and men who are cruising for sex. It was an international co-production between West Germany and the United States.

Poorly received by critics when released, Cruising performed moderately at the box office. Pacino subsequently called the film "exploitative". The shooting and promotion were dogged by gay rights protesters who believed that the film stigmatized them. The film's open-ended finale was criticized by Robin Wood and Bill Krohn as further complicating what they felt were the director's incoherent changes to the rough cut and synopsis, as well as other production issues.