I love Goodfellas but to me, Martin Scorsese reached his peak with this nightmarish and brilliantly fascinating work from 1976 and Raging Bull four years later. Combining influences from Alfred Hitchcock, particularly The Wrong Man (1956), and European cinema as well as being a look at the decaying times. Paul Scraders already challenging script is elevated to an even mysterious grandeur as we follow Travis Bickel (Robert De Niro) and his descent or ascent into a psychological journey with an ending that leaves the audience embracing or questioning his morality and humanity. Beautiful cinematography capturing the grim New York of the 70s and a haunting score from Bernard Hermann, also his final, that is equally as important at exploring the lead characters psyche as the camera work, acting and script.