It’s hard to call Payday a forgotten gem, because nobody saw it in the first place. But it stands with works like Fat City and Two-Lane Blacktop in depicting a seamy underbelly of America that most of us wouldn’t care to know about or see. It’s one of the most effective, searing dramas of the 1970s. Paul Mavis

I have not seen the infamously dark Payday, a film Kim Morgan calls “brilliantly brave”.

If you are ready to despise Rip Torn, and the human race in general, this is the film to see. Elizabeth Spiridakis, a big fan, gives you some reasons why you should.

I hereby claim Payday as an Oregon film based on the contributions of screenwriter-producer Don Carpenter who graduated from Wilson High School and Portland State University.