YMMV / The Killer That Stalked New York

• Anvilicious: The Disease-Prevention Aesop is anything but subtle. For instance: the narrator describes the horrors of smallpox vividly, extolls the virtues of the public health efforts repeatedly, and dismisses the opposition to the vaccination campaign as lacking good sense. This is pretty understandable, as the film is based on a real outbreak of smallpox in New York City in 1947, which was successfully contained. Perhaps the least subtle moment is a scene in a barbershop where the customers discuss the outbreak—some of them are sceptical that the outbreak is something they need to worry about, and think the vaccination campaign is a waste of money. One of the other customers disagrees, saying that for all they know, the guy currently getting his hair done could have been infected without even knowing it, and the next person to get in the chair would then be at risk of contracting smallpox merely by sitting in the same chair. The scene ends with the guy who is next in line declining service, saying that he's going to get vaccinated instead.

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