I watched Bringing Out The Dead last night. It's directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader with an incredible cast. Nic Cage plays a burned out, alcoholic, paramedic in 1990s Hell's Kitchen and his shifts alternate between three driving partners: John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore. With each shift Cage and his partners become more emotionally erratic as they navigate a terrifying New York City which absorbs their psychotic perceptions/actions, as well as the psychosis of their patients, without flinching.
One thing about this film that stood out to me was how horrifying human blood could be in the 1990s due to the AIDS crisis and the general confusion of treatment during that time period. The fear of blood and contact is played up in some very intense scenes.
Nic Cage really comes through in this one.