Production Year: 1983 - Thriller - Director: Joel Coen - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: M. Emmet Walsh, Dan Hedaya, John Getz, Frances McDormand, Samm-Art Williams more
When a bar owner discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife, a complex web of deceit and double crosses ensues in a small Texas town. The Coen brothers'... more
Blood Simple [DVD] [1983]
The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983'sBlood ... more
Simpleis grisly comicnoirthat marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson someh...
Blood Simple [DVD] [1983]
The debut film of director Joel Coen and his brother-producer Ethan Coen, 1983'sBlood ... more
Simpleis grisly comicnoirthat marries the feverish toughness of pulp thrillers with the ghoulishness of even pulpier horror. (Imagine the novels of Jim Thompson someh...
Blood Simple DVD
Deep in the heart of Texas a jealous bar owner hires a private eye to kill his wife and ... more
her lover. The sleazy hitman double-crosses the husband killing him instead and pocketing the cash. The perfect crime or so it seems but disposing of the corpse...
Blood Simple
Deep in the heart of Texas, a jealous bar owner hires a private eye to kill his wife ... more
(Frances McDormand) and her lover. The sleazy hitman (M. Emmet Walsh) double-crosses the husband, killing him instead and pocketing the cash. The perfect crime or so it seems, but disposing of the corpse is not so simple. 'Blood Simple' uncoils its film noir plot with audacious style, dense atmosphere and blood-curdling twists. The razor-sharp debut of Oscar - nominated Joel and Ethan Coen (Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Fargo) will have you on the very edge of your seat.
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
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Production Year: 1996 - Thriller - Director: Kevin Spacey - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Matt Dillon, Faye Dunaway, Gary Sinise, William Fichtner, Joe Mantegna, Viggo Mortensen, Skeet Ulrich
A review by moxon123 on Blood Simple (DVD) February 3rd, 2006
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Liked it
Story
Good
Characters / Performances
Good
Special Effects
Standard
How does it compare to similar films?
Good
Advantages:
Brilliantly directed and acted, and very suspenseful
Disadvantages:
Not the most complex of films . . . .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Short of Tarantino, there really aren't many more exciting filmmakers than the Coen brothers working in Hollywood today. On a general level, their films are exciting to watch no matter what the cotent, full of inventive quirk, superbly written and well acted pieces of cinema. So perhaps veiwing the sibling's debut feature, BLOOD SIMPLE, and discovering it is just as assured should come as no surprise, because even if it was only their very first venture into the art form, it has them written all over it. Amongst a few influences of course…
As well as the work they produce almost assuredly being of a high quality, it is also obvious that Joel and Ethan know a lot about film, they know precisely what makes a good movie and that probably helps when trying to make one. BLOOD SIMPLE has a very small scale, intimate storyline, one of a husband's plot to murder his wife and her lover, that is perfect for someones initial go at storytelling. It also has a small cast and a general lack of resources but it uses everything to their full potential.
As with later films, the general camera work is excellent, 96 minutes is actually a long time when there are so very few plot points to deal with, but the best is always done to ensure intrest in every scene and one way this is achieved is through Hitchcock-ian like angles and the art of moving the camera in on the action, as if it is it's own entity, seeking out story wherever it can. This has become a Coen staple, the coolest example possibly being from THE BIG LEBOWSKI, in the bowling alley, from behind the pin's we see them knocked down and we then travel down the alley to the characters. Nothing quite so elaborate is on show here, but what is done is done well. In one sequence there is even a very EVIL DEAD-like under cranked pull in and Dutch shot used to build tension very nicely.
Silence is also used to good effect. When you have a simple screenplay, you need to make the most of what you have, a fast pace is never a good thing, and BLOOD SIMPLE definitely dosent have one. Yet because of the immaculate way in which it is presented, it hides this so well and the film actualy ends up seeming much faster than it actualy is. As much time is given to chracters reaction shots as to dialogue in many cases, with scenes based around what chracters do and think, rather than what they say. Dialogue is minimalist, and never direct, it also often contains an air of awkward discomfort, leading to an even more out of control nature that takes things to places you don't expect them to go. There are twists and turns, but not in a conventional movie sense. BLOOD SIMPLE may be simplistic, but it is still actually quite hard to explain.
Performances from the cast are good all round, with the possible exception of John Getz who plays Francess McDormand's character's boyfriend slightly too over the top to ring true, with a turn that could only have been truly believable if we'd have learnt of some history of drug abuse before his decent into the dark world the film creates. McDormand on the other hand, even here in her debut role, is her usual good self. Nowhere near as quirky as her role in the Coen flick she won an oscar for, FARGO, and not exactly a well sketched out character. Yet thanks to the her being considerably more talented than Getz, she still manages to be a lot more likeable than him and you do care about what happens to her and considering the twisted ending this is important. Dan Hedaya also very effective as the jealous, scheming husband, making a very real and sleazy impression. It is M. Emmett Walsh that steals the movie though as Loren Visser, the private investigator that is hired to kill the two lovers. Visser is a complex character that you are never quite sure of, is he dumb? Is he playing everyone?, the truth is perhaps a bit of both or maybe neither. One thing that is sure though is that Walsh does a stunning job of being both scary and funny at the same time and why this didn't win him any awards of some kind is beyond me.
Like all of the brother's work, BLOOD SIMPLE is a highly entertaining look at the dark side of human nature. It has it's faults, a general lack of depth being the main cuplrit, but thanks to the Coen's just really knowing their stuff it ends up being constantly watchable regardless. It is true that nearly every movie they made after this was better, but that is more a statement on how brilliantly they have grown as filmmakers and not the effectiveness of the picture in question here, because this really is a very good and suspenseful little thriller and one that deserves to be seen by any fan of cinema.
Advantages: unique noir style. Classic coen film Disadvantages: little dialogue, quirky style
...high expectations of this film; Blood Simple was the only film by the Coen brothers I hadn't until recently seen. Being a great fan of these fine and prolific film makers - having relished the likes of Fargo and Barton Fink - I was quite familiar with their quirky style. Recent productions of theirs have set high standards for themselves, and fortunately Blood Simple lived up to them. This debut film from the Coens (1984) did not once appear amateur, ... ...Coen film most comparable to Blood Simple, but Blood Simple is more basic in concept than the other projects; it falls marginally short of the shrewd dialogue that makes their later work so classy. However, Blood Simple is characterized by its simplicity, so you can expect the focus to be on style more than human interaction. But regardless of other Coen accomplishments, Blood Simple is a fine first film, marking the start of a legacy of inventive ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: The film oozes quirky, black-comic style. Disadvantages: It's a case of style over substance which may not be your cup of tea.
Blood Simple is a dark and bloody black comic thriller. It's sick, it's twisted, its gory and it's a near masterpiece of low budget independent filmmaking. This slightly re-edited version of the film improves it slightly. A few minutes have been excised from the middle of the movie improving the pacing over the original. But most probably won't notice the differences.
When Blood Simple was first released in 1984, very few people knew who Joel and ... ...West and Last Seduction. Blood Simple however wasn't treading in the same territory of Body Heat… it was treading in the world of the real pulps, updated with some camp values, and style to burn. Land of the Ceiling Fans is what I affectionately called the film when I first left the theatre after seeing the film for the first time in 1984. It even has a ceiling fan cam shot There are several memorable visual highpoints in the film. And I won't spoil ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: good story, tight script, great camera, lighting, sound, score Disadvantages: dull acting, pace uneven
...out of an indie studio, Blood Simple has it all in spades.
A spooky barowner (Dan Hedaya) hires a slimy private detective (M.Emmett Walsh) to murder his wandering wife (Frances McDormand) & dumb boyfriend (John Getz), but things get slightly out of hands when the dick has an ulterior motive all of his own.
Yeah, ok, this kind of story has been done to death a million times so what makes this movie so special. Easy..the Coens (Joel & Ethan) don't ... ...unchartered waters. Rather than letting us think what should happen next, they spike that theory with something a little different, making for a more entertaining film.
The acting is good, although I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with the dreary boyfriend, Ray (Getz). Throughout the film he had that "out to lunch" sign permanently etched over his face - no emotion, no wit, no charm in his voice just the same dreary monotone throughout, ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: you don't have to buy it Disadvantages: the film itself
why oh why does everyone go on about the coen brothers like they are the best thing since sliced bread. Fargo was okay, the big lebow was rubbish, and sorry to say so is this. the plot could have been written on a postage stamp it is that simple, a bar owner hires a private eye to kill his wife and her lover, instead he tries to kill the bar owner, the wifes lover finds the body and thinks his girlfriend has done it, he goes to get rid of the body, ... ...hired to egt rid of in the first place. To say this is utter pap is being far too generous, i would rather injure myself than watch this rubbish again, but i can see that there are others who enjoyed this film, although for the life of me i can't see why. The actors do okay with the script they have, some scenes are played for shock value, and those are sadly the only interesting points in the film, particularly the knife in the hand bit. the film ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Seriously gripping Disadvantages: Can be nasty
This is one of the nastiest, slimiest, most amoral, thrillers I had seen until Seven came along and upped the ante. It is thoroughly enjoyable. The whole cast are perfection but M. Emmet Walsh and Dan Hedaya stand out as two truly despicable villains. The whole thing is filmed in such a dark atmosphere with everyone sweating that at times it seems set in Hell. Abby is so manipulative that even at the end of the film you cannot tell whether she has ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Special Effects, Script and Cinamatography Disadvantages: Some dodgey accents.
...with African music
? Still picture scene selection
? Directors Commentary
? Languages: English and Italian
? Subtitles: English, English forced, Arabic, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian and Italian forced.
◊^^^DVD Summary^^^◊
To sum up, Blood Diamond is a well presented DVD with a marginally improved standard of special features when compared to other DVD?s. The film has a simple, interesting and most importantly easy to navigate DVD menu. The sound and picture quality as I have already discussed on the DVD was also exceptional.
In conclusion, it?s certainly worth the money. Speaking of money, I will come onto that now.
◊^^^Price & Availability^^^◊
Amazon.co.uk: New and Sealed ? £11.98 ? 25 Used/New from - £9.29
eBay.co.uk: Avg. Buy it Now - £10 ? 29 Results
◊^^^Technical Details^^^◊...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Plot: After discovering that his wife is having an affair, a jealous bar-owner decides to hire an asssassin to have her killed. However, the assassin decides to commit the 'perfect crime' and kills the executive instead...
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS
When a bar owner discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife, a complex web of deceit and double crosses ensues in a small Texas town. The Coen brothers' first picture is an intricately plotted film noir filled with surprises at each turn. The cast, largely unkown at the time, includes Dan Hedaya as the cuckolded bar owner, Frances McDormand as the cheating wife, John Getz as the adultering bartender, and the fabulously creepy M. Emmett Walsh as the slimy, sweaty private detective who should not be trusted. The film is a marvel to experience; director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld has created stunning compositions filled with open spaces, and the sound--from the slightest footsteps or dripping water to a sudden shotgun blast--reverberates ominously, as if it is a character unto itself. Directed by Joel Coen and cowritten by Joel and his brother Ethan, BLOOD SIMPLE is an eerie testament to the limitless possibilities of low-budget filmmaking.
Languages
Main Language: English
Professional reviews
Review: "...BLOOD SIMPLE becomes a dazzling comedie noire, a dynamic, virtuoso display by a couple of talented fledgling film makers who give the conventions of the genre such a thorough workout that the result is a movie that's fresh and exhilarating..." (Los Angeles Times, p.C1, 28/02/1985)
"Black humor, abundant originality and a brilliant visual style....A directorial debut of extraordinary promise..." (New York Times, p.C6, 18/01/1985)
"...Unpredictable at every turn..." (Premiere, p.22, 01/07/2000)
"...Terrific....[The] performances are top-notch all around....A colorful, moody piece with a texture that's very true-to-life..." (Variety, 23/05/1984)
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