BLOOD SIMPLE HORRORPHILE

“The world is full o' complainers. An' the fact is, nothin' comes with a guarantee. Now I don't care if you're the pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin' can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y'know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help, 'n watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else... that's the theory, anyway. But what I know about is Texas, an' down here ... you're on your own.”

The debut feature from Joel and Ethan Coen, and a damn fine piece of filmmaking it is. I saw Blood Simple (1984) over twenty years ago one dark and stormy night while I was babysitting for some friends of my parents. One of those early VHS releases with the big chunky covers, it featured the now classic artwork on the cover (also used for the original poster): red stilettos, cowboy boots, handbag, keys and a pearl-handled .22.

Frances McDormand as Abby

Abby (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with Ray (John Getz). Abby’s husband Marty (Dan Hedaya) suspects adultery is afoot and hires seedy private investigator Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to spy on them. When his suspicions are confirmed he pays Visser to kill them both. Duplicitous Visser, however, has more lucrative ideas and fakes their deaths.

John Getz as Ray

As in all classic film noir which Blood Simple’s themes are soaked in, Murphy’s Law reigns supreme. Lust, greed, mistrust, betrayal; everything that can possibly go wrong for the four unscrupulous players goes wrong, and soon everyone is acting, as Dashiell Hammet once explained, “blood simple”. It makes for one of the very best modern noir movies ever made, and alongside Fargo, it is the Coen brothers greatest accomplishment (No Country for Old Men is brilliant, but it’s based on a novel, so isn’t wholly original).

Dan Hedaya as Marty

The Coen brothers completed the movie in 1982, but it took another two years before it was released. After watching it I decided I wanted to make a movie like Blood Simple, or at least become a film director. Later whilst studying film analysis at university I wrote a long complex essay on the use of symbolism, both literal and figurative, within the film. Unfortunately I lost the essay somewhere in the intervening years. I’d love to re-read it now, some twenty years later. C’est la vie.

M. Emmet Walsh as Visser

For many years I regarded Blood Simple as my favourite movie, long before the Coen brothers were the household names they are now. As far as I was concerned the movie was a textbook example of just how cinematic a movie can be, even if at times it feels self-conscious; from the subjective visual narrative, the detailed use of sound, the richly-etched characters, the atmospheric music, the endlessly quotable dialogue.

In 1998 the Coen brothers re-cut the movie and re-released it. Crazily they made the decision to trim numerous scenes of excellent moments, including choice dialogue and symbolism. Why?! I don’t know, as the new edits are clunky. Now I'm on a mission to find the complete original theatrical cut on DVD (that version may only exist on VHS)!

Gimme a call whenever you wanna cut off my head. I can always crawl around without it

All four leads deliver outstanding performances, especially M. Emmet Walsh as arguably one of the sleaziest, most unctuous private dicks ever to (dis)grace the screen. A fresh-faced Frances McDormand as the player wife - “I ain’t done nothin’ funny …” – is pure immoral gold. As is Dan Hedaya’s disgruntled cuckolded husband – “What's funny is, when she gives you that look, and says, 'I don't know what you're talkin' about, Ray, I ain't done nothin' funny' … But the funniest thing to me is you think she came back here for you ... That’s what's fuckin’ funny!”

The use of tension and suspense is superlative, Hitchcockian in its minimalism. There are superb nightmare moments that push Blood Simple into genuine horror mode; in particular the extended scenes of Ray trying to get rid of Marty, and Abby and Visser’s finale. Blood Simple, like Fargo and No Country for Old Men, is a study in violence and the disastrous chain reaction effect of Murphy’s Law.

Killing a man can be a very messy thing

The guts of it is: Blood Simple is simply one of the best American movies ever made, no cigarette butts about it.

Here's a superb re-release trailer using solely Curter Burwell's stunning music: