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Blood Simple (1984)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 8.1/10
Reviews Counted: 79
Fresh: 75 | Rotten: 4

Brutally violent and shockingly funny in equal measure, Blood Simple offers early evidence of the Coen Brothers' twisted sensibilities and filmmaking ingenuity.

Average Rating: 8.1/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 1

Brutally violent and shockingly funny in equal measure, Blood Simple offers early evidence of the Coen Brothers' twisted sensibilities and filmmaking ingenuity.

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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 34,413

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Movie Info

In the first film of brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, M. Emmett Walsh plays Visser, an unscrupulous private eye hired by Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) to murder Marty's faithless wife Abby (Frances McDormand) and her paramour, Ray (John Getz), one of Marty's employees. But Visser is no more up-front with Marty than with anyone else; he makes some slight modifications of the original plan so that it better serves his own best interests. After a surprise double-cross and the murder of one

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Ethan Coen , Joel Coen

Written By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

In Theaters: Sep 1, 1984 Wide

On DVD: Sep 18, 2001

USA Films

Blood Simple Trailer & Photos

Cast

John Getz
Ray
Frances McDormand
Abby
Dan Hedaya
Marty
M. Emmet Walsh
Visser
Samm-Art Williams
Maurice
Van Brooks
Man from Lubbock
William Creamer
Old Cracker
Raquel Gavia
Landlady
Nancy Ginger
Girl on Overlook
Holly Hunter
Answering machine
Senor Marco
Mr. Garcia
Bob McAdams
Strip Bar Senator
Deborah Neumann
Debra
William Preston Robertson
Radio Evangelist
Shannon Sedwick
Stripper
Rev. William M. Wilson
Loren Bivens
Strip Bar Exhorter

Critic Reviews for Blood Simple

All Critics (88) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (79) | Rotten (5) | DVD (27)

Watch this film, and these film makers, closely. Neither will disappoint.

October 13, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

An inordinately good low-budget film noir thriller.

September 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

The movie remains mired in a smart-alecky film-school sensibility.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comments (9)

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

The movie is as dark, ironic and fatalistically comic as modern film noir comes.

July 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle

| Comment

Louis B. Parks

Houston Chronicle

Top Critic

Black humor, abundant originality and a brilliant visual style make Joel Coen's Blood Simple, a directorial debut of extraordinary promise.

May 17, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

...for all its delirious impudence and film school showiness, it's so clearly a movie made by guys crazy about moviemaking.

February 21, 2004 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

| Comment

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Top Critic

With a strong and stylish debut like Blood Simple, it didn't take a P.I. to see that the Coens were made for big things.

December 29, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Over a quarter-century after the fact, the Coens haven't made anything quite like Blood Simple, which receives a solid transfer on this Fox Blu-ray.

September 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Chris Cabin

Slant Magazine

Essential.

August 28, 2011 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

The Coens remain fastidiously indifferent to the plight of their creations, the better to concentrate on the dazzle of their doom

November 15, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

A deadpan gothic thriller best described as the steamy, hardboiled fiction of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain filtered through two film-school brats.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review

| Comment

Mark Halverson

Sacramento News & Review

As black, sinful and nasty as a weekful of Hitchcocks, this is as fresh and intoxicating now as it was back then. In a word: deadly.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

Blood Simple isn't bad, just self-consciously poky and austere -- a James M. Cain homage, rural-art-film division.

July 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

A remarkably assured debut for Coen.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Tom Milne

Time Out

A stunning debut, and arguably one of the Coens' two best features, this Gothic noir introduced the wry, sardonic, and playful approach that would shape their future work, and launched the screen career of the brilliant Frances McDormand.

April 15, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

The script is so tight you can feel it screwing into the back of your neck.

April 7, 2006 Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com

| Comment

Mark Bourne

DVDJournal.com

Com um estilo marcante j� no filme de estr�ia, os irm�os Coen criam uma obra noir tensa, envolvente e que faz do absurdo uma de suas principais armas.

May 28, 2005 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Blood Simple

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The Coen Bros. blasted on the scene with this amazing debut. It must be something about Texas that brings out the best in them (i.e. No Country For Old Men).

March 28, 2012

Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

Its pretty damn good. The pace isn't fast but not too slow as well. The action is there but never consistent. The story takes you off your feet along with fantastic acting from a genius cast.

January 16, 2012

paul oh

Super Reviewer

Blood Simple Quotes

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1. Marty: If I need you again, I know which rock to turn over.
– Submitted by Chad E (15 days ago)
1. Visser: What I know about is Texas, and down here, you're on your own.
– Submitted by Chad E (15 days ago)
1. Visser: [laughing hysterically] Well, ma'am, if I see him, I' ll sure give him the message.
– Submitted by Abtin S (10 months ago)
1. Ray: If you point a gun at someone, you'd better make sure you shoot him, and if you shoot him you'd better make sure he's dead, because if he isn't then he's gonna get up and try to kill you.
– Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
1. Visser: 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.
– Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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