The Killer Inside Me (2010)

A West Texas deputy sheriff is slowly unmasked as a psychotic killer.

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

John Curran, Jim Thompson (novel)

Stars:

Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Casey Affleck	...	Lou Ford
Kate Hudson	...	Amy Stanton
Jessica Alba	...	Joyce Lakeland
Ned Beatty	...	Chester Conway
Elias Koteas	...	Joe Rothman
Tom Bower	...	Sheriff Bob Maples
Simon Baker	...	Howard Hendricks
Bill Pullman	...	Billy Boy Walker
Brent Briscoe	...	Bum / Stranger
Matthew Maher	...	Deputy Jeff Plummer
Liam Aiken	...	Johnnie Pappas
Jay R. Ferguson	...	Elmer Conway
Ali Nazary	...	Max Pappas
Blake Lindsley	...	Waitress
Zach Josse	...	Lou - 13 (as Zachary Josse)

Storyline

Sadism and masochism beneath a veneer of revenge. Lou Ford is a mild-mannered sheriff's deputy in a Texas oil town in the mid 1950's. His boss sends him to roust a prostitute living in a rural house. She slaps him; he hits her, then, after daily sex for the next few weeks, he decides it's love. She's devoted to him and becomes his pawn in a revenge plot she thinks is to shakedown the son of Chester Conway, the town's wealthy king of construction. Lou has a different plan, and bodies pile up as murder leads to murder. The district attorney suspects Lou, and Conway may have an inkling, but Lou stays cool. Is love, or at least peace, in the cards?

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Plot Keywords:

deputy | revenge | sheriff | texas | murder | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing brutal violence, aberrant sexual content and some graphic nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Sweden UK Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

El diablo bajo la piel

Filming Locations:

Cattlemen's Steakhouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$19,248 (USA) (25 June 2010)

Gross:

$214,966 (USA) (13 August 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hero Entertainment, Muse Productions, Stone Canyon Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried were considered to play Joyce Lakeland.

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Goofs

When Lou Ford chases the extortionist down the street, the extortionist runs past a modern Peterbilt truck.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sheriff Bob Maples: Name of Joyce Lakeland. Lives about four or five miles out on Derrick Road past the old Branch place.
Lou Ford: Oh, I know the old Branch place. She a hustling lady, Bob?
Sheriff Bob Maples: Well, I guess so, but she's - she's been pretty decent about it.

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Connections

Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Kate Hudson/Dario Franchitti/Sarah McLachlan (2010)

User Reviews

Utterly disturbing and fascinating. A conversation starter.

Ironically, I picked this over the documentary 'Armadillo' about the war in Afghanistan, because I didn't feel like watching a truly frightening and disturbing movie that night. I felt like watching something 'fictionally scary'. It seems I should have gone for the war documentary instead, this movie had me wrecked emotionally for days. The story kind of clings, you have to deal with it, but it's complex and hard. It's a challenging movie.

What keeps riddling me about this movie, is how on earth did anyone manage to make me feel sympathetic towards the main character, who's an occasionally psychotic, cynical and brutal sadist? Even when he loses his temper completely with consequences beyond anything you thought you would ever watch on the big screen, you find yourself on his side.

Now, it's not an uncommon ambition for a director to construct 'bad' characters with compelling sides that awaken your sympathy, but this is beyond my comprehension. He's not a character you feel sorry for, he's not playing the victim anywhere, he's a sadist out of control. He plans things carefully to serve his own purposes and explodes in violence. Still, you want him to make it. You are left for hours thinking and discussing why on earth you found yourself supporting this character. Why would anybody?!? I don't know how this was done, it is, as I said, disturbing.

I was thinking about this for days, I'm still thinking about it. There are many story lines to examine in retrospect, there's his childhood, the violence, the biblical figures and references, the forbidden sexual urges, the gender dynamics of the time and how Hudson and Albas characters are both in their own way revolting them. Casey Affleck gives a scarily brilliant performance, and Kate Hudson deserves compliments on her fantastic performance as the classical 'good girl of good family' of the 1950s who hides both a great social insight and a dark side.

The Killer Inside Me is a great conversation starter, my boyfriend and I discussed this for hours (and we are far from an intellectual movie-discussing couple). Americans should be warned though, this is without a doubt one of the most graphical violent Hollywood productions I have ever seen.