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

Jessica Alba found that no one on the cast and crew would look her in the eye when she was in her full beaten-up make-up. The prosthetics were suitably graphic and off-putting that people were loath to talk to her.

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Goofs

In the beginning of the movie, when Lou is driving his sheriff's car down town, he says "I was born here 29 years ago, and central city is small enough that my father..." You can see an modern day USPS mail truck in the reflection of the building window.

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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

Referenced in Brows Held High: 9 Songs (2012)

User Reviews

Solid, but undeniably brutal and dark.

"The trouble of growing up in a small town is everybody thinks they know who you are."

I was initially interested in The Killer Inside Me because I'm a fan of both Casey Affleck and Jessica Alba, but I soon became even more intrigued by what I was reading in the early reviews about how brutal it is. And it is brutal. I don't mean the over the top, fanciful gore-drenched brutality of a movie like Saw, I mean the kind of realistic, stomach- churning violence that isn't easy to watch. This movie is definitely not for everyone, as a result. I just thought I'd put that disclaimer out there.

The story is about a 29 year-old sheriff deputy named Lou Ford who leads a double life. He's a sadistic, violent, disturbed man who hides his true nature under the gentlemanly, courteous reputation he has amongst the denizens of the Texas town he's lived in since he was born. An encounter with a local prostitute triggers the violent urges in him that have been somewhat buried, and a cascade of murders upon murders result as he tries to cover his tracks and avoid the scrutiny of a district attorney who is deeply suspicious of him. 

I though Affleck was great in this. The guy is just a natural actor, and he pulls off both the unnerving psychopath and small town local aspects of the character. I wanted Ford to get caught for his utterly despicable actions, yet I still found myself feeling anxious whenever he seemed in danger of being found out. If that's not a compliment of Casey's performance, I don't know what could be. Alba was good in her somewhat limited role, and it was a pretty risk choice for her to tackle a part like this where so much violence was directed at her character. Kate Hudson also does well in a role that very different from much of her recent work, and Simon Baker rounds out the main cast with a solid performance as the district attorney.

I was drawn into this movie from the opening credits. If you're not put off by the violence and the sex (often mixed together), The Killer Inside Me is well worth watching. I thought the ending wasn't pulled off as well as the rest of the film was, but that's really my only complaint. Recommended.