Blood Simple (1984)

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.

Directors:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)

Writers:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Stars:

John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya

5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Getz	...	Ray
Frances McDormand	...	Abby
Dan Hedaya	...	Julian Marty
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Private Detective Loren Visser
Samm-Art Williams	...	Meurice
Deborah Neumann	...	Debra
Raquel Gavia	...	Landlady
Van Brooks	...	Man from Lubbock
Señor Marco	...	Mr. Garcia
William Creamer	...	Old Cracker
Loren Bivens	...	Strip Bar Exhorter
Bob McAdams	...	Strip Bar Senator
Shannon Sedwick	...	Stripper
Nancy Finger	...	Girl on Overlook
William Preston Robertson	...	Radio Evangelist (voice) (as Rev. William Preston Robertson)

Storyline

Texas bar owner Julian Marty, who is generally regarded as not a nice person, hires shady private detective Loren Visser, who is able to obtain what Marty requests evidence - in this instance, photographic - that his wife, Abby, and one of his bartenders, Ray, are having an affair. As Ray and Abby realize that Marty has found out about them, it allows them to plan for their future away from Marty, while be up front with Marty about the situation. Marty, in turn, decides to hire Visser once again, this time to kill Abby and Ray, and dispose of their bodies so that they won't be found. The out in the open affair and the contract hit lead to some actions based on self interest, and a standoff of sorts between the four players, which is compounded in complexity by some wrong assumptions of what has happened, with an innocent bystander, another of the Marty's bartenders, Meurice, potentially and unwittingly adding to the scenario.

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Plot Keywords:

double cross | neo noir | texas | private detective | crime gone awry | 

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Taglines:

The first film by Joel and Ethan Coen (2016 Re-Release)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

18 January 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Simplemente sangre

Filming Locations:

Pflugerville, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$42,971, 9 July 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,150,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

River Road Productions, Foxton Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 96 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo (original version) Dolby Digital (director's cut)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film directed by the Coen brothers.

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Goofs

When Private Detective Loren Visser steals Abby's gun, the supposedly unfired shells have clearly visible depressions in the primers and have obviously already been fired.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Private Detective Visser: [narrating] 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... ...

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits list the main cast, but none of the crew. All of the crew credits are at the end of the film, starting with Joel Coen as director.

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Alternate Versions

For the 1998 restoration, the Coen brothers not only remixed and re-recorded new sound effects for the stereo soundtrack, but made some minor trims to various scenes and dialog:

• Maurice asking a bar patron at the jukebox what night it is and realizing it's "Yankee Night", he explains he's from Detroit, thus justifying his intervention of the patron's musical selection.
• Ray sticking his cigarette in the stuffed warthog's nose at Marty's house, and the following lines: RAY: You gonna leave all this stuff? ABBY: It's all Marty's.
• After Marty suggests to the P.I. the "incinerator" as a means of destroying the evidence of his proposed murder, the P.I.'s line: "Sweet Jesus, you're disgusting!" is deleted.
• A couple lines from the landlady showing Abby the studio apartment (mainly assuring her Abby won't be bothered at that location) before she starts yelling at her ex-brother-in-law, are deleted.
• As Marty opens his safe to retrieve the bounty money (and swap the photo) his line: "This is an illicit affair" has been removed, although he can still be seen mouthing it.
• When the P.I. shoots Marty, a couple shots are removed of Marty and the P.I. staring at each other after the gunshot.
• When Ray and Abby are discussing "what happened", in her studio apartment, and Ray feels cold enough to rise from his seat, the shot of him steadying the walrus piggy-bank is removed and his dialog is heard off-screen to cover this change.
• When Abby goes to see Maurice about her concerns, the scene cuts as soon as she enters. In the original version, the scene continues and she is seen inside his place and he pours a drink while assuring her that Marty is not dead, even though she is very worried that he is. Some of the dialog from inside the house is placed over the shot outside Maurice's door before Abby goes in, in the 1998 version.
• A new page of credits is added at the end, covering the restoration.

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Connections

References The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

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Soundtracks

It's the Same Old Song
By Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland
Performed by The Four Tops
Used by Permission of Motown Record Corporation and Jobete Music Co., Inc.

User Reviews

A great early Cohen film where the claustrophobic heat and tension seep from the screen

Abby is cheating on husband Marty with his employee Ray. Unbeknownst to them, Marty has had the pair followed and caught in the act by an odious private detective. With Marty rejected he turns to the detective with an offer of money to kill the cheating lovers and dispose of the bodies. The detective accepts and, with Marty out of town to ensure an alibi, the plan seems so clear and simple to execute. However, where blood is involved, nothing ever runs smoothly or simple.

Watching No Country for Old Men recently put me in mind of Blood Simple and gave me an excuse to watch it again for the first time in about a decade. I was glad that I did because, although it is very slimmed down, all the themes and standards that continue with the Cohen brothers down the years. The film is a modern noir-ish crime thriller with a contained set of circumstances bringing death and ruin to all involved. The story is engaging but it does have holes within it but they are not serious enough to affect the flow. What carries it through everything though is the visual style and feel given to the film by the Cohen's. From the opening sequence in the car to the ever present roar of the incinerator to the sweating, cackling presence of the detective, the sparse dialogue just doesn't matter because of the delivery. As with No Country, you can feel the oppressive heat and tension in each scene and it makes for a satisfying film.

The cast play to this heat and tension with contained but tense performances. The standout is Walsh, whose sweaty moral void is the heart of the film. Hedaya is almost as good in a smaller role. The two "lead" characters suffer a little from being less interesting but nevertheless both Getz and McDormand are good. Blood Simple is a tight and short film with limited dialogue and little in the way of quick action. However what it does have is a wonderful sense of Texas and crime. The slow pace adds to the claustrophobic feel of heat, which in turns adds to the tension and the constant presence of death in the air. Amazing to think the Cohen brothers started getting it so right so early in their careers.