When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.
- Director
- Writer
- Tracy Letts(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writer
- Tracy Letts(screenplay)
- Stars
- Awards
- 9 wins & 21 nominations
Videos13
Gralen Bryant Banks
- Pizza Patronas Pizza Patron
- (as Graylen Banks)
Scott A. Martin
- Pizza Manageras Pizza Manager
- (as Scott Martin)
Julia Adams
- Adeleas Adele
- (uncredited)
Geraldine Glenn
- Pizza Patronas Pizza Patron
- (uncredited)
Sean O'Hara
- Rexas Rex
- (uncredited)
Blain Sanchez
- Prisoneras Prisoner
- (uncredited)
Tony Severio
- Pizza Patronas Pizza Patron
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- Tracy Letts(screenplay) (play "Killer Joe")
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Matthew McConaughey, director William Friedkin rarely exceeded three takes per scene when filming. Juno Temple confirmed it, saying, "He trusts you so much and in turn you trust him with your whole heart. He does one or two takes of everything, and when you have a director that believes in you that strongly, all you want to do is get it right the minute they say action."
- GoofsAfter Joe lights the fire to burn up the car we see in the next shot a set of pipes added to the undercarriage of the car to aid and/or assist with the stunt car fire and/or extinguishing of the fire.
- Quotes
Killer Joe Cooper: Tuna casserole! May I serve?
Dottie Smith: How are you gonna kill my mama?
Killer Joe Cooper: That's not appropriate dinner conversation, Dottie.
Dottie Smith: Unless you poison her.
- Crazy creditsThe unrated DVD retains the MPAA's NC-17 graphic at the end, although the rating was surrendered.
- Alternate versionsThe USA/Canada DVD is available in two versions, one the original NC-17 rated version (labeled as Unrated) and the other an R-Rated version. The R-Rated version has the following cuts:
- 1:25:27 (10.5 sec. cut) Sharla starts sucking at the chicken leg. Joe moans "Easy...easy."
- 1:25:42 (5.5 sec. cut) A cut to Carla, who is still sucking the chicken leg, is missing. The R-Rated shows the shot of Joe without interruption, lengthening it insignificantly.
- 1:25:49 (2.5 sec. cut) Joe asks Ansel in this shot "What do you think?". The R-Rated Version features the question from the off in the following shot of Ansel.
- 1:26:03 (Alternate Shot) The R-Rated shows Joe talking in a longer shot of himself and then an alternative shot of Ansel sitting down on the bench. The original features two shots from further away showing Sharla during her forced blow job. The Unrated Version runs a bit longer.
- 1:26:34 (11 sec. cut) The shot of Ansel can be seen a moment longer. Joe then asks twice: "Reach around and grab my ass!". Sharla obeys.
- 1:26:56 (Alternate Shot (No time difference)) The R-Rated Version mainly shows the shot of Joe longer and the alternative shot of Ansel before the shot from further away can be seen for a short time. The latter can be seen the whole time in the Unrated Version.
- 1:27:20 (Alternate Shot) The R-Rated Version shows the previous and following shots of Joe longer/earlier, whereas the Unrated cuts to a close-up of Sharla complying with Joe's demands and starting to moan.
- 1:37:30 (1 sec. cut) The shot starts a bit earlier with an additional (first) blow of the can against Chris' head.
- 1:37:33 (1.5 sec.) Another blow is missing.
- 1:37:41 (4.5 sec.) Joe beats Chris with the can three more times against the head and in the face, Chris spits out blood. Additional shot of Dottie screaming "Oh God!".
- 1:42:47 (No time difference) The MPAA overlays at the end differ display the different rating for the two versions.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Big Review: Summer Trailer Park Series (2012)
Top review
Fearless and zealous Texas noir filmmaking
William Friedkin's Killer Joe proclaims itself as a "totally twisted, deep-fried Texas, redneck trailer park murder story," but to be fair, I'm not sure that is even an accurate summation. Prior to viewing the film, I saw it called everything from, "sick," to "wild," to "weird," to "creepy," to "subversive," to "crazy," to just plain awful, and the only one I can marginally agree with is "weird." This is one of the strangest releases of the year, but I believe "sick" is a huge exaggeration.
I too feel the NC-17 rating this film proudly bears is a bit much. If the film lacked a full frontal Gina Gershon and Matthew McConaughey, I'm sure it would've easily obtained a strong R-rating. The MPAA's bias for sexual content over violent content is wildly known and just the fact that they oversimplify the violence in this film to "a scene of brutality" had me laughing. The film includes some of the most hard-hitting scenes of combat that I've seen in any other film this year, and I'd absolutely love to know just what scene the MPAA was referring to in the first place.
The film centers around the family of twentysomething Chris Smith (played fantastically by Emile Hirsch, assuming the type of role he should continue to seek out), a lowlife drug dealer residing in a Texas trailer park, with his dim-witted father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), his annoying step-mother Sharla (Gina Gershon), and mentally disabled sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris has plunged himself into debt with another local dealer, and consults his father about his biological mother and her $50,000 insurance payoff that would be collected by Dottie if she were to die. Chris proposes the idea to hire "Killer" Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a sleazy cop who also works as an assassin, to kill his mother and receive a cut of the insurance money, with him, Ansel, and Sharla getting a good chunk of the profits. However, things become incredibly twisted when Killer Joe begins to fall in love with Dottie, and how the whole family begins on an even steeper downward spiral due to a colossal misunderstanding thanks to Chris.
Every character in the film is despicable in their own way, either by the shameful atrocities they commit or just because of the fact that their motivation is hopelessly self-centered and shockingly shallow and inept. Thankfully, all these subhuman characters are played efficiently by first-rate performers. Emile Hirsch gives a convincing, dignified performance, in possibly one of the most confident screen roles in his adult life. Juno Temple comes off of Dirty Girl, a wonderful coming of age drama, to embody a wildly different yet extremely interesting character, seemingly taken advantage of due to her intelligence or lack thereof. And Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon are consistently wonderful in their roles, especially during the climatic half when they appear to be tested as actors all together. But the award-winning performance here goes to McConaughey, who is three for three this year, with roles in Bernie (another film looking to brew the idea of "Texas noir") and Magic Mike buoying him to an actor of near first-rate level. McConaughey's early career was plagued by a number of questionable romantic comedies and the occasional goofy action picture or two, but this year, we've seen nothing but him assuming roles of great confidence, always possessing a firmly dignified slickness and swagger that sets him apart from other actors who have just started recognizing their potential. It would appear that McConaughey just woke up one day and realized that time was fleeting and his real acting career could begin. I never thought I'd say this, but I couldn't see the role of Killer Joe being inhabited by anyone more quirky, unsettling, or thrilling as McConaughey.
There's also something seriously notable about the tension director Friedkin (whose most known work would be the iconic game-changer, The Exorcist) erects during the entire course of Killer Joe. I began to notice it around twenty minutes in, when I felt that I never officially held a comfortable position in my seat, rearranging myself every few minutes. Then, during the scene where Chris is desperately trying to outrun two goons on choppers, taking backroads, alleyways, and literally anything that will get him off the track of the two bikers, I became restless and enthralled. Killer Joe provides us with warm Texas sun, and blends it elegantly with the raw thriller aspects found in a typical film noir picture. The entire climax, taking place in the trailer of the Smith family, is tense and unnerving. This is when I began to realize that this story had been a play prior to a film and that screenwriter Tracy Letts had adapted it so quaintly to film that the transformation was almost not noticeable (even if it would've been, it still wouldn't have been a thing to discourage). This is one of the first, if not the first, time I've watched a film that I didn't know was a play until later in the picture. The fact that this film confidently branches out so far past the idea of a stage-play to the point of being unrecognizable from its roots is a huge accomplishment all on its own.
I close with a forewarning that while I feel that the NC-17 rating Killer Joe received is somewhat questionable, I state with caution that this is a very violent picture, with several sequences of brutality that nearly channel the lines of sadistic depravity. Friedkin, however, is sure to capture it through a lens of style, similar to how Rob Zombie beautifully captured the horrifying deeds of the three despicable murderers in The Devil's Rejects. The film's charm is indescribable and its execution, fearless and zealous, making this one of the most surprising and impressive motion pictures of this year.
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Matthew McConaughey, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, and Juno Temple. Directed by: William Friedkin.
I too feel the NC-17 rating this film proudly bears is a bit much. If the film lacked a full frontal Gina Gershon and Matthew McConaughey, I'm sure it would've easily obtained a strong R-rating. The MPAA's bias for sexual content over violent content is wildly known and just the fact that they oversimplify the violence in this film to "a scene of brutality" had me laughing. The film includes some of the most hard-hitting scenes of combat that I've seen in any other film this year, and I'd absolutely love to know just what scene the MPAA was referring to in the first place.
The film centers around the family of twentysomething Chris Smith (played fantastically by Emile Hirsch, assuming the type of role he should continue to seek out), a lowlife drug dealer residing in a Texas trailer park, with his dim-witted father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church), his annoying step-mother Sharla (Gina Gershon), and mentally disabled sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris has plunged himself into debt with another local dealer, and consults his father about his biological mother and her $50,000 insurance payoff that would be collected by Dottie if she were to die. Chris proposes the idea to hire "Killer" Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a sleazy cop who also works as an assassin, to kill his mother and receive a cut of the insurance money, with him, Ansel, and Sharla getting a good chunk of the profits. However, things become incredibly twisted when Killer Joe begins to fall in love with Dottie, and how the whole family begins on an even steeper downward spiral due to a colossal misunderstanding thanks to Chris.
Every character in the film is despicable in their own way, either by the shameful atrocities they commit or just because of the fact that their motivation is hopelessly self-centered and shockingly shallow and inept. Thankfully, all these subhuman characters are played efficiently by first-rate performers. Emile Hirsch gives a convincing, dignified performance, in possibly one of the most confident screen roles in his adult life. Juno Temple comes off of Dirty Girl, a wonderful coming of age drama, to embody a wildly different yet extremely interesting character, seemingly taken advantage of due to her intelligence or lack thereof. And Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon are consistently wonderful in their roles, especially during the climatic half when they appear to be tested as actors all together. But the award-winning performance here goes to McConaughey, who is three for three this year, with roles in Bernie (another film looking to brew the idea of "Texas noir") and Magic Mike buoying him to an actor of near first-rate level. McConaughey's early career was plagued by a number of questionable romantic comedies and the occasional goofy action picture or two, but this year, we've seen nothing but him assuming roles of great confidence, always possessing a firmly dignified slickness and swagger that sets him apart from other actors who have just started recognizing their potential. It would appear that McConaughey just woke up one day and realized that time was fleeting and his real acting career could begin. I never thought I'd say this, but I couldn't see the role of Killer Joe being inhabited by anyone more quirky, unsettling, or thrilling as McConaughey.
There's also something seriously notable about the tension director Friedkin (whose most known work would be the iconic game-changer, The Exorcist) erects during the entire course of Killer Joe. I began to notice it around twenty minutes in, when I felt that I never officially held a comfortable position in my seat, rearranging myself every few minutes. Then, during the scene where Chris is desperately trying to outrun two goons on choppers, taking backroads, alleyways, and literally anything that will get him off the track of the two bikers, I became restless and enthralled. Killer Joe provides us with warm Texas sun, and blends it elegantly with the raw thriller aspects found in a typical film noir picture. The entire climax, taking place in the trailer of the Smith family, is tense and unnerving. This is when I began to realize that this story had been a play prior to a film and that screenwriter Tracy Letts had adapted it so quaintly to film that the transformation was almost not noticeable (even if it would've been, it still wouldn't have been a thing to discourage). This is one of the first, if not the first, time I've watched a film that I didn't know was a play until later in the picture. The fact that this film confidently branches out so far past the idea of a stage-play to the point of being unrecognizable from its roots is a huge accomplishment all on its own.
I close with a forewarning that while I feel that the NC-17 rating Killer Joe received is somewhat questionable, I state with caution that this is a very violent picture, with several sequences of brutality that nearly channel the lines of sadistic depravity. Friedkin, however, is sure to capture it through a lens of style, similar to how Rob Zombie beautifully captured the horrifying deeds of the three despicable murderers in The Devil's Rejects. The film's charm is indescribable and its execution, fearless and zealous, making this one of the most surprising and impressive motion pictures of this year.
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Matthew McConaughey, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, and Juno Temple. Directed by: William Friedkin.
helpful•5026
- StevePulaski
- Dec 21, 2012
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Killer Joe: A Twisted Redneck Trailer Park Murder Story
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $11,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,987,762
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $37,900
- Jul 29, 2012
- Gross worldwide
- $4,633,668
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content

Recently viewed
Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.