Blood Simple

This 1984 indie Neo-noir masterpiece launched the international career of both the Coen brothers and its female lead Frances McDormand (who married Joel Cohen that same year). In parts shockingly violent while in other parts spiked with pitch-black humour, BLOOD SIMPLE, which has just been released in a glorious 4K restoration (available in a 2-disc UHD & Blu-ray as well as a Steelbook format), proves that cinematic treasures can be achieved on a small budget, and let’s not forget Carter Burwell’s atmospheric piano soundtrack…

“Down here, you’re on your own”. Those almost prophetic words provide some of the film’s opening dialogue (in VoiceOver) as we follow Texan bartender Ray (John Getz) driving along a rain-soaked highway during the night, with his lover Abby (Frances McDormand) sitting next to him. However, the situation is more complicated than it looks, because Ray is in the employ of Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya), who runs a sleazy bar joint, while housewife Abby happens to be Marty’s wife! By the looks of it, their marriage has been on the rocks for some time and once we get to know Marty, a deeply unsympathetic character, better, we can’t blame Abby for going astray.

For now, Ray and Abby have to make do with motels scattered along the highway for their secret get-togethers but when they are spending another night of passion in a motel room, the phone unexpectedly rings. “Who’s this?”, asks Ray, with the voice at the other end of the line asking the same. Realising that they are being watched, Abby, back in her place, packs some belongings including a revolver which her hubby once gave her and temporarily moves into Ray’s place. As for Ray, he goes to see his boss and demands his due back pay, presumably because he too has plans to scarper. 

However, Marty had suspected for some time that his wife might be unfaithful and thus had hired a private eye, Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh), who turns out to be as rotten as his job. Somehow, he managed to snap photos of Ray and Abby while in a rather steamy situation in the motel room and proudly presents his photographic proof to his client. "Why did you take these photos?”, asks a visibly upset and humiliated Marty… “Well, you can always frame them”, replies Visser sarcastically. At first, Marty - deeply hurt in his male pride, unsuccessfully attempts to kidnap his wife, only to receive a massive kick in his groin. Even more humiliated, he drives off. Angry, he strikes a deal with private eye Visser, who suddenly is to become a gun for hire: he’s supposed to bump off Abby and Ray for the not to be sniffed at the amount of $10,000 which Visser, it goes without saying, accepts. The private eye then orders Marty to go fishing while he will kill the lovers though it’s from this point onward that nothing goes according to plan… 

For starters, Visser, who at first presents photographic evidence of the double murder to Marty, has ‘manipulated’ the photos as we find out a short while later. On top of it, and prior to the murder, he broke into Ray’s home to steal Abby’s gun. After Marty had handed Visser the promised money, he suddenly draws the gun (Abby’s gun) from his pocket and shoots Marty before leaving, without realising he left his lighter behind. A short while later, when Ray enters Marty’s office in the bar, he finds Marty slumped on his chair with blood dripping on the floor. Furthermore, he accidentally steps on the gun lying on the floor, which he recognises as belonging to Abby…therefore concluding that it was she who killed her husband.

What follows next is akin to a comedy of errors, with Ray frantically cleaning up the crime scene and while doing so, committing every mistake in the book (fingerprints, fingerprints and more fingerprints). It gets even more absurd when he tries to dispatch Marty's body somewhere in a field and Marty turns out to be, well, not quite as dead as Visser and Ray had assumed! The whole scenario turns into an insane ride filled with twists and turns galore, as Visser suddenly has real reason to kill off Ray and Abby. To give away any more plot details would spoil the broth but rest assured, this will have you at the edge of your seat until the end. Oh, and it's brilliantly acted and photographed as well. 

BLOOD SIMPLE (the title is derived from the novel ‘Red Harvest’ by Dashiell Hammet) offers the following Special Features:
Intro by Mortimer Young / ‘Designing Blood Simple’ featurette / ‘Shooting Blood Simple’ featurette / ‘Composing Blood Simple’ with Carter Burwell / Interviews / Fake trailer / Poster.