Rating: 
Summary: An atmosphere of mistrust
Review: On its face, this movie by the Coen brothers has everything that makes a B movie - a simple plot, lots of blood and some melodrama. A story of a husband who hires a PI to murder his cheating wife? What makes this work, is a very powerful storyline, which is much more clever than it seems. This is a Film Noir comedy of errors, where everyone assumes different things about the murders and murderers. Each of them has a very partial information. It is the to the film's credit that it is able to present all the points of view from unique perspectives, thus creating several versions of the story line, without slowing the film. Other than the clever plot, the film is also funny in a dry sarcastic way, shot with very unorthodox uses of camera (witness the cool, surreal beginning), and finely acted, with the Private Detective really stealing the show. I only give it four stars because the Coen brothers have evolved and improved as storytellers and film makers.
Rating: 
Summary: New version a little tighter, better
Review: I don't care for the cutesy new intro in the new directors' cut version of "Blood Simple"--it seems like a cop from "Rocky Horror"--but overall, the minor deletions and the soundtrack changes are valid directoral decisions that in no way harm the film. It is, if anything, a bit tighter and smoother--although still very, very quirky."Blood Simple' is still a striking, original film. If anything, the years have been kind to it. Suddenly the computer in Marty's office seems quaint. The 80's-style push button phones seem as old-fashioned as something from the 30's. "Blood Simple" has entered the timeless realm of "noir," wherein things are immediate and remote, familiar and foreign at the same time. Great beginning to a great career.
Rating:
Summary: Nightmarish Happenings, Dreamlike execution
Review: Probably the best directorial debut of the last 25 years. Much darker and harder-edged than their 90's movies, but any fan of their other movies should be obligated to see how good the Coens were right at the outset.
Rating:
Summary: Wickedly Imaginative Moder Noir!
Review: Joel and Ethan Coen almost single-handedly revived 'Film Noir', that have been dead ever since 'Body Heat'. Pulpy, twisted and darkly comic atmosphere, that would later become their stamp. A twisting plot that has all the right elements for a satisfying murder mystery. A superb cast brings all these sleazy characters to life. This was Frances McDormand's first film, she would later become a Coen regular, and win an Oscar for her performance is Coen's 'Fargo'. But M. Emmett Walsh almost steals the show as the sleazy private eye who double-crosses everyone and nearly kills them all for good measure. The ending is excellent, with one thrill after another. The film is filled with in-jokes and is basically a homage to classic Noir. Extras: Holly Hunter's voice appears when the bartender checks his phone messages. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film an 8!
Rating:
Summary: Walter Neff Said...
Review: With a story that makes "Double Indemnity" look like the quickest way to get from point A to point B, a couple of my very favorite filmmakers turned the film noir conventions 360 degrees. Yes, that means it ended up back where it started, but much better as a result of the the trip. A good film noir needs a couple key elements, not the least of which are several layers of double crosses and misunderstandings. It also needs the one key clue that could clear or incriminate a murderer. To those ends, Joel and Ethan Coen created yet another little world in which several clues are left unused or misunderstood, and the double crosses are the bread and butter of one very crafty, though seedy, private eye. John Getz, Frances McDormand, M. Emmet Walsh, and Dan Hedaya are all 102% perfect in their roles. Barry Sonnenfeld delights with his cinematography, and the Coens have fun messing with the viewer. They set out to make a darkly funny, very twisted noir and they succeeded. The real stars are the Coens, much like with any of their movies (exceptions made for John Turturro or John Goodman in any of their roles, of course). Joel and Ethan are master craftsmen of cinema usually overlooked by mainstream audiences. Their debut, "Blood Simple," not only showcased the promise of their talent, but was a tour de force on its own terms. Along with "L.A. Confidential," "Blade Runner," and "Hard Eight," "Blood Simple" proves that film noir is not dead. Because it is, as this film proves, very hard to kill something, and have it stay dead....
Rating:
Summary: dead bodies sure are heavy
Review: A Coen brothers masterpiece.Funny,bloody, great script,cool camera work-this movie has it all.M.Emmet Walsh deserved an Oscar for his perfectly played portrayal of a sleazzzy detective.I also loved all the secondary characters like Samm Art Williams as the bartender.My favorite shot in the movie-that newspaper flying at the screen door. this is one of those movies you can watch a hundred times and it never gets old.
Rating:
Summary: the most overlooked coen brothers movie is one of their best
Review: this tribute to film noir of the 40s definitely does the genre justice. surpassed only by barton fink, this movie is creepy and engrossing.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacularly original, engrossing film
Review: The artistically astounding and first film that propelled the Coen brothers into the national spotlight should not be missed. Possibly topped only by Fargo, this film is especially amazing that it is a truly top-shelf production, while having been produced on a shoestring budget. Still one of my favorite films of all time, Blood Simple leads you through plot labrynths that took me a few vierwings to fully digest. But this is not to say it was not mesmerizing the first time viewed! The plentiful violence was all framed within a eirily authentic human context, yet was so intensely grisly in nature as to become darkly comic. All aspects of this movie are uniformly excellent - acting, cinematography, screenplay - but in the end, its directorial virtuosity is what lingered in my mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: I actually came into this movie with high expectations, expecting to laugh and be scared at the same time. Unfotunately, this movie satisfied neither of my hopes. I am often a fan of quirky humor that most other people reject, but I found nothing in this movie that was remotely funny, except for the pathetic way Ray tried to mop up the blood spill with something which amounted to little more than a rag. The movie got a little chuckle out of me at that point, but it was weak and died out quickly and permanently. I've heard people say that they found the burial scene "hysterical" and "hilarious" but I found the man's (the movie was so boring that I forgot his name already) struggle to live was pitiful and sad in its own way. Personally, I've never been able to take live burials, and it doesn't make sense to me that the lover wasn't capable of killing the man with a shovel but could subject him to the worst possible death known to humankind instead. On the other hand, a few reasons why I found this movie to be bad. Film-noir/Horror depends on two things in general that make a great movie: dialogue and suspense. Blood Simple had neither. There was little or no conversation between the characters that I found interesting, and the ones which took place betweeen the wife and her lover seemed forced and strained. Also, I don't see how anyone can say that the plot was suspenseful. The viewer is made aware of everything that goes on, and is never given the chance to think for themselves about what is going to happen. There were no plot-twists that I could see. On a good note, the performance by Maurice, the bartender, was excellent and deserved a little more attention. He was the only character that I was happy to see on screen. The husband was also excellently played, and he was the one character I wanted to win in the end, and whose fate I was interested in (I kept thinking he would reappear at the end, and was quite disapppointed he didn't). Anyway, if anyone out there wants to see a suspenseful/humorous story in the tradition of film-noir, pass this one by at the video store and head for L.A. Confidential instead.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful debut.
Review: The first and one of the best coen movies, Blood Simple is a movie with so many twists and turns. The first time I saw it, I didn't notice everything that really happens. After seeing it a few times, I can see every little detail that the coen brothers beautiful hide in this amazing movie. A very creative and over-looked movie, Blood Simple is among my favorites. It takes a lot for me to give a movie five stars, so I gave it four.
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