The pace can at times be a touch slow, but it's easy to see why the Coens allow certain scenes to simmer, especially when their actors are chewing up the screen as they do.
Comment
04/08/03
Blood Simple (1984)
97
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:61
Fresh:59
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: When a bar owner discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife, a complex web of deceit and double crosses ensues in a small Texas town. The Coen brothers' first picture is... [More]
Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh
Director: Joel Coen
Reviews for Blood Simple
Top CriticAs black, sinful and nasty as a weekful of Hitchcocks, this is as fresh and intoxicating now as it was back then. In a word: deadly.
11/06/07
Top CriticA remarkably assured debut for Coen.
06/24/06
Top CriticThe movie remains mired in a smart-alecky film-school sensibility.
11/06/07
There is not one wasted shot in this arty film, nor one that is not a design student's delight... [the camera] gets down on the floor and shows us the dust swirling around a pair of boots and under a door.
04/08/03
This first Blood is worth a second look (or, of course, a first viewing) by fans who like their plot simple, bloody and completely engaging.
04/08/03
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04/08/03
Stylish shoestring noir, and an admirable filmmaking debut for the brothers Coen.
07/30/03
...for all its delirious impudence and film school showiness, it's so clearly a movie made by guys crazy about moviemaking.
02/21/04
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11/24/08
Atmospheric and chilling. Among the Coen Brothers best work.
08/04/02
Blood Simple is a good mystery, both crafty and clever, but never really exceeds satisfactory.
01/01/00
Director Joel Coen and his co-screenwriting brother Ethan rarely miss a beat with their smart film noir dialogue and perfect little details...
04/08/03
No review available.
12/01/02
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01/01/00
Blood Simple is highlighted by an absolutely wonderous performance that is both sleazy and diabolical by M. Emmet Walsh.
08/24/01
A stunning debut, and arguably one of the Coens' two best features, this Gothic noir introduced the wry, sardonic, and playful approach that would shape their future work, and launched the screen career of the brilliant Frances McDormand.
04/15/06
Joel and Ethan Coen's spooky tale is still fresh today! They truly opened the door for low budget, intelligent, slow moving films; that real people banter, believable situations all delightfully twisted around a dreamlike state.
04/08/03
The Coens remain fastidiously indifferent to the plight of their creations, the better to concentrate on the dazzle of their doom
11/15/09
A deliciously decadent, delightfully twisted and masterfully macabre tale.
04/08/03
Latest News for Blood Simple
July 29, 2009:
Zhang Yimou Remakes Blood Simple 
Sony Pictures Classics has announced plans to distribute the latest film from director Zhang Yimou -- a remake of the Coen brothers' 1984 "Blood Simple." More...
June 26, 2009:
Weekly Ketchup: Adam Sandler joins The Zookeeper, David Fincher joins Facebook
Most of the entertainment media's attention is focused on the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, but there were still interesting film development news this week,... More...
November 07, 2007:
Total Recall: Welcome to Coen Brothers Country
Before expanding wide on November 21, No Country for Old Men (90 percent) will play in select cities this Friday riding a wave of huge expectations. The Cormac McCarthy-based... More...
February 02, 2006:
Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee... More...
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