DVD Reviews

Blood Simple - Blu-ray Review - CLIPS ADDED!

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 13, 2011, 14:22 GMT

From the celebrated filmmaking team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen ("Fargo", "Raising Arizona"), comes this visually stunning tale of a double-cross - and murder - in a small town. When the owner of a backwoods bar hires a man to kill his cheating wife and her boyfriend, he opens a door into the criminal world that he\'ll never be able to shut. "Blood Simple" hurtles forward with the speed ...more

Joel and Ethan Coen’s throwback to film noir makes its way to Blu-ray, but those hoping for substantial special features will be disappointed. 

Bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) suspects that his wife Abby (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with his bartender Ray (John Getz).  He hires greasy private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh).  What follows is a series of mistakes, double-crosses, and murder most fowl. 

I didn’t want to give too much away, but Blood Simple is a film noir that introduced the world to Joel and Ethan Coen.  Blood Simple, derived from a term used in a Dashiell Hammett novel, shows all the promise that the Cohen Brothers would bring to their future films.  The characters are your typical noir ones.  Marty is sleazy and out to find out if his wife is cheating. 

When his even greasier private eye drops the evidence in his lap, the next logical step is to have her and her boyfriend rubbed out.  Visser is a slimeball, but not that big of one as all he is after is Marty’s money and stages it to look like he did the deed.  Of course, through misunderstanding and plot machination the loyal Ray starts to think that Abby rubbed out Marty and vice versa.  How much better it would’ve been for both of them if they would’ve talked a little more. 

Abby isn’t exactly your typical femme fatale, but fatalities abound around the time the film closes.  Not exactly a happy ending, but noirs aren’t meant to be.  The Coens obviously know their way around noir, even in a modern setting, and excel in building suspense and shooting it in an interesting way. 

The performances are wonderful as well, especially the turns by Hedaya and the always interesting Walsh.  Simply put, it was a sign of the great things to come. 

Blood Simple is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1).  Special features are an odd bunch.  I hate to spoil them, but the Cohen’s are having a joke on us.  You get, in high definition, a 1 minute introduction by Mortimer Young, a commentary by Kenneth Loring of Forever Young Films, and the 2 minute theatrical trailer. 

Both Young and Loring are actors and playing along under, I assume, the encouragement of the Brothers Coen. 

Blood Simple showed promise from a pair of fledgling filmmakers that would go on to much greater things.  What disappoints is that instead of giving us extras that accentuate filmmaking we’re given a gag.  Might be funny for a little bit, but I guess we really should care more about the movie than the extras. 

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