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Expect the usual pulp tropes, but this is no pulp film and is worthy of deeper consideration. Peter Curtis glimpses deep beneath the underbelly of 1950s America in this unflinching adaptation of Jim Thompson’s cult 1950s novel.

Unafraid of controversy (consider Road to Guantanamo and the explicit 9 Songs), The Killer Inside Me is Winterbottom’s unflinching adaptation of Jim Thompson’s 'unfilmable' cult 50s southern-fried noir novel. On the surface, Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (a fantastic Casey Affleck) is a good all-American servant of his community, but in truth he is a psychopath with a grudge to settle. Expect the usual pulp tropes, but this is no pulp film and is worthy of deeper consideration.
 
The acting and direction are superlative across the board, including surprising performances from Jessica Alba (as the local prostitute who kicks off the plot) and Kate Hudson (the fiancée). Hugely controversial due to the scenes of violence against these two women, for many this is reminiscent of the misogyny inherent in the infamous Straw Dogs. To me the film is more closely in tune with the themes of worthier fare: Blue Velvet and Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer. In fact, this is Blue Velvet removed from the dreamscapes of Lynch’s imagination and planted firmly in the real.

 

Peter Curtis on 26th August 2010
View all 8 of Peter Curtis's reviews