I was already a big fan of the Coen Brothers before I saw Blood Simple, I loved Fargo and thought No Country for Old Men was also great. But Blood Simple has this feeling of unease that I don't think the Coen's have captured since. The cinematography in this film is one of it's defining aspects, the slow, lingering shots and great use of colour give the film a grungy and ominous feel, yet still showing its 80's feel. The acting in this film is also phenomenal, Frances McDormand does a great debut performance giving her character a great sense of worriedness, Dan Hedaya pulls off an agitated performance with a visible radiance of anger. John Getz's performance is often overlooked, yet I feel that it is a great depiction of someone under extreme stress, and of course M. Emmet Walsh does possibly the best perfomance of his career playing a menacing and disturbing private detective. The way Walsh can go from being calm and jokey to serious and dark in a matter of seconds brings a strong sense of anxiety to viewers of the film. The soundtrack is also great, a debut by legendary composer Carter Burwell possesses a dark yet simplistic tone that makes it one of my favourite soundtracks in all of film. Overall this is an amazing neo-noir, one of the best of it's kind, I would highly reccommend that you buy the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray which contains a beautiful looking restoration of the film and lots of behind the scenes content. This film proves itself to be among the great directorial debuts like Reservoir Dogs, Citizen Kane and This is Spinal Tap.

The Cohen brothers did a marvellous job in delivering a suspenseful film noir in which a tavern owner named Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya) is betrayed by his wife Abby (Frances McDormand) who is having an extra marital affair with one of Julian's tavern employee's named Ray (John Getz). Julian wants to confirm his suspicions so he hires an overweight and slimy private detective named Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to follow his wife Abby to see if she is in fact involved in a sexual relationship with Ray.Not only does Loren Visser confirm Julian's worst suspicions about his wife Abby's sexual relationship with Ray, Loren gleefully provides to Julian some compromising photographs of Abby and Ray that take Julian by surprise and lead to his wanting to confront his wife Abby about her affair. Julian's reaction to seeing those dirty photos sends him over the edge and when his attempt to physically pull Abby out of the arms of her lover Ray fails, Julian reluctantly seeks the assistance of the slimy private detective Loren Visser once again. Julian wants Loren Visser to murder his wife Abby and her lover Ray and do away with their bodies where no one will ever find them.The plot thickens and the four main characters in this Cohen brother film noir being Abby (Frances McDormand), her lover Ray (John Getz), Abby's revenge filled husband Julian (Dan Hedaya), and the overweight slimy Private Detective Loren Visser (M. Emmett Walsh) who Julian hires carry this film from beginning to end with a generous amount of intrigue sprinkled in as well as to whom really betrays whom. This is in my humble opinion an under rated film noir and respecting of more recognition than the over rated (1990) Millers Crossing. I thought Dan Hedaya's portrayal of the tavern owner Julian Marty whose employee barman and wife are having an illicit affair right under his nose and in his attempt to seek revenge results in his own destruction is poignant. The betrayal by all four of the key characters is what makes this Cohen brothers film deserving of belonging in the criterion collection. I give this fast paced film noir a nine (9) out of ten (10) rating. Dan Hedaya was definitely robbed and should have been Oscar nominated for either a Best Actor or at least Best Supporting Actor for his emotional and vengeful portrayal of Julian Marty.

Whenever this film has come up in conversation, I have always said how good it is but barely remembering much beyond a wincingly tense scene involving a window, a crazy burial scene and the fact that the image was always very dark. That viewing must have been on some less than wonderful video because although most of the film is shot at night, it looks marvellous. Indeed, the visuals, the dialogue, the use of music, the pacing and the performances are near faultless. I still feel that burial scene is a bit too crazy but then allowing for the delirious state the main protagonist was in maybe it is fine, just not what any thinking person would choose to do. But no matter because it makes for great viewing, as does the entire film. There are moments when we do not know quite what is going on (and doubt the characters do too) but this is noir or at least neo- noir and that's all good.

"Blood Simple." is an American 100-minute film from 1984 and this one is mostly known today for being the first full feature film made by the Coen Bros that started their path to greatness in the upcoming decades. The only relevant female character is played by Frances McDormand (no denying she was really stunning in here) and this was the year when she married Joel Coen and actually this was also her first acting role. Today she is an Oscar winner and way more known than her male colleagues in this over 30-year-old film. But they are good too and it really is a strong ensemble performance that did not get half the awards attention it should have. And while the Coens are also masters of subtlety, this film here is at its best during the loud and spectacular sequences like when early on the investigator shoots his client or the scene when one character suddenly comes back to life again or of course the spectacular finale with one of the most memorable knife scenes in film history. The Coens are also truly great when it comes to including crucial coincidence in their films and even when they were at or even under the age of 30, they were also very skilled with regard to that already. And in addition to that, there is also a great deal of karma in here. The only truly innocent character from the 4 in the center of it all is eventually also the only one who survives.There were minor issues I had with the film, but all of them came from my subjective perspective like when McDormand's character suspects her lover to kill her too soon. But none of these were bad or anything, just not as great as most of the other stuff. And once again, this is a film that delivers the usual Coen situational comedy approach like the toilet sign about washing your hands, the jumping dog, the light on/off near the end and many other really interesting moments. As always with Joel and Etan, you will discover a great deal of new things on rewatch, things you may have missed out on during the first viewing because the love to detail is as good as it gets and even if it is not surprising if you have seen other Coen films, you still should not take it for granted. This film is really as good as it gets for launching your career and many other great filmmakers can only wish for their first work to be on such a high level of quality like "Blood Sample". This is very much on par with the brothers' very best, maybe right now my number 2 from the duo, second to none except their Best Picture winner. I highly recommend checking out these genuinely entertaining 100 minutes Blood Simple had to offer. Not a film for simple people though as it will clearly transcend their horizon.