Blood Simple (1984)
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In the first film of brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, M. Emmett Walsh plays Visser, an unscrupulous private eye hired by Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) to murder Marty's faithless wife Abby (Frances McDormand) and her paramour, Ray (John Getz), one of Marty's employees. But Visser is no more up-front with Marty than with anyone else; he makes some slight modifications of the original plan so that it better serves his own best interests. After a surprise double-cross and the murder of one of the important players, matters spiral out of control, and the plot gyrates through a complicated string of darkly humorous events. False assumptions, guilt, and fear all lead to a frantic attempt to conceal evidence and the heart-pounding, irony-filled denouement. Blood Simple was re-released in the summer of 2000 with a digitally-remastered soundtrack and -- at the Coens' behest -- a few minutes of dialogue trimmed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- John Getz - Ray
- Dan Hedaya - Marty
- Samm-Art Williams - Maurice
- William Creamer - Old Cracker
- Nancy Ginger - Girl on Overlook
- Senor Marco - Mr. Garcia
- Deborah Neumann - Debra
- Shannon Sedwick - Stripper
- Loren Bivens - Strip Bar Exhorter
- Frances McDormand - Abby
- M. Emmet Walsh - Visser
- Van Brooks - Man from Lubbock
- Raquel Gavia - Landlady
- Holly Hunter - Answering machine
- Bob McAdams - Strip Bar Senator
- Preston Robertson - Radio Evangelist
- Rev. William
- Director(s):
- Joel Coen
- Writer(s):
- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
- Producer(s):
- Mike Bacarella, Ethan Coen
- Closed Captioning:
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- Subtitles:
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- 1985 - Blood Simple - Independent Spirit Awards - Best Director
- 1985 - Blood Simple - Independent Spirit Awards - Best Actor
- 1985 - Blood Simple - Sundance Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic
- 1985 - Blood Simple - Sundance Film Festival - Grand Prize: Narrative
