Blood Simple (1984)

In this Coen Brothers' off-beat, diabolical, violent, neo-noir, independent horror-crime drama - their directorial debut film, it told about a vicious triangle of deceit, misunderstandings and miscommunications, revenge, greed, lust and deception. The plot involved a married couple (the two-timing wife was cheating), and her cuckolded, vengeful husband who hired a PI to kill his wife's younger lover - and then both of them. The film was enhanced by Barry Sonnenfeld's cinematography (and chiaroscuro lighting), while Carter Burwell's soundtrack consisted of synthesized percussion instruments, a spare piano score and chimes, including the repetition of the Four Tops' tune: "It's the Same Old Song" and the predominance of overhead, swirling ceiling fans.

The film's running time varied depending upon the source: 99 minutes (the original theatrical cut), and 95 minutes (in the shorter 1998 Director's Cut). Joel Coen had started his film career as an assistant editor for mentor and director Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981), and both Coens were assisted by Raimi in making a two-minute trailer for their first film in order to pitch and finance it. [Note: One of the most audacious but throwaway tracking shots of the film was of the camera moving down the length of a bar and up and over a drunken man asleep on the bar - typical of Raimi's gliding camera techniques.]

The cynical and fatalistic film's title, quoted from Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel Red Harvest, referred to a single-minded, misguided mental condition after prolonged exposure to bloody and violent situations. Two taglines described how things quickly went feverishly awry:

• "Passion led to adultery. Adultery led to murder. It all seemed so simple..."
• "Murder's hard the first time. After that it's BLOOD SIMPLE."

The clever, crime-gone-wrong film featured sleazy characters, murder plots, an incredible set of excruciating-to-watch death scenes, and double-crosses - all characteristics of classic film noir. It was a tale of murder, mis-read motives, a premature burial, plot twists, and a gruesomely-impaled hand (belonging to vile and sleazy private eye M. Emmet Walsh). The black comedy won the Grand Jury Prize in 1985 at the newly-created Sundance Film Festival, and became a modest box-office success.

• in the opening pre-titles sequence - a montage of views of the Texas landscape (in Williamson County slightly north of Austin), a nihilistic voice-over narration (with a sarcastic drawl) was heard from super-sleazy, amoral private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) about how things "can always go wrong" - even after meticulous planning:
  • "The world is full of complainers. The fact is, nothin' comes with a garantee (sic). Now I don't care if you're the Pope of Rome, President of the United States, or Man of the Year. Somethin' can always go wrong. Go ahead, you know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help and watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else. That's the theory anyway. But what I know about is Texas. An' down here, you're on your own"
• during the title credits, on a two-lane highway and driving in the rain, saloon owner's wife Abby (Frances McDormand in her screen debut) and bartender friend-employee Ray (John Getz) were shown in the dark without their faces; Abby mentioned a gift given to her by her detested husband: "He gave me a little pearl-handled .38 for our first anniversary. Figured I'd better leave before I used it on him"; she was fed up with her awful marriage to her lover's employer and was getting a ride with Ray to Houston; Ray told Abby (the first of many instances): "I ain't a marriage counselor, I don't know what goes on," and confided that he always liked her
• as she spoke about leaving her husband, the two lovers feared that they were being followed by a 1966 VW sedan; they also considered stopping at a motel outside of town and having sex together: (Abby: "What do ya wanna do?"); in the next scene, they were in a motel in bed together; in the morning, Ray was phoned by Abby's menacing husband via the room phone - who made them aware that he had tracked them down and knew about their affair

Two Lovers Engaged in an Affair - Tryst in a Texas Motel

Unhappily Married Abby (Frances McDormand)

Bartender Employee Ray (John Getz) Receiving a Phone Call From His Boss - Abby's Husband

• the next scene was set in the office of the cuckolded husband, to the tune of Joan Black singing "He'll Have to Go"; PI Visser delivered incriminating photos of illicit sex between Abby and Ray in bed together at the motel to Texas-outsider and honky-tonk strip-bar owner/boss Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya); the desperate, bitter and jealous loser Marty had hired Visser to follow the couple
• sweaty and grubby PI Visser presented a manila envelope with some pictures under the pink neon lights of Marty's Neon Boots office - it was a shock and surprise to Marty to see the evidence; Visser mentioned how it was an extra benefit to provide Marty with photos; Visser made the revelation even more stressful and difficult by mentioning: "I know where you can get those framed...Just doin' my job...Call it a fringe benefit...Most of the night. They'd rest every few minutes, then they'd get started again. Quite somethin'"
• Marty appeared physically sick and upset by the photos of his wife Abby having sex with his own employee; distressed by the news, Marty responded: "You know in Greece, they would cut off the head of the messenger that brought the bad news"; as he blew smoke rings from his cigarette, Visser defended himself: "That don't make much sense...It ain't such bad news. I mean, you thought he was colored. You're always assumin' the worst..."; as Visser answered, Marty went to his locked safe to get Visser's pay-off
• Visser was reprimanded by Marty as he was tossed a wad of money in a white envelope: "Don't come around here anymore. If I need ya, I'll know what rock to turn over"; Visser laughed as he replied: "Give me a call whenever you wanna cut off my head. I can always crawl around without it"
• meanwhile the same evening, Ray and Abby had briefly visited her house to pick up a few things, while Marty was away managing his saloon-bar; in her bedroom, Abby located three bullets of ammunition, and her pearl-handled .38 handgun; Ray offered to drop her off at his place: ("You can stay at my place. I'll drop you there")

Three Bullets Found For Abby's .38 Pearl-Handled Hand-Gun

• as the Neon Boots saloon was closing down, to the tune of Patsy Cline singing "Sweet Dreams" on the jukebox, and as workers were throwing trash into an incinerator behind the building, Ray approached Marty to discuss the burning issues between them; Ray asked: "Am I fired?", but Marty refused to talk to him; Ray was pressured to quit with the implication that he no longer worked there: (Ray: "Well, you're not gonna fire me, I might as well quit"); but then Ray learned that he would be denied his final two-week's back pay and he stated angrily: "You owe me for two weeks"; Marty began to blackmail Ray: "She's an expensive piece of ass. But you get a refund if you tell me who else she's been sluicin'..."; Ray continued to demand: "I want that money"
• Marty mocked Ray for thinking he was the only one having an affair with Abby; he warned Ray and predicted that Abby would betray Ray, just like she had betrayed him: "What's funny is her. What's funny is that I had you two followed, because if it's not you she's sleepin' with, it's someone else. And what's really gonna be funny is when she gives you that innocent look and says, 'I don't know what you're talkin' about, Ray. I ain't done anything funny.' But the funniest thing to me right now is that you think that she came back here for you. That's what's f--kin' funny!"; Marty was seething with anger as he sat next to a bug-zapper and threatened Ray - and their discussion ended badly; as Ray walked off, Marty threatened: "Come on this property again, I'll be forced to shoot you. Fair notice"
• after closing, Marty sat in his office and lounged under a rotating ceiling fan; still bitter over Abby's affair with Ray, Marty phoned Abby at Ray's place; when she answered, he didn't speak but now knew where to find her; both Ray and Abby began to express an uneasiness with each other about someone tracking them, or that one of them was having multiple affairs; however, they ended up together in Ray's bed
• the next morning, Marty attempted to intervene in their affair and kidnap Abby from Ray's house; he grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth; she overturned her purse but was unable to reach her gun; he dragged her outside (with trademark Sam Raimi tracking shots), where Marty was humiliated and emasculated when she broke his finger during the beating, and then incapacitated him by kicking him in the groin

Marty's Attempted Kidnapping of Abby at Ray's Place	Abby Attempting to Reach For Her Gun In Her Overturned Purse
Abby Breaking Marty's Finger	Abby Fighting Back - Kicking Marty in the Groin

• Marty (with his broken p---y finger in a small splint) met up again with Visser who was found leaning on the door of his small VW; seated with Visser in his VW (with a boob-blinking nude baby-doll figurine hanging from his rear-view mirror - "Isn't that wild?"), Marty was asked: "Stick your finger up the wrong person's ass?"; Visser told about a man he knew who had it worse with two broken hands: "...Now he's got two busted flippers. So I says to him, I said, 'Creighton, I hope your wife really loves you. 'Cause for the next five weeks, you can't even wipe your own god-damn ass.' That's a test. Test of true love"
• the very "irritated" Marty again called on Visser to spy on and assassinate (a "not strictly legal' job) both his cheating wife Abby and Ray; Visser agreed: "Well, if the pay's right, I'll do it"; although he accepted the job for $10,000, he was doubtful of Marty's mental condition and called him a "simple" idiot - a reference to the film's title: "Hell, you've been thinkin' about it for so much, it's driving you simple....I'm supposed to do a murder - two murders, trust you not to go simple on me and do somethin' stupid. I mean really stupid. Now why should I trust you?"
• to carry out his plan, Visser instructed Marty to go out of town to Corpus Christi on a fishing trip and "get yourself noticed"; Marty suggested that the two bodies would never be found if deposited in his saloon's incinerator; meanwhile, Abby inquired in town about renting an apartment from landlady Mrs. Estevez (Raquel Gavia)
• in the middle of the night while Abby and Ray were asleep together in his place, Visser parked his VW across the street, broke in without being detected, and stole Abby's pearl-handled .38 gun (partially loaded with only three bullets) from her purse; he could have killed the sleeping couple in the house, but had other plans; the unscrupulous Visser had in mind an attempted double-cross and betrayal of Marty; he was planning to fake his assassin-for-hire plot; he phoned Marty to tell him the deed was done and that he was owed money: ("You owe me some money")

		The Unaware Sleeping Couple in Bed Together
Visser's Theft of Abby's .38 Gun From Her Purse in Ray's Place - Its Barrel Was Loaded with Only Three Bullets

• in Marty's office where the sweating Visser sat and lit up a cigarette with his lighter, Marty arrived and deposited four hooked, rotting and putrifying fish on his desk - they would serve as his alibi for being out of town during the murders (and the Coen Bros.' literal and metaphoric 'red herring'); Visser presented 'doctored' photos of the dead couple and claimed he had taken care of the bodies; Marty looked sick and retreated with the photo envelope to the bathroom; then, after Marty returned and opened his safe to pay Visser $10,000 (with a stack of bills), he surreptitiously placed one of the pictures into his locked safe [Note: Later, it was revealed that Marty's plan was to blame the missing $10,000 on his employee Meurice (Samm-Art Williams).]
• as Visser was being paid $10,000 from Marty's safe, he used Abby's stolen, pearl-handled .38 gun (handled with a handkerchief to prevent fingerprints) to shoot Marty once in the chest - then left the gun on the floor at the scene of the crime to frame Abby and stuffed his pocket with the cash; he neglected to check to see if Marty was actually dead; as Visser left, he muttered: "Who looks stupid now?"
• after Visser left the office, he didn't realize that he had cluelessly left behind a path of incriminating evidence - including his engraved lighter (with a western lasso spelling out his first name "LOREN") under the pile of fish; he was also unaware that Marty had put one of the doctored photos into his safe, and had swapped it with an "ALL EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS BEFORE RESUMING WORK" sign
• later in the evening, Ray arrived at the bar to insist on being paid his back wages; he entered Marty's back office and accidentally kicked Abby's gun (that discharged its second bullet); he picked up the gun and recognized that it was Abby's gun - and naturally assumed that she was the killer; he realized and discovered the bar owner's mortally-wounded body seated at his desk; to protectively take action, to the tune of "It's the Same Old Song," Ray cleaned up the back-office crime scene to cover up the blood evidence, and mask the homicide he thought Abby had committed; he placed Abby's gun in Marty's coat pocket, and then to hide the blood-soaked body, he dragged it to the back seat of his car; he tossed bloody towels and clothing into the incinerator-dumpster out back and drove off
• in an absolutely horrifying (and wordless) long sequence in the middle of the night, Ray drove Marty's body to a barren and remote rural dirt field (with billboards promoting Doyle Wilson homes); on the way, he listened to WKLJ radio with a fundamental evangelist named John Mucee broadcasting about coming signs, including the Jupiter Effect (an alignment of the planets as a destructive force); he then quoted Matthew 6:18 (about not openly trying to seek God's approval), and spoke about the Anti-Christ
• after parking and bolting into a field, to his shock, Ray realized that the back door of his car was ajar and the bloody back seat was empty; Marty was still alive - found crawling away from the car!; Ray backed up his car, and then resisted running him over, or bashing him over the head with a shovel; he decided to bury the struggling-to-live Marty in a hole that he had dug; as Ray was digging, Marty removed Abby's gun from his jacket pocket, pointed it at Ray and fired three times, but the chamber was empty (the gun had now been fired 5 times, with one bullet left); Ray was able to take the gun from Marty's trembling hand, and then feverishly covered him up with dirt before sunrise; when done, he smacked his shovel multiple times on the ground above the suffocated corpse of Marty

Ray's Live Burial of Abby's Husband Julian Marty in a Grave Dug in a Field

• from a deserted gas station's phone booth nearby in the early morning, Ray phoned Abby and told her of his love, and then shortly later after arriving in her new, sparsely-furnished rented apartment, he silently stared at her from afar; he seemed to share in her guilt of killing her husband
• meanwhile, as Visser was trying to destroy photo evidence by burning all of the incriminating photos he had taken (or doctored) of Abby with Ray together, he noticed the sign Marty had swapped with one of the doctored photos: "ALL EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS BEFORE RESUMING WORK"; he also realized that his prized monogrammed lighter was missing
• still wearing his bloody shirt and clothing, Ray admitted to Abby that he had protected her: "Everything is all right. Took care of everything...I know about it, Abby...I cleaned it all up...We can't go around half-cocked. What we need is, uh, time to think about this, figure it out. We got some time now. But we gotta be smart...What's important is that we did it. That's the only thing that matters. We both did it for each other. That's what's important," but she was thoroughly confused and didn't understand ("I don't know what you're talkin' about"); he thought she was deceitful and they argued together when she used the exact same phrase Marty had predicted that she would use to betray him: "I mean, what are you talkin' about? I haven't done anything funny"; she wrongly assumed that Ray had been in a deadly fight over his wages with Marty, while he was still of the belief that she was guilty of attempting to kill Marty
• Ray was equally perplexed after Abby received a phone call from Visser (who did not speak and hung up), and then she told Ray that it was Marty calling; Abby asked: "What's goin' on with you two?"; Ray thought she was deceiving him: ("You can call him back, whoever it was. I'll get out of your way"), and he left in a panic (he had just buried Marty alive) after placing Abby's gun on her table
• shortly later at Ray's place (as he was covering his bloody rear car seat with a blanket), fellow black bartender Meurice angrily accused Ray of stealing $10,000 from Marty's safe; Meurice claimed he had recently received a phone message from Marty describing how $10,000 dollars was missing from his safe (the money Marty had used himself to pay off Visser); Meurice advised Ray: "Say you're sorry, give the money back, get the f--k out of here or something"
• to find out what had happened to Ray, Abby visited Marty's closed-up bar and found it in disarray, with glass on the floor from a broken back-door window; she had unwittingly interrupted PI Visser (who went into hiding) - he was in the midst of attempting to break into Marty's safe (to retrieve the one doctored photo); the rotting fish were still on the desk concealing Visser's lighter; the condition of the bar confirmed Abby's assumption that Ray had tried to rob Marty's safe and had killed him
• Abby returned to her apartment where she was confronted by Marty sitting on her bed; he told her of his love, and then warned her about Ray: "He'll kill you too," before he vomited blood and she awakened from the terrifying nightmarish dream
• the next morning, Abby drove over to Ray's house where she found him packing to leave town: (Ray asked: "Isn't that what you want? Wanna come with me?"); she asked: "I gotta know what happened first" - still assuming that Ray had broken into the bar and insisted on being paid and got into a bloody fight with Marty in his office; he blurted out that he had found her gun in Marty's office ("Nobody broke in"), and that the wounded Marty had been alive when he buried him
• the two split up, with the confused Abby thinking that Marty might still be alive; Ray returned to the bar and noticed the ransacked office and a failed entry into Marty's safe; after opening the safe, he located the one faked photo placed there by Marty
• in the film's sensational climax, Ray returned to Abby's apartment to warn her, not realizing that he was being followed by Visser in his easily-recognizable 1966 VW Beetle; as Ray was speaking to Abby and visible to the outside through uncurtained windows, Visser targeted Ray with a sniper-scope from an adjacent rooftop and shot him from behind and killed him; Abby presumably thought that the killer was Marty - who had somehow returned from the dead
• Abby ducked to avoid a second shot, crawled along the floor, and extinguished the lights in her apartment by throwing her sandal at the ceiling's lightbulb; Abby heard ominous footsteps of an intruder approaching toward her and raced into her bathroom to hide; she thought it was her husband Marty seeking revenge
• before a tense cat and mouse pursuit sequence and stand-off between Visser and Abby, Visser broke into her apartment and searched in Ray's pockets for his lighter, and then began to look for Abby; Abby escaped out a window and climbed into an adjacent apartment's room, high above street level

Abby Fearful of Approaching Footsteps

Visser Searching for Abby in Apartment's Bathroom

Visser Listening Through the Bathroom Wall

• as the loathsome Visser reached out of the bathroom window toward the adjacent apartment's outer window, Abby smashed the window down on his right hand and impaled it on the window sill with a knife; as he was writhing in pain and struggling to pull his hand free, he shot bullet holes into the wall until his gun clicked empty - letting through beams and shafts of light into the adjoining room where Abby was standing; then, he punched and crashed through the wall with his other hand, and blindly groped for the knife handle to remove it and free himself

Visser Shooting Bullet Holes Through the Wall - Creating Beams of Light	After Freeing Himself, Visser Approaching Toward Bathroom Door	Abby Firing at Visser Through the Bathroom Door (Thinking It Was Marty): "I'm not afraid of you, Marty!"
Visser Collapsing With an Abdomen Gunshot on the Bathroom Floor	Visser Dying and Laughing Under the Bathroom Sink	The Sink's Dripping Plumbing Above Visser

• in the film's final moments, Abby returned to her apartment's living room and found her gun (on the table where Ray had earlier left it, with only one final bullet left in the chamber); she fired at Visser through the bathroom door, and heard his body drop to the floor; she then delivered a matter-of-fact statement to him, wrongly thinking that he was Marty: "I'm not afraid of you, Marty"
• as Visser lay dying on the floor in the bathroom with a gunshot to the abdomen, he burst into guffaws of laughter with the film's final line about how he had become a random victim of mistaken identity: "Well, ma'am, if I see him, I'll sure give him the message"; he died with a view of the sink's dripping plumbing above him; the film concluded with a reprise of The Four Tops' "It's the Same Old Song"