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This Month's Featured Equipment Reviews |
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Past DVD Hardware / Software News |
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Blood Simple (Director's Cut) |
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DVD Horror-Thriller
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Written by Abbie Bernstein
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Tuesday, 18 September 2001 |
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title:
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Blood Simple (Director's Cut) |
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studio:
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Universal Studios Home Video |
| MPAA rating: |
R |
| starring: |
John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams, M. Emmet Walsh |
| release year: |
1983 |
| film rating: |
Three-and-a-Half Stars |
| sound/picture: |
Three-and-a-Half Stars |
| reviewed by: |
Abbie Bernstein |
The title of "Blood Simple" refers to what can happen when a murderer
is so stunned and appalled by his/her own crime that mental blankness
results. This shrewd, bleakly funny 1983 film noir marked the feature
directing debut of Joel Coen, who wrote the screenplay with his brother
and the film’s producer, Ethan Coen. It is justly acclaimed as a small,
contained masterpiece of the low-budget murder genre and has been
brought to DVD with a beautifully clean print and a soundtrack that
preserves a solid, effective mix of dialogue, music and ambient sound.
Here’s the set-up: Small-town Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya)
believes his wife Abby (Frances McDormand) is cheating on him, so he
hires private eye Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to follow her around. In
fact, Abby starts an affair with one of Marty’s bar men, Ray (John
Getz). Marty pays the detective to kill the couple. Absolutely nothing
goes as planned, and nobody concerned is a genius when it comes to
eliminating evidence.
The performances are all right on the mark, with Walsh first among
equals as a hearty, sleazy snake who is ready for and capable of
anything, yet still capable of his own form of blood simplicity. Hedaya
as the dyspeptic Marty maintains an attitude of murderous rage combined
with profound hurt, while McDormand and Getz exude tentative trust,
vulnerability and wounded suspicion in effective proportions.
The dialogue is snappy and intelligent without calling attention to
itself and the cinematography of Barry Sonnenfeld (who went on to
become the director of "Men in Black," among other movies) is sharp,
clear and energetic, with shots that barrel forward down the blacktop.
There are some individual distinctive images, like moonlight shining on
blood on a car seat in Chapter 10.
The print has been meticulously cleaned up for DVD – indeed, if the
viewer goes to the main menu and selects "Play" (as opposed to just
pressing the "Play" key on the remote), there’s a little video
introduction from Forever Young Film Preservation. The DVD also figures
a sort of Filmmaking 101-style audio commentary from Forever Young’s
Kenneth Loring.
Audio is in Dolby Surround, mixed into the rears but with no
directional effects. The sound mix is nice and punchy, with fine
ambient effects. Chapter 2 has a toe-tapping blast of the Four Tops’
"Same Old Song," that shows up again later, integrated smoothly as part
of the background (the onscreen source is a jukebox) with other ambient
sounds and the dialogue track. It also appears full blast over the
closing credits, with old-fashioned warmth of an LP. Chapter 3 has a
loud electric crackle that causes us to jump before we realize it’s
just a bug-zapping light, while a mournful piano theme sets an ongoing
mood in Chapter 4. A synthesizer is used with spare, creepy effect in
Chapters 6 and 10, which also marks the best use of the rears – the
hint of ominous sound behind us creates real menace. Chapter 7 has a
lifelike echo on a gunshot and a nicely subtle rumble from a ceiling
fan that throbs quietly at the very edges of what our hearing can
detect.
"Blood Simple" manages to be extremely straightforward and clear –
there are only a handful of characters and locations – while still
having plenty of surprising twists and moments of real fear. It is well
worth watching, particularly in this DVD version, which has a transfer
superior to many of those of films made a decade-and-a-half later.
| more details |
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sound format:
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English Dolby Digital Surround |
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aspect ratio(s):
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Original Theatrical Aspect Ratio (not specified, enhanced for 16x9 TVs),
Widescreen Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 |
| special features: |
Audio
Commentary by Kenneth Loring of Forever Films; Production Notes;
Filmographies; Theatrical Trailer; Scene Selection; French and Spanish
Subtitles; English Closed-Captioning |
| comments: |
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| reference system |
| DVD player: |
Kenwood DV-403 |
| receiver: |
Kenwood VR-407 |
| main speakers: |
Paradigm Atom |
| center speaker: |
Paradigm CC-170 |
| rear speakers: |
Paradigm ADP-70 |
| subwoofer: |
Paradigm PDR-10 |
| monitor: |
27-inch Toshiba |
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