The Killer Inside Me (1976)

A different way of telling a story

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Yes, this was the original that sparked off the not so good and badly favored remake, that we didn't really need, though personally, I'm glad we got. Is this one better? What do you think. Yes. Of course. Like Affleck who was amazing in the remake, Keach gives another individualized performance of excellence like to Afleck's, which again is riveting and compelling, as a reason to watch. But Keach also is matched by Susan Tyrell, looking her sexiest and is so darn cute here, in the role as the white trashy harlot (Alba's in the remake). The plot is basically the same with unbalanced cop, but all psycho ness aside (my own word there) is forced to kill, backed into a corner when blackmailed, by you know who. Don Stroud, one of the great 70's actors, is just well.... great and fun too, as rowdy and not too bright, love struck dummy, Elmore, who does has feelings, not so really, when getting smashed over the head with a bottle, by an offended party. This movie is so beautifully and well shot, and made, with music to suit. One too will judge the difference in the standard of violence and the rating system, to nowadays, where the MA remake was much bloodier than the limited gore in this R pic. It's crazy. There's some really confining moments of terror, we get off Keach, but there's not really any shocks or surprises, but the ending that ensued, sucked, a real, downfall of ordinary, and was Tyrell an apparition at the end? You decide.

We get to see who the good guys are. The union. And who the bad guys are, a rich man who steals elections and his spoiled son. The filmmaker forces us to see good from evil. All the characters hate the bad guys so that when watching the film, this can help us along on hating the bad guys. This is the worst kind of film-making - manipulative and childish. The plot centers on a cop who is in-between the good and the bad, and he's stuck in this ugly film. It's boring and pointless. The narration by star Keach is really bad. And a good actor, Don Stroud, overacted to the hilt, playing the guy no one likes, and who we aren't supposed to like. It takes a long time for this bore to take off, and for the title to assert itself; then when it does take off, it crashes a minute later. Boring. One of the worst films ever made.

Based on one of Jim Thompson's best novels, this sleeper went largely unnoticed in the mid-70's despite an excellent lead performance by Stacy Keach as Lou Ford, mild-mannered Montana deputy-sheriff whom everybody in the small town of Central City likes. An upcoming election, angry miners, and a hooker on the edge of town stir up trouble within the town and Keach.The relationship between Keach and Susan Tyrrell as the hooker is one of the more intriguing cinematic couplings, made even more so in light of their recent work as a pair of drunks in Huston's "Fat City". Their actions are anything but predictable. Western-vet Burt Kennedy handles the direction chores ably, though the film is obviously constricted by a low-budget. Location work helps, and cinematographer William Fraker captures some nice "big sky" shots. However, several other scenes are poorly lit, with one straining to find the principals in the darkness and shadows. Considering the pro background of Kennedy and Fraker, I wonder if this was a comment on the characters' dark, shadowy personalities ... Another minor complaint is the music score, which seems wrong and intrusive at times.The film has several veteran character actors, among them Royal Dano, John Carradine (in a nice scene with Keach toward the end), John Dehner, and Keenan Wynn. Best of all though is Don Stroud as Elmer, perhaps his quintessential beer-swilling, hot-headed, good ol' boy role. He balances his character's violent tendencies with a fair degree of bawdy humor (some would seem to be improvised), and would simply walk away with the picture if it were not for Keach being so strong and interesting in the lead. Certainly worth a look for the performances and subject matter.

The low budget and the talent of Burt Kennedy (working in a rare venture outside the western genre) add to the striking atmosphere of this largely unseen, barely released Jim Thompson adaptation. After the critically lauded Fat City, Stacy Keach had quite a few star turns in alternative fare during the 70s, of which this is among the best (though his decade-wrapper with The Ninth Configuration is awfully hard to beat.)Susan Tyrell rejoins him here after her acclaimed Fat City turn, with many terrific character actors throughout the cast. Technical work is top-drawer with the William Fraker photography as good as ever.One of the first budget DVD's released, (naturally unletterboxed) the Panavision cries out for a redo. Sadly, the small resurgence in Thompson adaptations in the early 90s ended rather quickly; still plenty of great material there for dedicated crime filmmakers.