The Killer Inside Me

[Zippykins1]

Spurred on by widely varying reviews I thought this would be worth a watch. Unsurprisingly it has stayed with me, and I'm not totally sure what kind of review i would give it.

Casey Affleck is very good, the plot is interestingly strange, and the violence is absolutely horrible. Like the kind that makes you a little bit sick.


Here's a link to TF's 4 star cinema review of The Killer Inside Me. Added by Liz. Thanks.

[MrSilly]

Yeah, odd film, some parts were very good (as you said, Affleck is superb) but overrall it seemed lacking. It was pretty short so it never overstayed its welcome, but I couldn't help but feel that it wasn't really going anywhere. While I enjoyed the ending, it wasn't a resolution that never seemed to fit, and there were long stretches where nothing of seeming interest happened. It kept me guessing, but not in the good way, more like an incomprehensible horror film that chucks too many red herrings, there was never a consistent flow. Worth watching due to it being unlike any other film out at the moment, but I don't think it'll stay with me.

That violence though, sheesh.

[Jonesy]

Just saw this on blu-ray, and the character of Lou Ford has got to be one of the most detestable ever seen on the screen. I'm not sure, however, whether it was the way Affleck played him (as well as [obviously] his actions), or whether I just can't stand Casey Affleck. It's a difficult one, because his character in Jesse James was just as sleazy, so it's tough to judge whether it's him or the characters he plays that make me squirm. Affleck's voice, for instance, is loathsome, regardless of whom he's playing.

Not that the film was bad. It dragged in places, and the flashbacks didn't always help to make Ford's behaviour any clearer. But most disturbingly of all, the scenes of brutal violence were the only ones that really made me sit up and take note. Not sure whether that's a worrying testament to my psyche, or whether the rest of the film was just deliberately down beat and tiresome.

[pulpygirl]

Originally Posted by Jonesy

Not that the film was bad. It dragged in places, and the flashbacks didn't always help to make Ford's behaviour any clearer. But most disturbingly of all, the scenes of brutal violence were the only ones that really made me sit up and take note. Not sure whether that's a worrying testament to my psyche, or whether the rest of the film was just deliberately down beat and tiresome.

I think that the flashbacks were unnecessary. They didn't help the story or to find out something more about the character. I agree that the violent scenes were the best of the film and allthough i think that Michael Winterbottom is a movie chameleon (considering the different kind of movies he's made from the best to worse) i still haven't figure out if he managed to deliver the temerament of his heroe. The constant changes in style lead to mixed results, but i liked that movie. The violent scenes were the best element of the movie and i really enjoyed it...

[Kiba.]

I found it an effort to watch. The violent scenes were virtually the only part of the film that made me sit up and take notice, and while I can't fault Affleck's acting (he plays a smarmy scumbag to perfection) with such an dislikeable protagonist and many slow moving scenes I was relieved when it was over.

[Ancient One]

The Killer Inside Me.

Brilliant. Casey Affleck is rapidly becomiing one of my favourite actors. He turns in another excellent and many layered performance here and is supported by a great cast.Its a very harsh and brutal film in parts and its easy to see why so much fuss was made of its violence BUT at no time is the violence not justified. simply put, its there because it NEEDS to be. you really should watch this as its an exceptional bit of film. 4.5/5

[Grinch11]

Haunting, beautifully shot, and sporadically horrific, this is the Daily Mail baiting film de jour.
It's a film that would sit as a companion piece to No Country For Old Men and is elevated by another suberb, typecast "weird" performance from Casey Affleck.
The two much discussed scenes of violence are extremely hard hitting and prolonged, and caused multiple walk-outs during the screening that I attended, but they are completely necessary in representing the dehumanisation of this "ordinary" man.
Undone by a slightly "stoopid" ending, this isnt date material or infact one for the DVD shelf, but it is immediate, powerful storytelling that does the one thing movies were designed to do; stimulate and prompt discussion.
4 stars