The Killer Inside Me – the title says it all. The movie is based on the Jim Thompson novel of the same name. Jim Thompson also wrote The Grifters, which was also turned into a feature film.
The Killer Inside Me is about a West Texas deputy sheriff named Lou Ford (Casey Affleck). Most of the people that know Lou respect him and find him to be one of the kindest souls that ever walked their sidewalks, while other folks in the law game suspect that there is something more to Lou than just a badge and a nice smile.
In fact, Lou Ford is a sadistic murderer. When Lou was a young boy he was introduced to sadism, but being so youthful he didn’t know that what his father’s girlfriend was wanting him to do to her had any kind of wrong in it. But Lou grew up, suppressing those urges until opportunity presented a window towards unleashing these sick, pent up desires in the form of Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba), a prostitute that, during a moment of tested aggression, Lou falls in love with and Joyce reciprocates those feelings despite Lou already being committing his intimate ways to Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson). Both women are aware of Lou’s dark pleasures, and both accept him for it only to wind up as violent escapes for Lou’s personal gains.
This film is heavy with dialogue and unapologetic with its violence. The brutality is uncensored and could make some people squirm but seemed relevant to the compressed tone of the film. The cast also involves cult-favorite Elias Kotas (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Prophecy) as Joe Rothman – a detective that refuses to see the boy-faced gentleman that everyone else sees in Lou Ford. Simon Baker (The Mentalist) plays Howard Hendricks, the district attorney that suspects Lou Ford of committing murder, and Bill Pullman shortly appears as Billy Boy Walker – an attorney that wants to hear Lou Ford’s story.
Casey Affleck does well enough as the morally confused Lou Ford. The only way he knows if someone is worth knowing is if they’re worth killing. The individual sex scenes with Affleck and Hudson and Alba were well done. The love and passion that these characters thought they felt for each other was projected with every succulent kiss and spiritually kinetic pelvic thrust.
The Killer Inside Me has already been made into a film back in 1976, starring Stacey Keach as Lou Ford. I can guarantee that the previous version does not compare in terms of showing the carnage that an individual can physically produce.
I did read other reviews comparing this film to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but that is only in theme - experiencing the life and thoughts of a conscientious murderer and not gore. The Killer Inside Me doesn’t even come close, but it can turn a few stomachs.
I felt like this was the type of movie I needed to be in the mood for and while it was disturbing it wasn’t disturbing enough for my tastes, but then again I’ve been desensitized by my own dysfunctional family and two decades’ worth’s of horror films. While I did enjoy The Killer Inside Me, it did not come without some areas that simply dragged and very questionable Texas accents from everyone involved, but it’s always interesting to see a film from a mentally twisted perspective because they act and seem so normal, like true serial killers, you can’t help but be shocked or amazed or both.
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