Twisted, evil, and captivating, Killer Joe is a dark thriller that caught me totally by surprise. It’s directed by William Friedkin, Friedkin, Friedkin, well that sounds familiar… Hmm let me try to remember on my own, without Wiki or IMDb, holy fucking balls, it’s The William Friedkin! Yes, the director of The Exorcist, is still mad after all these years, hail to the king, baby! Just because of this you should check out this movie, to see just how far he’s willing to go. And you should also know that the movie features very strong imagery and some pretty sick and perverse scenes.
On the other hand, if you like those scenes, this is the movie for you. I already mentioned in one of the previous reviews my history with Matthew McConaughey, how I didn’t like him. However, as he started to take on more serious roles, my respect for him grew and grew. After Killer Joe, I think that there’s no doubt that he is a phenomenal actor, who just happens to look good. The rest of the cast was also good.
Emile Hirsch did a terrific job and it is always nice to see Gina Gershon doing what she does best. She really doesn’t get enough credit for her acting skills. Probably because she’s also a very beautiful and charismatic woman. We also shouldn’t forget about Juno Temple and Thomas Haden Church. And that’s the entire fucking cast of this movie. What can I do, they were all really good.
It all starts with a pretty much familiar plot, a young man, in debt to some very nasty people, decides that his only way out is to kill his mother. You might ask yourself what kind of man decides to kill his mother, but that question begs another: What kind of mother do you have to be, to have your son decide to kill you? It just happens that this takes place in rural Texas, but the location could be Manhattan or anywhere else, where are people, there will be these “situations”.
Oozing perverse sexuality with an incredibly intense atmosphere, Killer Joe is not the movie for the squeamish. I mean, within the first three minutes we get full-frontal nudity, just to set the mood for what’s about to follow. This is a nasty and uncompromising movie with a lot of dark or better yet, bizarre humor. The characters are cleverly written and we, the viewers, have the feeling that this is some sort of documentary or reality show. But without that yucky feeling, these types of things usually induce.
The unbridled creativity and the ability to draw out and present to us the darkest desires and the human nature without social constraints that this movie possesses is something that is rarely seen. Killer Joe finishes with a very intense finale that I’m sure you’re going to remember. So, just check it out, and for the end a joke to keep you entertained: Why did the chicken cross the road? To get a blowjob.
Director: William Friedkin
Writer: Tracy Letts
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church, Gina Gershon, Marc Macaulay
Fun Facts: Killer Joe was the first play Tracy Letts wrote, in 1991.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1726669/
