BLU-RAY REVIEW

Killer Inside Me, The

Featured In Issue 152, December 2010

Picture4
Sound4
WSR Score4.5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
MPI Home Video
(Catalog Number):
IFC1855
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Disturbing brutal violence, aberrant sexual content and some graphic nudity
(Retail Price):
$29.98
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Single Layer (BD-25)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
109
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2010
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
09/28/10
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Michael Winterbottom
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
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(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
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(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
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(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

In "The Killer Inside Me," Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Affleck) is an affable guy with the clean-cut image of a Boy Scout. But he has a deranged and dangerous side. When he's told by his hard-drinking boss to force a trouble-making prostitute to get our of their West Texas town, Lou faces a dilemma, since he himself is involved with the hooker, Joyce (Alba). Joyce's angry reaction to Lou's request that she clear out leads to a brawl, then to kinky sex—during which Lou gets rough. Very Rough. He quickly realizes that covering up his brutal crime means eliminating more and more people. But even as his problems spiral out of control, Lou comes to enjoy committing crimes a lot more than he ever enjoyed enforcing the law. Based on the novel by Jim Thompson. (Gary Reber)

Special features include three making-of featurettes with Casey Affleck (SD 02:49), Jessica Alba (SD 02:44), and Kate Hudson (SD 02:55); and the theatrical trailer.

The 1080p AVC picture is stylized to exhibit a 1950's visual character, with an overall soft focus, which is at times filtered. Still, the imagery appears perfectly natural with warm, beige-tinted hues. Contrast is generally well-balanced, though, blacks are lacking deepness, due to the stylization. At times, white levels are pushed. Shadow delineation is generally revealing, unless softly focused. Fleshtones are perfectly natural throughout. Overall, the stylization conveys a dated visual effect, which is effective and pleasing. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is nicely produced, with effective spatially integrated dialogue and narrative. At times, though, intelligibility is wanting. The original music score is generally well recorded, with wide and deep soundstage and at times, a balanced low-frequency foundation. Other music selections sound dated. Atmospheric sound effects are effectively dynamic and spacious, extending beyond the frontal soundstage, for an aggressive presence throughout the soundfield. The effect sounds nicely holosonic®. The .1 LFE channel energizes at times, for dramatic effect. This is a well-produced soundtrack, with plenty of low-level effects that perfectly support the storytelling. (Gary Reber)