The Killer Inside Me first hit pulpy bookshelves in the ’50s and ever since filmmakers and movie stars have toiled, mostly to no avail, to bring the novel to a cinema near you. Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise, Brook Shields, Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron and Drew Barrymore have all thrown their hats in the ring, yet the shocking source material has, to date, proved too much for even the most daring talents. A little-seen 1976 version, starring Stacey Keach, was hacked into incoherent shards in the editing suite and was duly ignored by the public.
Dark, twisted and ultra-violent, Michael Winterbottom’s reworking of Jim Thompson’s psychotic noir may be the most faithful adaptation of the cult novelist’s material to ever grace our screens. Casey Affleck is magnificent as Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford, a pillar of the community in his small Texas town and one sick, albeit charming puppy. Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba occupy virgin and dynamo roles respectively, but as with the source text, their positions are more flexible than they may at first appear. The director doesn’t skimp on brutality or gore; it’s a necessary antidote to Mr. Affleck’s ‘aw shucks’ charisma but it’s also makes for the most hardcore viewing since that nine-minute anal rape in Irreversible. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s beautifully orchestrated just the same.