It's by far the best B-movie, film noir, grindhouse-style film I've seen in a long time. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's funny as hell. McConaughey is terrific - it's almost an extension of his role on Magic Mike - an egotistical control freak. But Thomas Haden Church steals the show with his deadpan style of humor. Great fun.

I do not see how any one saw this movie as an under rated gem. I saw it as a cheap gimmick that insulted my intelligence. Trashy humor is nothing new so if you are going to do it you had better do it well. They don't! Excessive violence is nothing new so if you are going to do it, you had better do it well. They don't. Thomas Hayden Church was funny but McConaughey looked liked a fool in his role. Morgernstern's review nailed this film. Read it and I agree entirely.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Marshal Will Kane, in High Noon, gives Helen Ramirez, a Mexican prostitute, advance warning about the gun-slinging menace heading their way. Frank Miller is returning home, and that can only spell trouble for the denizens of this New Mexico outback, especially Helen, since both men were the whore's intimates. Just because the marshal found himself a respectable girl, the former Amy Fowler, it doesn't mean Kane, gentleman that he is, would forget about a past lover. Gary Cooper stood for law and order; his character was an honorable man, a good man. It's what moviegoers expected in 1952. Sure, there was an audience that championed low-lives, the deceitful men and women who populated the dark shadows of film noir, but it's doubtful if those same vicarious thrill-seekers could handle Lou Ford, the anti-hero protagonist in Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me, a roman noir about the deputy sheriff of a two bit Texas town who had a hankering for kinky sex and murdering women with his bare hands. Also released in '52, The Killer Inside Me can be read as a degenerate inverse of High Noon, since not only does Lou kill the whore, but his fiance, as well. Due to the brute force and exceptional cruelty inherent in the violence, it's understandable as to why The Killer Inside Me never made it to the screen, even during the heyday of the crime film. Thompson writes: "I backed her against the wall, slugging, and it was like pounding a pumpkin." The Hayes Production Code, with its strictures put on violent and sexual content, in effect, rendered such an image practically unfilmable, or rather, because of the times, the filmmaker wouldn't be able to carry out the pulp writer's diseased outlook on humanity with any real integrity. Arguably, Michael Winterbottom, afforded with the luxury of celluloidal frankness in the way of visceral thrills, delves into Thompson's imagination with such vivid precision, it borders on unconscionable depravity. His serious grindhouse approach to violence is hard to stomach. When Lou Ford carves up Joyce Lakeland's face, she ends up with malleable skin, bloodied, a surface disfigured by bareknuckle punches. She becomes the smashed pumpkin that Thompson implied. Even worse, in the film noir sense, it's an unjustified murder, because Joyce is no femme fatale. She loves Lou: doesn't even smoke. In Killer Joe, Sharla gets it pretty bad, too, but unlike Joyce, the trailer trash housewife is a femme fatale, the kind who lets another man do her bidding in order to collect on an insurance policy's capital sum(a la Barbara Stanwyck). Schematically speaking, as it pertains to genre, the money hungry waitress gets what she deserves. Returning home with a bucket of chicken from KFC, Sharla asks Joe, "What do you like, light or dark meat?" "Leg," he answers. Not a drumstick, a leg. The word choice is important. The filmmaker applies the "graphic imperative"(in short, what goes on after the screen fades to black) to the classic film noir, through the self-conscious updating of the Billy Wilder film, in which the causation of blood, and especially, sex, would have been left to the moviegoer's imagination. Whereas the police detective sexualizes the drumstick by forcing Sharla to perform oral sex on a deep-fried phallic object, Walter Neff, insurance salesman, does the same to Phyllis Dietrichson's leg, **** it("and the way that anklet cut into her leg."), as the oil tycoon's wife climbs down "that silly staircase." Double Indemnity gets around the unrealistic likelihood of their relationship being a chaste one by making Neff a fallible narrator. He dictates a whitewashing memo into the claims manager's dictaphone, rife with obvious gaps. "So we just sat there," Neff says, but after Phyllis leaves his apartment, he straightens out the bunched-up rug with his shoe, evidence of lovemaking on the floor. With her stepdaughter, whom Neff admits to seeing "three or four times a week," an improper affair is suggested, telling Keyes that "one night we went up into the hills behind the Hollywood Bowl," a secluded place where sex is a potentiality. In Killer Joe, the titular character uses Dottie, an underage girl, as a retainer, when her brother can't scrounge up the money. Not for nothing is Walter's special friend named Lola(read: Lolita), and the filmmaker knows it, since here, Joe wants to run away with the virgin, and more disturbingly, so does Chris, thereby forming a bizarre love triangle. "Straight down the middle," is how Walter and Phyllis describe their murder plot, and perhaps, not coincidentally, the siblings, in Killer Joe, walk down a train track, the place where Mr. Dietrichson's cold body ends up. Dottie, is both, a good and bad girl, the heroine and the femme fatale. Although she has a hand in her mother's murder, the girl is also a victim of child abuse. When Dottie shoots Chris, the girl inhabits both roles simultaneously.… Expand

Perhaps the greatest quality of Killer Joe is that it never pretends to be anything more than a wickedly deranged and entertaining piece of trash. Freed from the obligation to make any sort of artistic statement, Friedkin delivers the goods and coaxes stellar performances from his cast; particularly McConaughey and Church. It's definitely not for everyone, but it never tries to be.

If you are turned off by violence realistically portrayed (no computer-generated antics here), stay away. None of it is gratuitous, all are essential -- and it is strong stuff. The movie builds in intensity relentlessly, all the way through, maintaining a reality within its milieu, and left us almost breathless as the final encounter builds and builds. Every character is believable while the story line goes deeper and deeper into their desperation, arrogance, cowardice, greed, love, infidelity, stupidity, and sadistic domination. "Love Story" it ain't. But it is a gem of what it set out to be.… Collapse

This ambitious film tries to be trashy noir, but ends up mostly garbage. A trailer park family (Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church) conspires to kill their estranged matriarch for her money and hire a pro (Matthew McConaughey) to do the job. Turns out he's real twisted and when things inevitably go awry, he twists even more. There are two problems: the script isn't smart or sassy enough for the genre and most of the cast isn't believable. The exception is McConaughey, who's savoring every bit of scenery in that mobile home. The assured hand of director William Friedkin keeps the film competently watchable, but the script gets in the way.… Expand

Matthew McConaughey completely steals the show in Killer Joe, where he plays a detective who also works as a hired gun. McConaughey has moved himself away from the typical "pretty boy" roles he usually takes on and instead portrays a cold, ruthless killer with a contrasting strange taste for fine etiquette. Definitely the performance of the year thus far.

An ultimately disappointing film, that tries to be Blue Velvet, without the cutting edge. Sure it keeps you interested, but it goes nowhere and ends inconclusively. If this movie was a vending machine, I'd be banging the sides, trying to get my money back.

If there is one good thing to come out of a vulgar for vulgarities sake film such as

Killer Joe is definitely an underrated gem for 2012. given an NC-17 will probably ruin any hopes of a good theatrical run but this film is on the fast track to be a cult classic. The direction that William Friedkin drives this film is slow and dirty. The Gallows Humor found in this film is hilarious and the violence is electrifying. Saying Killer Joe is just a regular noir film is a downright insult to the cast and crew.… Expand

Even when Killer Joe goes over the top, and it does, way over the top, McConaughey and the rest of the cast create a fiery energy that keeps you on your toes.

This is the work of a seasoned, masterful Director leading a cast through a " black as coal" script - and it works perfectly. Matthew McConaughey leads a terrific cast, all of whom commit to everything in the script. Kudos to the entire cast for taking this risk. This is a modern day film noir classic, just be prepared for a film that doesn't flinch.

This movie is a complete waste of time. If you are into trashy dumb movies with over the top violence and stupidity you will probably like this movie. The ending is beyond ignorant.

I am a 23-year-old man and this movie is going to give me nightmares. I don't think I've ever seen a more disturbing movie. The only character that's actually likeable in the entire film is "Ansel". I can't think of anything else to say except this movie is both good and extremely unsettling.

Killer Joe disappointed me due to a weak story and weaker characters. Matthew McConaughey was decent as usual (I tend to appreciate the characters/acting he brings to a film). However, the frustratingly unlikable supporting cast and overly offensive story elements did not work for me. For those planning on watching this movie, be aware there a moments in the film (at least in the unrated version) that come off as "lets shock the audience by adding something completely pointless and disgusting". I give it a 3 instead of a 0 because Matthew McConaughey, the camera work, the sound, and the editing were not the worst I've seen in a movie (although I'm having trouble remembering a movie I have liked less).… Expand

This film shows everyone how good Matthew McConaughey is when he's in the right role. Sure there are a few disturbing things in this film, but I kind of dug it anyway.