Editing Blood Simple

{{Short description|1984 film by Joel and Ethan Coen}}
{{about|the film|the metal band|Bloodsimple}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Blood Simple
| image          = Blood-simple-movie-poster-md.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Joel Coen]]
| producer       = [[Ethan Coen]]
| writer         = Joel Coen<br/>Ethan Coen
| starring       = {{Plain list|
* [[John Getz]]
* [[Frances McDormand]]
* [[Dan Hedaya]]
* [[Samm-Art Williams]]
* [[M. Emmet Walsh]]
}}
| music          = [[Carter Burwell]]
| cinematography = [[Barry Sonnenfeld]]
| editing        = {{ubl|[[Roderick Jaynes]]{{efn|Roderick Jaynes is the shared pseudonym used by the Coen brothers for their editing.}}|Don Wiegmann}}
| studio         = {{ubl|River Road Productions|Foxton Entertainment}}
| distributor    = [[Ben Barenholtz|Circle Films]]
| released       = {{film date|1984|10|12|[[New York Film Festival]]|ref1=<ref name=afi/>}}
| runtime        = 96 minutes<ref name=afi>{{cite web|work=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|title=Blood Simple|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/67010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803124744/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/67010|archive-date=August 3, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1.5 million<ref name="numbers">{{cite web |title=Blood Simple (1985) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Blood-Simple#tab=summary |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |access-date=2022-04-10 |archive-date=2022-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410021008/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Blood-Simple#tab=summary |url-status=live }}</ref>
| gross          = $2.7 million<ref name="numbers" /><ref name="mojo">{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bloodsimple.htm |title=Blood Simple (1985) |work=Box Office Mojo |access-date=14 July 2016 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817094543/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bloodsimple.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''''Blood Simple''''' is a 1984 American [[independent film|independent]] [[neo-noir]] [[crime film]] written, edited, produced and directed by [[Coen brothers|Joel and Ethan Coen]], and starring [[John Getz]], [[Frances McDormand]], [[Dan Hedaya]] and [[M. Emmet Walsh]]. Its plot follows a [[Texas]] bartender who is having an affair with his boss's wife. When his boss discovers the affair, he hires a [[private investigator]] to kill the couple. It was the directorial debut of the Coens and the first major film of [[cinematographer]] [[Barry Sonnenfeld]], who later became a director, as well as the feature-film debut of McDormand.

The film's title is derived from [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s novel ''[[Red Harvest]]'' (1929), in which the [[Continental Op]] muses, "This damned burg's getting me. If I don't get away soon I'll be going blood-simple like the natives."<ref name=":Orr">{{cite news| author=George Orr| date=September 8, 2014| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Blood Simple''| work=[[The Atlantic]]| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-revisiting-blood-simple/379743/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Falsani, Cathleen.| title=The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers|location= Grand Rapids, MI|date= 2009|publisher= Zondervan|page= 31}}</ref> Stylistically, the film has been noted for its blending elements of neo-noir, [[pulp magazines|pulp]] crime stories and low-budget [[horror film]]s.<ref name=criterion/> In 2001, a [[director's cut]] was released, the same year that it was ranked No. 98 on [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills]].

==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
[[Texas]] bartender Ray and housewife Abby drive through a downpour at night, discussing Abby's bad marriage to Ray's boss, Julian Marty. They have sex at a motel. Loren Visser, a [[private detective]], takes photos of the tryst and delivers them to Marty. When a caller informs the couple they are being watched, Abby grabs some belongings, including a [[pistol]] Marty gave her. Ray goes to the bar to demand his back pay from Marty, who tells Ray that Abby will betray him as she did Marty, and when confronted will say, "I haven't done anything funny."

After a botched attempt to kidnap Abby, Marty offers Visser $10,000 [[contract killing|to kill]] her and Ray. Visser tells Marty to go fishing and he will call him when the job is done. Visser breaks into Ray's home and steals Abby's gun. He shows Marty photos of the murdered couple, one of which Marty secrets in his safe while retrieving the $10,000. Visser [[double cross (betrayal)|double crosses]] Marty and shoots him with Abby's gun. He drops the gun and grabs the money but forgets his cigarette lighter as he leaves.

It is revealed that Visser doctored the photos to appear that Abby and Ray had been shot. Ray discovers Marty's body, accidentally discharging Abby's gun when he steps on it. He cleans the crime scene, puts the gun in Marty's pocket and the body in his car. Marty is still alive, albeit barely. Ray begins to bury Marty in a shallow grave when Marty aims the gun and pulls the trigger three times, falling on an empty chamber each time. Marty screams as Ray takes the gun and finishes burying him.

The next morning, Ray tries to explain to Abby that he "cleaned it all up." Abby says, "I haven't done anything funny," which leads to an argument. Visser telephones but does not speak when Abby picks up. She assumes and tells Ray that it was Marty. Ray places her gun on a table as he leaves. Meurice, another bartender, tells Ray about a phone message Marty left regarding money stolen from the safe{{mdash}}Marty's cover for the $10,000 he paid Visser.

While burning the doctored photos, Visser realizes that Marty kept one, and that he left his lighter. His attempt to break into the safe is thwarted by Abby, who thinks Ray damaged the safe and realizes Marty might be dead. She has a nightmare of Marty warning her that Ray will kill her as well. She confronts Ray, who tells her Marty was still alive when he buried him.

Ray opens the safe and discovers the doctored photo. He goes to Abby's apartment to warn her. Visser kills Ray with a rifle shot from a rooftop across the street. Abby smashes her lightbulb and hides in the bathroom.

Visser enters the apartment and searches Ray for the lighter, and finds Abby has climbed out of the window into the next apartment. She stabs him with Ray's knife, pinning his hand to the sill. As she backs away, Visser empties his gun into the wall, then punches through it to remove the knife. Returning to her apartment, Abby picks up her gun and shoots Visser through the bathroom door. She says, "I'm not afraid of you, Marty," and Visser, lying wounded, laughs and responds, "Well, ma'am, if I see him, I'll sure give him the message."

==Cast==
* [[John Getz]] as Ray
* [[Frances McDormand]] as Abby
* [[Dan Hedaya]] as Julian Marty
* [[M. Emmet Walsh]] as Loren Visser (private detective)<ref name="Kael"/>
* [[Samm-Art Williams]] as Meurice

== Production ==
===Development===
After writing the [[screenplay]], the Coen brothers shot a preemptive dummy [[theatrical trailer]] for ''Blood Simple'', which showed "a man dragging a shovel alongside a car stopped in the middle of the road, back towards another man he was going to kill" and "a shot of backlit gun holes in a wall."<ref name=tcmart>Ferarra, Greg [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69149/blood-simple#articles-reviews "Blood Simple (1984)" (article)] [[TCM.com]]</ref> The trailer featured actor [[Bruce Campbell]], playing the Julian Marty role, and was shot by recent film school graduate [[Barry Sonnenfeld]].<ref name=hoad>{{Cite web|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=How we made Blood Simple|date=November 6, 2017|last=Hoad|first=Phil|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/06/how-we-made-blood-simple-coen-brothers-barry-sonnenfeld|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201122203504/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/06/how-we-made-blood-simple-coen-brothers-barry-sonnenfeld|archive-date=November 22, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/06/blood-simple-investor-trailer|title=Watch Bruce Campbell in the Fake Trailer That Started the Coen Brothers' Careers|last=Rich|first=Katey|date=June 24, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160714153614/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/06/blood-simple-investor-trailer|archive-date=July 14, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

After completing the trailer, the Coens began exhibiting it with the hope of persuading investors to help fund a full-length feature film.<ref name=hoad/> Daniel Bacaner was one of the first people to invest money in the project. He also became its executive producer and introduced the Coens to other potential backers. The entire process of raising the necessary $1.5 million took a year.{{sfn|Robson|2003|p=}}

===Filming===
''Blood Simple'' was shot in several locations in the towns of [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] and [[Hutto, Texas]], over a period of eight weeks in the fall of 1982. The film spent a year in [[postproduction]] and was completed by 1984.<ref>Marsh, Calum (January 15, 2015) [http://www.maxim.com/entertainment/how-blood-simple-started-30-year-hollywood-firefight "How 'Blood Simple' Stated A 30-Year Hollywood Firefight"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225144044/http://www.maxim.com/entertainment/how-blood-simple-started-30-year-hollywood-firefight |date=2015-12-25 }} ''[[Maxim (magazine)|Maxim]]''</ref>

''Blood Simple'' was Frances McDormand's screen debut.<ref name=tcmart /> All Coen brothers films are co-produced and co-directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, although Ethan was credited as the sole producer and Joel the sole director until 2004. The Coens share editing credit under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2008/01/roderick_jaynes_imaginary_osca.html|title=Roderick Jaynes, Imaginary Oscar Nominee for 'No Country'|first=Jada|last=Yuan|website=Vulture|date=January 22, 2008|access-date=June 22, 2021|archive-date=June 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624210155/https://www.vulture.com/2008/01/roderick_jaynes_imaginary_osca.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Reception and legacy==
===Critical response===
While ''Blood Simple'' was only a modest box-office success, it was a huge critical success. It holds a 94% rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The critical consensus reads: "Brutally violent and shockingly funny in equal measure, ''Blood Simple'' offers early evidence of the Coen Brothers' twisted sensibilities and filmmaking ingenuity."<ref>{{cite web |website=Rotten Tomatoes |title=Blood Simple (1984) |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_simple/ |access-date=February 10, 2022 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107095950/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_simple |url-status=live }}</ref> {{MC film|83|33|ref=yes}}

[[Janet Maslin]] wrote: "Black humor, abundant originality and a brilliant visual style make Joel Coen's ''Blood Simple'' a directorial debut of extraordinary promise. Mr. Coen, who co-wrote the film with his brother Ethan, works in a film noir style that in no way inhibits his wit, which turns out to be considerable." She cites a "long, late-night tracking shot from one end of the Neon Boot bar to another actually tracks along the surface of the bar itself—and when there is a drunk passed out on the bar, the camera simply lifts up and flies over him, then continues on its route."<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Janet Maslin]]| work=[[The New York Times]]| title=Blood Simple: A Black-Comic Romp| date=October 12, 1984| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/12/movies/blood-simple-a-black-comic-romp.html}}</ref>

[[Pauline Kael]] called it "a crude, ghoulish story with thriller themes," but was effusive about the performance of [[M. Emmet Walsh]] as Visser.<ref name="Kael">{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1985/02/25/plain-and-simple |title=PLAIN AND SIMPLE{{!}}The New Yorker |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=17 February 1985 |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009182311/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1985/02/25/plain-and-simple |url-status=live |last1=Kael |first1=Pauline |authorlink1=Pauline Kael }}</ref>

[[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]] each gave it a positive review on ''[[At the Movies (1982 TV program)|At the Movies]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=4698 |title=Vision Quest, Turk 182, Blood Simple, Mischief, 1985 - Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009183710/https://siskelebert.org/?p=4698 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=5660 |title=Best of 1985 - Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009184404/https://siskelebert.org/?p=5660 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.innermind.com/misc/s_e_top.htm |title=Siskel and Ebert Top Ten Lists - Inner Mind |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2021-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701162824/https://www.innermind.com/misc/s_e_top.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In his review for the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', Ebert wrote: "A lot has been written about the visual style of “Blood Simple,” but I think the appeal of the movie is more elementary. It keys into three common nightmares: (1) You clean and clean, but there’s still blood all over the place; (2) You know you have committed a murder, but you are not sure quite how or why; (3) You know you have forgotten a small detail that will eventually get you into a lot of trouble."<ref>{{cite news| date=March 1, 1985| title=Blood Simple| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blood-simple-1984}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film grossed $2.7 million worldwide.<ref name="numbers" /> Its first big public viewing was the USA Film Festival in [[Dallas]], followed by the [[Sundance Film Festival]], where it received the Grand Jury Prize. The brothers took the film to the [[Toronto Film Festival]], the [[Cannes Film Festival]], and the New York Film Festival. They were very proud of their film, particularly in light of having raised the funds using their self-made trailer.{{sfn|Levine|2000|pages=17–30}}

===Accolades===
* Sundance Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic (1985)<ref>[http://history.sundance.org/events/20 1985 Sundance Film Festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131083548/http://history.sundance.org/events/20 |date=2012-01-31 }} sundance.org</ref>
* [[1st Independent Spirit Awards]] - Best Director (tied with [[Martin Scorsese]] for ''[[After Hours (film)|After Hours]]'') and Best Actor ([[M. Emmet Walsh]])<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afxJOG1ogJc |title=First Spirit Awards ceremony ever hosted by Peter Coyote - full show (1986){{!}}Film Independent on YouTube |website=[[YouTube]] |date=7 April 2020 |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009194632/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afxJOG1ogJc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPm9s-eElkHi30MS6TKYoakGNGY3mcl5 |title=Film Independent. "Film Independent Spirit Awards - A Brief History - Playlist" on official YouTube channel |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009195315/https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPm9s-eElkHi30MS6TKYoakGNGY3mcl5 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In ''[[The Atlantic]]'', [[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]] writes: "It all began here, and not merely for the Coens themselves. ''Blood Simple'' was the first feature starring Joel Coen’s soon-to-become wife, [[Frances McDormand]]; the first scored by [[Carter Burwell]], who’s collaborated—often, as here, magnificently—with the Coens on all their subsequent scores; and the first shot by cinematographer [[Barry Sonnenfeld]], who also worked on the Coens’ next two films before embarking on his own directorial career... It is no small miracle—and a testament to the Coens themselves—that so many exceptional talents connected so early in their respective careers."<ref name=":Orr"/>

===In popular culture===
The film was referenced in a 1992 episode (''[[The Master (U.S. TV series)|Master Ninja II]]'') of the cult satirical [[sci-fi]] TV series ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' as well as a 2017 episode ("[[Designated Survivor (season 1)|Backfire]]") of the TV series ''[[Designated Survivor (TV series)|Designated Survivor]]''.<ref>[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9SZrvOCYXP8 MST3K: Master Ninja II (FULL MOVIE) on the show's official YouTube channel (riff at 49:07-49:08)]</ref><ref>"Backfire", Season 1, Designated Survivor (TV Series), 22 March 2017, riff at 23:40 ([https://www.netflix.com/watch/80133844?trackId=155573558 Netflix] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118140146/https://www.netflix.com/title/80113647?trackId=155573558 |date=2023-11-18 }})</ref>

Some audio extracts of this film are used in the song "Quotation For Listening", by [[On Thorns I Lay]] on their album ''Egocentric'', released in 2003.

==Home media==
The original [[MCA Home Video]] [[Vhs tape|VHS tape]] and [[LaserDisc]] was released on October 10, 1985, with a 96-minute running time.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/01993/40180/Blood-Simple | title=LaserDisc Database - Blood Simple &#91;40180&#93; | access-date=2018-02-06 | archive-date=2018-02-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005909/http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/01993/40180/Blood-Simple | url-status=live }}</ref> The film was released on [[Universal Pictures Home Entertainment]] VHS for a second time in 1995 with a 99-minute run time.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The ''Collector's Choice '' edition VHS on Amazon.com |asin=6300184110 }}</ref> Unusual for such an exercise, the "Director's Cut" is some three minutes shorter than the original 1985 theatrical release. The Coens reduced the run time with tighter editing, shortening some shots and removing others altogether. Additionally, they resolved long-standing rights issues with the music; the original theatrical version of the film made prominent use of [[The Four Tops]]' "[[It's the Same Old Song]]" (1965); the Coens had replaced it with [[Neil Diamond]]'s "[[I'm a Believer]]" (1966) for the 1995 U.S. home video edition on VHS. The Director's Cut reinstated the Four Tops track.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.film365.co.uk/review/dvd/blood-simple|title = Blood Simple – Director's Cut (2013) DVD|date = March 27, 2013|website = Film 365|last = Beckett|first = David|access-date = October 6, 2014|archive-date = October 6, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102805/http://www.film365.co.uk/review/dvd/blood-simple|url-status = usurped}}</ref>

Universal Home Video released a [[DVD]] version of the film in 2001, and again in 2005 as part of a DVD box set titled ''The Coen Brothers Collection''. A [[Blu-ray]] edition was released in 2011 by [[20th Century Fox Home Entertainment]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/50393/blood-simple/|work=[[DVD Talk]]|title=Blood Simple: The Director's Cut|date=September 20, 2011|author=Spurlin, Thomas|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201122204736/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/50393/blood-simple/|archive-date=November 22, 2020}}</ref>

In 2016, [[The Criterion Collection]] released the film on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring a new 4K digital transfer supervised and approved by Barry Sonnenfeld and the Coens, along with various new special features.<ref name=criterion>{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/films/28852-blood-simple|title=Blood Simple|work=[[The Criterion Collection]]|access-date=November 22, 2020|archive-date=December 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201113411/https://www.criterion.com/films/28852-blood-simple|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2024, The Criterion Collection released the film on [[Ultra HD Blu-ray|4K Ultra HD]] for the first time as a combo pack which includes the 2016 Blu-ray disc as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=33414|title=Criterion Announces January Releases|work=Blu-ray.com|access-date=February 26, 2024|archive-date=February 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225153845/https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=33414|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{Infobox album
| name       = Original Motion Picture Soundtracks: Raising Arizona and Blood Simple
| type       = soundtrack
| artist     = [[Carter Burwell]]
| cover      =
| caption    =
| alt        =
| released   = 1987
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Film score]]
| length     = 39:26
| label      = [[Varèse Sarabande]]
| producer   =
| chronology = [[Coen Brothers]] film soundtracks
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[Raising Arizona#Soundtrack|Raising Arizona]]
| next_year  = 1987
}}

{{Music ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r127956}}</ref>
}}

[[Carter Burwell]] wrote the film's [[Film score|score]], the first of his collaborations with the Coen brothers. ''Blood Simple'' was also the first feature-film score for Burwell, and after his work on this film, he became a much-in-demand composer in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]].<ref name="Bur16">Greiving, Tom (2016). [https://www.npr.org/2016/02/07/465725552/love-the-music-of-coen-brothers-films-you-can-thank-carter-burwell  ''Love The Music of Coen Brothers Films?  You Can Thank Carter Burwell".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070751/https://www.npr.org/2016/02/07/465725552/love-the-music-of-coen-brothers-films-you-can-thank-carter-burwell |date=2018-01-24 }}  Music News, [[National Public Radio]] (NPR), February 7, 2016.  Retrieved May 15, 2017.</ref> As of 2024, he had scored sixteen of the Coen brothers' films.<ref name="Bur16"/>

The score for ''Blood Simple'' is a mix of solo piano and electronic ambient sounds. One track, "Monkey Chant", is based on [[kecak]], the "''[[Ramayana]]'' Monkey Chant" of [[Bali]].<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1080/17411910902778478|title = The Abduction of the Signifying Monkey Chant: Schizophonic Transmogrifications of Balinese ''Kecakin'' Fellini's ''Satyriconand'' the Coen Brothers'Blood Simple| journal=Ethnomusicology Forum| volume=18| pages=83–106|year = 2009|last1 = Bakan|first1 = Michael B.|s2cid = 54703956}}</ref>

In 1987, seven selections from Burwell's ''Blood Simple'' score were released on a 17-track album that also features selections from the soundtrack of the Coens' next film, ''[[Raising Arizona#Soundtrack|Raising Arizona]]'' (1987).

''Blood Simple'' selections on the 1987 album:
# "Crash and Burn" (2:40)
# "Blood Simple" (3:33)
# "Chain Gang" (4:47)
# "The March" (3:34)
# "Monkey Chant" (1:04)
# "The Shooting" (2:52)
# "Blood Simpler" (1:22)

Other songs from the film that are not on the album:<ref name=afi />
* "It's the Same Old Song", written by [[Holland, Dozier and Holland|Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland]], performed by the Four Tops (used three different times, two inside the bar and one for the end credits)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://uproxx.com/movies/coen-brother-musical-moments/ |title=The Coen Brothers: 8 Unforgettable Music Moments - UPROXX |date=5 February 2016 |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009175747/https://uproxx.com/movies/coen-brother-musical-moments/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-best-musical-moments-coen-brothers-bob-dylan-jefferson-airplane/ |title=The 10 best musical moments from Coen brothers films{{!}}Far Out Magazine |date=11 November 2021 |access-date=2022-10-09 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009175324/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-best-musical-moments-coen-brothers-bob-dylan-jefferson-airplane/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* "[[Louie Louie]]", written by [[Richard Berry (musician)|Richard Berry]], performed by [[Toots & the Maytals]]
* "[[The Lady in Red (Allie Wrubel song)|The Lady in Red]]", written by [[Mort Dixon|M. Dixon]] and [[Allie Wrubel|A. Wrubel]], performed by [[Xavier Cugat]] and his Orchestra
* "Rogaciano", courtesy of [[Monitor Records (New York)|Monitor Records]]
* "[[He'll Have to Go]]", written by [[Joe Allison]] and Audrey Allison, arranged by Jim Roberge, performed by Joan Black
* "El Sueno", written by Camilo Namen, performed by [[Johnny Ventura]] y su Combo
* "Anahi", performed by Maria Luisa Buchino and her Llameros
* "[[Sweet Dreams (Don Gibson song)|Sweet Dreams]]", written by [[Don Gibson]], performed by [[Patsy Cline]]

== See also ==
{{Portal|Film|United States}}
* ''[[A Simple Noodle Story]]'', a 2009 Chinese language remake directed by [[Zhang Yimou]]
* [[List of cult films]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book|title = The Coen Brothers: The Story of Two American Film Makers|url = https://archive.org/details/coenbrothersstor00levi|url-access = limited|last = Levine|first = Josh|publisher = ECW Press|year = 2000|isbn = 978-1-55022-424-5|location = Canasa}}
* {{Cite book|title = Coen Brothers|last = Robson|first = Eddie|publisher = Virgin Books|year = 2003|isbn = 978-0-753-54770-0|location = London, England}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Silver|editor1-first=Alain|editor1-link=Alain Silver|editor2-last=Ward|editor2-first=Elizabeth|year=1992|title=Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style|edition=3rd|location= Woodstock, New York|publisher= [[The Overlook Press]]|isbn=0-87951-479-5}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0086979}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=Blood Simple}}
* {{AFI film|67010}}
* {{TCMDb title|69149}}
* {{mojo title|bloodsimple}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4230-blood-simple-down-here-you-re-on-your-own ''Blood Simple: “Down Here, You’re on Your Own”''] an essay by [[Nathaniel Rich (novelist)|Nathaniel Rich]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]
* [https://vimeo.com/168989950 Investor trailer officially posted by Janus Films on Vimeo]

{{S-start}}
{{S-ach|awards}}
{{Succession box
| before = ''[[Old Enough (film)|Old Enough]]''
| title  = {{nowrap|[[List of Sundance Film Festival award winners|Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic]]}}
| years  = 1985
| after  = ''[[Smooth Talk]]''
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Coen brothers}}
{{Sundance Grand Jury Prize Dramatic}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1984 films]]
[[Category:1984 crime thriller films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:1984 independent films]]
[[Category:American crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by the Coen brothers]]
[[Category:Films set in Texas]]
[[Category:Films shot in Texas]]
[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
[[Category:Sundance Film Festival award–winning films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Films scored by Carter Burwell]]
[[Category:1984 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by the Coen brothers]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:English-language crime thriller films]]
[[Category:Southern noir films]]