Blood Simple

Blood Simple, 1985. A husband gets murdery when his wife leaves him.

Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya & M. Emmet Walsh.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). I was skeptical for the first half of the movie. It's slow to get going, and looks and feels very low budget. But once the suspense really starts to kick in, it's crazy great. The Coens hadn't got their voice yet (it feels more like a Hitchcock film than a Coen Brothers film, if Hitchcock had been an American in the 1980s), but none-the-less they sure knew what they were doing.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.2/4 (Very good)