El asesino está en mi

Although Stacy Keach is quite good as the delusional sheriff of a small Montana mining town, it is Susan Tyrell as the local lady of the night, who is absolutely amazing in "The Killer Inside Me". The film opens weakly with some totally unnecessary narration, but gradually builds momentum. Don Stroud's performance, as the wild son of Mayoral candidate Keenan Wynn, is notable, and John Carradine also appears in a small role. There are a couple of minor surprises, along with some nice character development. If you are enamored with either Stacy Keach or Susan Tyrell, I say seek this one out, because you will not be disappointed. - MERK

This isn't a waste of time, nor is it one to fervently hunt for. It certainly could have done better for the brilliant author, Jim Thompson, and talented star Stacy Keach.

One problem is the slow development. It takes seemingly forever to get into the schizophrenic aspects of the character. I have seen films where such slow development is well handled with skillful forewarning of what is to come. Unfortunately, that's not the case here.

Veteran actors, Keenan Wynn, Royal Dano, and John Carradine show up here and buffs might find it worth watching this just to see their appearances.

All in all, it's an okay movie, but don't risk breaking your neck to see it...it's not worth it, pal.

The low budget and the talent of Burt Kennedy (working in a rare venture outside the western genre) add to the striking atmosphere of this largely unseen, barely released Jim Thompson adaptation. After the critically lauded Fat City, Stacy Keach had quite a few star turns in alternative fare during the 70s, of which this is among the best (though his decade-wrapper with The Ninth Configuration is awfully hard to beat.)

Susan Tyrell rejoins him here after her acclaimed Fat City turn, with many terrific character actors throughout the cast. Technical work is top-drawer with the William Fraker photography as good as ever.

One of the first budget DVD's released, (naturally unletterboxed) the Panavision cries out for a redo. Sadly, the small resurgence in Thompson adaptations in the early 90s ended rather quickly; still plenty of great material there for dedicated crime filmmakers.

I did not expect anything like this from director Burt Kennedy, who used us more with comedy westerns, more or less in the Andrew McLaglen's style, than to this kind of stuff. I know that in the early sixties he gave us the magnificent MONEY TRAP, another surprising crime film from a director like him, starrring Glenn Ford and Elke Sommer. So this one is also a crime drama, but totally different from MONEY TRAP though. It is adapted from a Jim Thompson's novel. I have never read the book, so I won't tell if this film is faithful or not to the genuine material. But if you like borderline, rotten cops tales; psychotic, sadistic police officers or sheriffs, this movie is for you. Definitely.

Based on one of Jim Thompson's best novels, this sleeper went largely unnoticed in the mid-70's despite an excellent lead performance by Stacy Keach as Lou Ford, mild-mannered Montana deputy-sheriff whom everybody in the small town of Central City likes. An upcoming election, angry miners, and a hooker on the edge of town stir up trouble within the town and Keach.

The relationship between Keach and Susan Tyrrell as the hooker is one of the more intriguing cinematic couplings, made even more so in light of their recent work as a pair of drunks in Huston's "Fat City". Their actions are anything but predictable. Western-vet Burt Kennedy handles the direction chores ably, though the film is obviously constricted by a low-budget. Location work helps, and cinematographer William Fraker captures some nice "big sky" shots. However, several other scenes are poorly lit, with one straining to find the principals in the darkness and shadows. Considering the pro background of Kennedy and Fraker, I wonder if this was a comment on the characters' dark, shadowy personalities ... Another minor complaint is the music score, which seems wrong and intrusive at times.

The film has several veteran character actors, among them Royal Dano, John Carradine (in a nice scene with Keach toward the end), John Dehner, and Keenan Wynn. Best of all though is Don Stroud as Elmer, perhaps his quintessential beer-swilling, hot-headed, good ol' boy role. He balances his character's violent tendencies with a fair degree of bawdy humor (some would seem to be improvised), and would simply walk away with the picture if it were not for Keach being so strong and interesting in the lead. Certainly worth a look for the performances and subject matter.