Rent In Cold Blood (1967)

3.8 of 5 from 109 ratings
2h 9min
Rent In Cold Blood Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
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Synopsis:
In Cold Blood is the powerful, true story of a callous murder, based upon the best-selling novel by Truman Capote. A prosperous and respected Kansas farmer, his wife and his two teenage children are wantonly and brutally slaughtered. The murderers are two mindless ex-convict drifters: Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. The story penetrates the inner workings of the criminals' minds as it follows their purposeless meanderings through Mexico and the United States in evasion of the law and finally to the dramatic end of their journey.
Actors:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , Paul Hough, , , , , , Sadie Truitt
Directors:
Voiced By:
Paul Frees
Writers:
Truman Capote, Richard Brooks
Others:
Quincy Jones, Conrad Hall
Studio:
Columbia Tristar
Genres:
Classics, Drama
Collections:
A History of Films Inspired by Magazine Articles, Best Film Quests and Adventures, Films by Genre, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide to Wes Anderson
BBFC:
Release Date:
15/09/2003
Run Time:
129 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 3.0, French Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, German Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono, Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.35:1
Colour:
B & W
Bonus:
  • Interactive menus
  • Scene selection
BBFC:
Release Date:
10/05/2010
Run Time:
134 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Italian Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles:
Danish, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.35:1
Colour:
B & W

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Reviews (3) of In Cold Blood

Hearts Of Darkness - In Cold Blood review by Count Otto Black

Spoiler Alert
01/10/2015

Based very closely on Truman Capote's book of the same name, this is a blistering portrayal of true evil that pulls no punches at all, except when it comes to showing us the gory details of the crime around which everything revolves. Which is just as well, because an explicit depiction of this event would have been almost unwatchable.

A film like this stands or falls by its central performances, and both the actors playing the utterly vile protagonists are extremely convincing indeed. The central theme of Capote's book is that evil isn't an abstract supernatural force; it's something that human beings inflict on each other for all kinds of twisted reasons. By understanding, even empathizing with these evil men without in any way condoning or excusing their actions, he was trying to show how a man becomes a monster, and how, if his life had gone differently, that monster might have been just a man. This movie does a chilling job of conveying the void that these two men are trapped in and consumed by, and how ultimately doomed they were right from the start. And when that doom finally comes to them, it's portrayed not as a glorious triumph of justice, but as a sordid procedure so terrifying that it's hard not to feel at least a shred of sympathy for the wretches who have to undergo it, no matter what they've done.

The characterization is perfect. We find out that both killers had horrible childhoods, yet the one who actually does by far the worst things is, paradoxically, the one who might have been a decent man if he hadn't gotten trapped in an escalating downward spiral of nihilism, and we understand that he feels guilt and self-loathing about what he did, though the fact remains that he did it anyway. The other, played by an actor who looks as though he must be related to Edward Norton but apparently isn't, is the true force of evil in the partnership, a psychopath who would have been bad no matter what, and doesn't even understand the concepts of guilt or remorse, yet is superficially charming because his incapacity to feel guilt makes him a superb liar.

It's not a perfect film. The supporting cast are mostly rather wooden, and Quincy Jones' background music is sometimes extremely obtrusive, particularly the syrupy Disneyesque "these are nice people" theme in the dreadfully overdone scenes establishing how innocent the doomed family are. Why is this even necessary? I think most viewers would get that they don't deserve to be slaughtered without seeing them being oh so very, very wholesome! And the interlude in the desert with the old man and the little boy is so obviously there to symbolically show that no situation is absolutely black and white, and even terrible people can have moments of goodness, that it feels (and presumably is) very fictional indeed compared with the rest of the film. But overall this is a very powerful and unflinching exploration of the dark side of humanity, and although it's not exactly fun to watch, it's hideously compelling.

3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.

Real Crime - In Cold Blood review by NO

Spoiler Alert
08/09/2020

A compelling film but not pleasurable as it depicts true events.Actors are good & monochrome suits it.What is interesting is that Robert Blakes

life is more melodramatic than this film-one of his wives was murdered (she had 10 husbands) & he was charged with her murder!Worth watchng I look forward to seeing the film CAPOTE>

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

True Crime. - In Cold Blood review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
28/09/2022

Landmark dramatisation of Truman Capote's non fiction novel which reports on the capture and execution of the murderers of a family in Kansas. Two ex-cons on probation (played by Robert Blake and Scott Wilson), brutally slaughter four people during an attempted robbery. The film recreates the events using actual locations and artefacts. Blake and Wilson are disturbingly credible.

While the film argues the futility of capital punishment, there isn't much editorialising. The Capote figure in the story, played by Paul Stewart, talks to the murderers but draws few conclusions. In profiling the killers, the police explain the types who commit motiveless crime, usually young men from a background of domestic trauma.

The men are ostentatiously mentally sick. One of them hallucinates. The other is is a sociopath who feels detached from the consequences of any of his actions. The men are released from jail, but have never been psychologically assessed. There's a liberal perspective, but the film doesn't underplay how horrific the crime is. The grey photography makes everything look disturbingly squalid.

This kind of True Crime documentary realism is everywhere now. There had been neo-realism in Hollywood going back to WWII. In Cold Blood is groundbreaking in American cinema because of the how far it takes it. Its vérité makes few concessions to entertainment. The title is ironic; the film itself is unemotional, objective, cold.

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

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