Blood Simple
A Texas bartender and a troubled housewife become entangled in a deadly web of betrayal and murder when a private detective is paid to eliminate them, forcing him into a dangerous game of deception and double-cross.
“Passion led to Adultery. Adultery led to Murder. It all seemed so simple...”
Synopsis
A small-town Texas bar owner, whose establishment has a run-down reputation, learns that one of his employees is involved in an affair with his wife. In response, he plots to have both the employee and his wife killed, setting off a series of chaotic misunderstandings, deceptions, and misadventures.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 24
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Ethan CoenShot by Barry SonnenfeldScored by Carter BurwellDesigned by Jane Musky
Box Office
1985 · Box office
Produced on a $1.5M budget
Production budget
$1.5M
Full synopsis
Other versions & cuts
- Blood Simple – Director's Cutde
These are distinct edits of the film. Their own runtime and release year aren’t on file yet — we only have the alternate title so far.
Also known as
- Blood Simple – Eine mörderische Nachtde
- Schatten der Vergangenheitde
- Sangre fáciles
- Sang pour sangfr
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Cast & Crew
24 unique people credited
Top billed cast
John Getz
as Ray
Frances Mcdormand
as Abby
Dan Hedaya
as Julian Marty
M Emmet Walsh
as Private Detective
Samm Art Williams
as Meurice
Deborah Neumann
as Debra
Raquel Gavia
as Landlady
Van Brooks
as Man from Lubbock
Senor Marco
as Mr. Garcia
William Creamer
as Old Cracker
Loren Bivens
as Strip Bar Exhorter
Bob Mcadams
as Strip Bar Senator
Supporting cast
5Directors
1Writers
2Producers
1Other crew
8Parents Guide
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Where to watch
Live · bot-verified- The Criterion ChannelStream
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