The Killer Inside Me (1976 film)

The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me
	Theatrical poster
Directed by	Burt Kennedy
Written by	Edward Mann; Robert Chamblee
Based on	The Killer Inside Me ; by Jim Thompson
Produced by	Michael W. Leighton
Starring	Stacy Keach ; Susan Tyrrell ; Tisha Sterling
Cinematography	William A. Fraker
Edited by	Danford B. Greene ; Aaron Stell
Music by	Tim McIntire ; John Rubinstein
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 1976;
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Last updated September 10, 2025

The Killer Inside Me is a 1976 American neo-noir ^[1] crime drama film directed by Burt Kennedy and based on Jim Thompson's novel of the same name.^[2] In this adaptation, the action was shifted from the west Texas oilfields to a Montana mining town, and several other changes were made. It stars Stacy Keach, Susan Tyrrell, and Tisha Sterling.

Plot

Beneath his likable exterior, Lou Ford, a deputy in a small Montana town, is a sadistic sociopath with violent sexual tastes. When Lou gets involved with a local prostitute's blackmail schemes, the carefully crafted facade he maintains begins to unravel into a killing spree.

Cast

Stacy Keach as Lou Ford
Susan Tyrrell as Joyce Lakeland
Tisha Sterling as Amy Stanton
Keenan Wynn as Chester Conway
Don Stroud as Elmer
Charles McGraw as Howard Hendricks
John Dehner as Bob Maples
Pepe Serna as Johnny Lopez
John Carradine as Dr. Jason Smith
Royal Dano as Father
Julie Adams as Mother

Remake

Michael Winterbottom directed a 2010 remake of the film starring Casey Affleck as Lou Ford, Jessica Alba as Joyce Lakeland, and Kate Hudson as Amy Stanton. The 2010 version contains more details about the history of Ford and his brother as well as a somewhat different ending.

References

↑ Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5
↑ "The Killer Inside Me (1976) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-05-14.

External links

The Killer Inside Me at IMDb

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[1] Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5

[2] "The Killer Inside Me (1976) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-05-14.

[1]

[2]

v t e Works by Jim Thompson
Novels	Now and on Earth (1942) Heed the Thunder (1946) Nothing More Than Murder (1949) The Killer Inside Me (1952) The Alcoholics (1953) Savage Night (1953) Bad Boy (1953) The Criminal (1953) The Golden Gizmo (1954) A Swell-Looking Babe (1954) A Hell of a Woman (1954) After Dark, My Sweet (1955) The Kill-Off (1957) Wild Town (1957) The Getaway (1958) The Transgressors (1961) The Grifters (1963) Pop. 1280 (1964) The Rip-Off (1989)
Screenplays	The Killing (1956) Paths of Glory (1957)
Film adaptations	The Getaway (1972) The Killer Inside Me (1976) Série noire (1979) Coup de Torchon (1981) The Kill-Off (1989) After Dark, My Sweet (1990) The Grifters (1990) The Getaway (1994) Hit Me (1996) This World, Then the Fireworks (1997) The Killer Inside Me (2010)