What the hell happened to William Friedkin? This was some really crappy Indie trash with a direct-to-video feel.
All traces of Friedkin's hyper-realistic style as displayed in The Exorcist, Sorcerer, and To Live & Die in LA are gone now. He should have stopped directing about 1986.
It could have been better but it wasn't awful. I'm not really sure what friedkin added to the pic other than quick competent direction. I wasn't a huge fan of the story either, but damn me if there wasn't some good scenes littered throughout. That fellatio chicken drumstick scene was genius.
shareYou can really pinpoint when Friedkin lost his personal style. If you watch TL&DiLA and then his next film, Rampage from '87 it's incredible. Rampage is like a bloodier version of those made-for-TV movies from the 80s about hunting serial killers. Total generic junk. I don't know why he abandoned his unique documentary style in favor of bland anonymous thrillers. It's sad.
Killer Joe feels like one of the hundreds of journeyman crime dramas that everyone cranked out in the '90s to cash in on Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.