Excellent Adaptation Of A Cheesy Book!

I know that a lot of people are going to hate me for saying this, but Truman Capote's book "In Cold Blood" sucked. There was too much useless detail (which had nothing to do with the story) and was too dry to stand. But, the film version is excellent (as it says in my title).

This 1967 adaptation of the true crime novel takes Capote's overlong book and condenses it nicely into a two hour masterpiece. Robert Blake (of "Baretta" fame) and Scott Wilson pull of the roles of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock (our two half-witted murderers) so good, you'd almost swear they were the actual killers.

The story itself if very simple:

In order to get "the perfect score", convicts Dick and Perry drive into Holcomb, Kansas and kill off one of the richest families in the town.

The whole town is shocked that this Ozzie and Harriet style family would be killed in such a brutal fashion (they were all killed with a point blank shot to the head with a hunting rifle). Investigators come in to search the house for any clues. Only one was found, a bloody footprint left on an old matress box.

After killing the family and only getting $40, Dick and Perry run to Mexico and try to stay out of the U.S. as much as possible. But, after their cash is depleted (since they didn't have much to start with), they have to travel back into the States, where they are caught, tried and executed for their crime.

The movie itself is played out with such power, you won't want to stop watching. Best of all, this movie seems a little contraversial for the time of it's release.

Besides the language used in the movie (This isn't a bad thing. I just didn't expect that type of swearing in a movie made in the 1960s), the ending looks like it would have raised a lot of eyebrows back in the day.

The ending of the movie is the full execution ceremony for Perry. We see the hood put over his head, we see the noose put around his neck, we see the lever pulled, and we see him drop. Now, this isn't what you normally expect to see in a movie this old. It just wasn't heard of at the time. And, you know me. I am always a fan of anything contraversial.

Overall, loyal reader, this movie is at least a must rent for everyone. It's a truly kickass movie that I feel shouldn't be missed out by anyone. But, as for me, I'm on a mission to find it and add it to my collection.

Trust me on this one. You'll thank me later.