Wow this movie is ten shades of messed up and yet somehow I loved it. I'll tell you though, I am still feeling the tension of this film even as the credits are rolling and I'm writing this review. McConaughey was just as crazy as usual, back to the days of his Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. Juno Temple was amazing as the simple girl who is used as sexual collateral. She had to do some hard scenes but pulled them off very well. It's such a complex movie that it begs to be watched again.

can't help but wonder if McConaughey's drumstick was real or prosthetic.

I have mixed feelings about this clearly farcical movie. As a kind of comedy, stuff like this is lost on me - unlike Coens fans, I'm not evolved to the point of smirking at brutalization of women. Viewed as a sludgy, over-the-top thriller, though, it is undoubtedly well written and well executed. A dysfunctional family and the dirty cop that torments them are blown up, but somehow never stretched thin enough to explode. There is a certain touch with reality behind the hyperbole and caricature.

How about them chicken legs...

Friedkin and the cast are in top form, and there's depth to the nuts and bolts of the plot, but the film's attitudes are juvenile and blatantly exploitative, using violent sexual abuse to get laughs and serve as sophomoric commentary that's less anything insightful or uniquely American and more just the smug contempt of a city slicker reading the police blotter.

A valiant effort but Emile Hirsch, as usual, blows it and the story stalls too much.

I can't believe that this has been embraced by critics and the public, considering how bitter and sleazy the entire thing is. I'd like to think we've reached a time where people can put their morals aside and enjoy a film for what it is, which is an extremely bleak, darkly comic, quasi-sexual character study that also happens to be incredibly well acted (McConaughey is a revelation). The entire last scene is the tensest thing I've seen since Basterds' prologue. I'll be avoiding KFC for a while.

That scene with Gina Gershon and the drumstick will haunt me forever.

Bizarre, unique, well acted movie. McConaughey and Hirsch both show up for their best performances and Juno Temple makes a potentially annoying character very watchable. There is something inherently wrong with me that I bought friend chicken right after watching this movie.

Best use of Clarence Carter's "Strokin' " award.

Matthew McConaughey creates one of the most intimidating and all around frightening characters I've ever seen. As a result, we get a movie that's just a wall of intensity and menace, and that's an achievement.

Ridiculously over-the-top in every way. Maybe thats the point - maybe this just isn't my kind of movie. I will say that this is definitely one of McConaughey's greatest roles as he is just pure shock and entertainment here. Some of this is fun but most is just too much to really enjoy.

Brutally violent and infused with a pitch-black sense of humour, Killer Joe is at turns sickening, shocking and surprisingly funny. Rates among the more disturbing movies I've seen

A hell of a subversive, unprecedented film about the American family, in which the punishment for its sins -- a murder, virginity on sale, wicked moves to get easy money -- comes from a righteous psycho, a law man willing to teach them a moral lesson. Friedkin amazingly saturates image and sound to comment on today's America -- through its "whitest" state --, a country where violence is still seen as a way to set things right, the divine act that purifies the wrong with blood. Unique finale.

Dirtttty. Filthy, even. The emotions experienced while watching this are just bizarre. Seriously Mathew McConaughey's best performance. Thomas Haden Church nailed it. This was just incredibly different, and I loved every moment. But holy shit. I need a shower.

You know, when a scene featuring a possessed 12-year-old girl masturbating with a crucifix isn't the most fucked up thing in your filmography, you're doing something...well, I'm not sure if it's something right or something wrong, but it's certainly something.

this is one sick, SICK film, I like it a lot!

Dialogue, cast and art and sound design all terrific. Over the top performances (Friedkin is not a subtle director). Thomas Haden Church plays possibly the dumbest character you have ever seen on film. Great spoof of Texan lowlife. Might put this stylistically up there with Altman's The Long Goodbye.

Here is a film that doesn't give a shit what you think of it. It's a film that teaches no lessons, asserts no moral stances, and presents no enviable characters. What it does is paint a picture of greed, desperation and decrepitude, with characters that are all atrocious to some degree. And what an entertaining picture it is. I laughed, I gasped, I squirmed and I needed a shower at the end. Only a talented filmmaker could make greed, desperation and decrepitude this much fun.

It's certainly a weird movie. Lots of violence mixed with a few twists and loads of black humor. It is definitely a movie that will make you go WTF quite a few times. The script and the performances are really strong, though at times it does show its stage roots. Also, what kind of woman gets a shit-ton of plastic surgery, but doesn't get a bikini wax? I call bullshit.

:D ... ... ... D: CLARENCE CARTER CLARENCE CARTER CLARENCE CARTER CLARENCE CARTER OOOOOO SHIT CLARENCE CARTER

A tale of awful people doing awful things to awful people. There's one character in this that isn't irredeemably awful, but she is a bit... "special," confused and enigmatic enough to defy my attempts to relate to her. With no relatable characters, it can be tough to stomach this film that seems to love wallowing in its own trashiness. Uncomfortable, disturbing and McConaughey is surprisingly awesome as the crazy, calculating, and wholly terrifying titular character. An acquired taste, I'm sure.

Many films are about Faustian bargains but only one has Matthew McConaughey. This is a surprising morally complex story of white trash intrigue. It goes beyond conventional morality plays because instead of being a devil, Joe is the old testament hand of god collecting his dues, perversely reclaiming the wayward Mary, and punishing the sinful. It sidesteps the simplistic seducing innocents trope. There are NO innocents. McConaughey's sick acting is a once in a lifetime role. Pass the K fry C.

Great performances and an original story. Bloody good fun!

Hirsch is wildly uneven. In all fairness, the fault is probably Friedkin's who seems to revel in the perverse for the hell of it. I've always avoided KFC - and now I can never go (you'll see what I mean). Some of it is plain terrible. Other parts aren't half-bad. McConaughey's totally ruthless villain, though definitely not all too original, isn't without promise. Church (in a funny turn) and Gershon are convincing as extremely cynical trailer trash - not the most flattering compliment, perhaps.

Well shit.

this movie was built up for me quite a bit before i saw it, and i still have to admit... i was entirely unprepared.

Dark dark dark. Fantastically acted. Mental as hell in parts. Great work by all.

I spent the last half-hour or so of this movie staring in fascinated horror. This is the blackest of black comedy, meaning that a lot of the time you're laughing to keep from throwing up. Great film. Also great way to keep yourself from eating too much fried chicken.

This movie will just beat the everliving shit out of whatever expectations you brought in with you.

Hahahaha...oh, man. Ohhhhh, man.

Incredibly entertaining, McConaughey revels in his role as the title character, Killer Joe. Thomas Haden Church once again proves his chops with a comedic turn, Gina Gershon spends most of her time wearing no underwear, and is very convincing as trailer trash. Juno Temple is magnificent as the twisted Cinderella of the story, and Emile Hirsch is one of the biggest idiots to hit the screen in a long time - that's a compliment by the way. Friedkin defied my expectations - the funniest film i've se

One of the best movies of the year. Lurid, visceral, uncomfortably hilarious. McConaughey at his absolute best, with good performances from the rest of the cast as well. And that final 15 minutes or so is the kind of filmmaking that'll be burned in your mind forever.

Weird doesn't even begin to describe it, but there's nothing wrong with that. If you can tale some dark, and I mean DARK, comedy, you'll be able to put being creeped out aside and enjoy this one.