--- title: "In Cold Blood: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/in-cold-blood/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/in-cold-blood" critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # In Cold Blood (1967): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 12 reviews: 10 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond strongly to In Cold Blood, with praise centring on its documentary realism and noir style. Conrad Hall’s black-and-white cinematography draws repeated admiration for its starkness, while Robert Blake and Scott Wilson’s natural performances support the film’s humane attention to disturbing behaviour. The reviews also value its suspense and sensitivity towards killers and victims. Quincy Jones’s nervy jazz score receives particular notice for making danger feel close. The reservations concern how Brooks explains and presents the violence, rather than the strength of the filmmaking. Slant Magazine questions the psychological diagnosis despite its enthusiastic verdict; The Guardian finds the film chilling but sometimes reluctant to confront the horror directly. The Telegraph admires the documentary approach while finding the case against capital punishment unpersuasive. The spread runs from mixed to strongly positive, with no outright rejection: even the more reserved assessments acknowledge the film’s unsettling force. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. Ebert’s review is positive. It singles out the film’s stark, documentary-like realism. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-cold-blood-1968) ## Slant Magazine — Clayton Dillard Rating 5/5. 18 November 2015. Dillard praises Brooks’s film as an innovative and influential work, while noting reservations about its psychological diagnosis. He singles out the Criterion restoration’s exceptional image and sound, along with its extensive extras. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/in-cold-blood/) ## The AV Club — Noel Murray Rating A-. 18 November 2015. Murray calls the film an uncommonly great, inspired blend of documentary realism and noir. He especially praises Conrad Hall’s stark cinematography and the way Brooks combines it with finely observed behavior and unsettling stylistic choices. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/in-cold-blood-remains-an-inspired-hybrid-of-documentary-1798185707) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2006. Turan celebrates the film as a classic, though he notes that Brooks’ emotional tone can feel heightened. He singles out Conrad Hall’s breathtaking black-and-white cinematography as the film’s great glory. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-03-et-cold3-story.html) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1966. Variety gives the film a strongly positive assessment, calling it probing, sensitive, balanced, and suspenseful. It especially praises the realistic look and sound achieved through location shooting and Brooks’s filmmaking. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1966/film/reviews/in-cold-blood-1200421336/) ## Little White Lies — Sophie Monks Kaufman Rating 3/4/4. 11 September 2015. The critic finds the adaptation well worth revisiting, describing it as a composed and sorrowful character study. She praises Robert Blake and Scott Wilson’s natural performances and the film’s calm, humane approach to its killers and victims. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/in-cold-blood-1967) ## Radio Times — Tony Sloman Rating 4/5. Sloman finds the adaptation harrowing, dour and remarkably faithful to Capote's book. He especially praises Conrad Hall's monochrome cinematography and the performances of Robert Blake and Scott Wilson. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-namw0w/in-cold-blood/) ## Time Out — Helen O’Hara Rating 4/5. 7 September 2015. The review presents the film as spine-tingling. It singles out Quincy Jones’s jangling, nervy jazz score for making danger feel imminent. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/in-cold-blood) ## The Telegraph — Simon Heffer Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 7 January 2023. He considers the film a masterpiece but says its intended case against capital punishment fails. He singles out the documentary style and the contrast between the murderers’ executions and the Clutter family’s brutal killings. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/cold-blood-tried-argue-against-death-penalty-backfired/) ## Film Comment — Mark Harris Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). The standfirst presents Brooks’s adaptation as balancing style with naturalism. The full review’s verdict and specific praise or complaint are unavailable in the page text provided. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/cinema-67-revisited-cold-blood/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2015. Bradshaw finds the adaptation still chilling, though it sometimes averts its gaze from the horror. He singles out the killers’ casual excitement about violence as especially unsettling. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/10/in-cold-blood-review-still-chilling-capote-adaptation) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 82/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2015. Festival review. Kermode finds the film gripping and powerful, with a distinctive noirish menace. She especially praises Robert Blake’s performance as Perry, while noting how the film preserves the horror and human cost of the murders. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/in-cold-blood-1967-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/in-cold-blood.md