“Love Lies Bleeding” and the Perils of Genre

The town’s evil patriarch is Lou’s father, Lou, Sr. (Ed Harris), who owns the gym and the gun range, and also, essentially, the police department. He’s been getting away with murder for years, and when Lou was younger he involved her in his crimes. She loathes him but remains tethered to him, because she must stay in town to help her sister, Beth (Jena Malone), who is trapped in an abusive marriage to a guy named J.J. (Dave Franco). Lou also wants to help Jackie, and offers her a supply of illegal steroid shots to boost her chances in Las Vegas. Jackie quickly bulks up but also develops a severe case of ’roid rage, leading to a terrifying act of vigilante justice. Now Lou must find a way to dispose of evidence. Thanks to Lou, Sr.,’s horrific example, Lou knows what to do, but her father, ever tentacular, gets wind of what’s going on. Fearing that the young lovers will expose his bloody deeds, he lays plans to silence them—and anyone else he thinks may compromise him.