Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" came back to people's attention with the release of Bennett Miller's "Capote", depicting the author's research into the Clutter murders and subsequent infatuation with Perry Smith (widely considered the first time that a book about a heinous crime essentially made a celebrity out of the perpetrator). Nonetheless, Richard Brooks's 1967 adaptation of the original novel still bears watching. Robert Blake and the recently deceased Scott Wilson - nowadays recognizable from "The Walking Dead" - depict Perry Smith and Dick Hickock as a pair of men who feel like they have no other hope in the world, so they pull off their infamous crime.

The characters say and do things that must've been shocking for viewers at the time. Without a doubt, this was one of the movies that helped bring down the Hays Code. And that's just one of the reasons why it remains a classic. Anyone curious about classic cinema has to see it.

Also starring John Forsythe, Jeff Corey, Will Geer and Vaughn Taylor (Marion's boss in "Psycho").

Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Dick Hickock (Scott Wilson) are life long criminals. They plan to rob a safe in the Clutter family farm in Holcomb, Kansas. They find no money and massacres the family. They go on the run first intending to get into Mexico. The guys are caught. Police detective Alvin Dewey (John Forsythe) leads the investigation. The duo are interrogated until they confess and then convicted.

It's fittingly a black and white movie. It is not colorful or sensationalized, and the tense atmosphere is elevated. These are cold hearted killers. Director Richard Brooks gets nominated for his faithful interpretation of Truman Capote's book. The two leads Robert Blake and Scott Wilson are great especially Blake as the damaged and deranged Perry. The killings are left to the last part of the movie and it's very haunting.

Don't watch this alone on a dark night. I had to remind myself as I watched this the first time that the men I was seeing commit a horrible series of murders were not the real ones. Robert Blake, who is scary in his own right, and Scott Wilson are the actors, but we really lose sight of that. Based on Truman Capote's biographical novel, this is the story of a couple of lost souls who arrive at a home, hoping to rob it, find the family home, and kill everyone. They get in too deep and can't leave any witnesses. It doesn't take long to capture them and the bulk of the movie involves what it's like as they await their executions. There is nothing sugar coated about this. They await hanging for a deplorable crime. What is interesting is that we see these men as human beings. They are not victims, but they have had checkered lives and have not figured out how to live properly. If you want another view of this, see the movie "Capote." It gives even further insights into the psyches of these guys.