MovieChat Forums > The Killer Inside Me (2010) Discussion > The gasoline smell - the definitive expl...

The gasoline smell - the definitive explanation [SPOILERS]

posted 13 years ago by cib3000
7 replies | jump to latest

I've just rewatched this part. He pours gasoline in some parts of the house. It ends. He goes to the basement, gets some chemicals, possibly also alcohol, and begins pouring them in the rest of the house, including the room he's in when the cops arrive. This room is at the front of the house, that the front door opens in. The cops get from the porch straight into this room. All they would smell at this point would be some strange chemicals, so they won't be alerted. And the chemicals could burst easily into flames. Perfectly plausible.

And yes, the main character is a bit nuts. He clearly imagines things in one scene. It's up to you to decide if there are other scenes that also happen only in his head. You may even choose to believe that the entire movie happens in his head, because hey, the guy is crazy.

Me, I think this is a stupid logic and I'd rather look instead for the hints the director/writer placed in the movie to tell you if a scene is imaginary or not. Jessica Alba is alive and they kept this from him. Maybe they were afraid he might kill her, or maybe she's dead and it's all in his head, seeing as he was obsessed with her. It's difficult to tell at this point if the final scene is real or not, so either versions seem fine.

[–] bugyell-2 13 years ago

Also, when he is dousing the bedroom you can clearly see, in two shots, that the liquid is brown, like weak tea.

Quand le doigt montre le ciel, l'imbécile regarde le doigt.

[–] BKinzeys 13 years ago

Naw. Not plausible. They would have smelled the gasoline and the chemicals. That's the only way the house would explode in flames like that is if the liquids were dispersed in the air. They'd also experience irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, lungs, etc.

Might as well as had him go all Kung-Fu and slice up everybody in the room, run outside and avoid everybody there and get away.

It was just a silly ending.

[–] moosefeathers 12 years ago

I don't think it's in his head because when he's dousing the house, you see the house being surrounded through the windows. Upstairs you clearly see a man walking through the yard approaching the house, yet he does not acknowlede the fact that the man is in the back yard, or the cops in front of the house. I felt if this was in his head, he would have acknowledged them somehow.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] twelvepointnine 12 years ago

And the chemicals could burst easily into flames.

But how come Lou smokes a cigar when the cops enter, without having blown up the place by lighting the match?

Chaos reigns

[–] shempXIV 8 years ago

The ending that we saw was all in Lou's head -- Lou probably lit the cigar, BOOM, and his twisted mind wrote an apocalyptic ending.

Also, NO WAY would police officers let his would-be victim (Alba's character) walk up to Lou (possibly leading to him strangling her or take-a-hostage situation)!

[–] Aidy 12 years ago

Ah yes...the standard IMDB opinion on any movie from Star Wars to Shawshank Redemption....it all happened in their head

*yawn*

Yes they would have smelled it, and TBH I'm not sure the gunshots would be enough to ignite it. But it's just a movie.

[–] gorgsharpy 7 years ago

She comes back to haunt him in his head. She is a ghost. His bad conscience.

"You couldn't be much further from the truth" - several