The Alphabet Killer (2008)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Rob Schmidt

Writer:

Tom Malloy (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Based on the true story of the double initial killings in Rochester, NY. |

Cast

Eliza Dushku	...	Lt. Megan Paige
Cary Elwes	...	Capt. Kenneth Shine
Timothy Hutton	...	Richard Ledge
Tom Malloy	...	Det. Stephen Harper
Michael Ironside	...	Capt. Nathan Norcross
Bill Moseley	...	Carl Tanner
Carl Lumbly	...	Dr. Ellis Parks
Brian Scannell	...	Jay Castillo
Larry Hankin	...	Perry
Jack McGee	...	Hank
Melissa Leo	...	Kathy Walsh
Andrew Fiscella	...	Len Schafer
Tom Noonan	...	Capt. Ray Gullikson
Rocco Sisto	...	Father McQuarrie
Frank Rossi	...	Francis Baker

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Intrinsic Value Films

Trivia:

While filming portions of the movie in Spencerport, New York, a box truck from the production company pulled down two electrical poles with transformers attached to them. Subsequently, a car was set on fire but was not able to be put out with water until the electricity was turned off. 11 residents were displaced from their homes and offered hotel accommodation by the production company.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Megan Paige: Mostly the job is to ask questions. The frustrating part, the part that drives you crazy, is that the people you really want to talk to are dead.

Movie Connections:

References The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Some good effort but not much of a story.

Eliza Dushku is the one who delivers in this fairly predictable serial killer story, reminiscent of such films as "Gothika" and "Jennifer Eight". There are also a lot of serial killer movie alumni populating the lesser roles of this film, like Bill Moseley, Timothy Hutton, Tom Noonan and Cary Elwes. They don't really matter though, because it's all about Dushku's character Megan Paige and her late onset schizophrenia which makes it very difficult for her to crack the case of the Alphabet killer, as well as keep the confidence of her fellow police officers.

Movies that focus on characters with mental disorders are often interesting and unpredictable, like Polanski's "Repulsion" or Fincher's "Fight Club" because it makes the audience unsure what's reality in the movie and what's just playing out inside the mind of the main character. Unfortunately this isn't one of those movies. Instead of trying to make the audience share in Megan's delusions, they are clearly separated and labeled to avoid any confusion, or excitement for that matter. Instead we are made to watch her from the outside and see her struggling to connect with her colleagues and convince them that she's completely sane despite her textbook "crazy person" behavior. Like I said, Dushku delivers a solid performance as a distraught, emotionally unstable and sometimes delusional police woman. It's just hard to get invested in her character because of the boring predictable story she slowly fights her way through.

There is not a single supporting character that comes off as more than some kind of one-dimensional stereotype. There's the honest cop, the crooked cop, the former lover, the one true friend, the calm doctor, the obvious suspect, the creepy priest and eventually, for a brief time at the end, the killer... non of them with any significant character development or depth. This movie isn't painful to watch and it's not poorly made, it just suffers from lack of imagination on the directors part and some sloppy writing. See it, don't see it... doesn't really matter.