Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Woodyanders Cunning and charismatic serial killer William Bonin (a creepy, intense, and convincing performance by Scott Anthony Leet) preys on various hapless drifters and hitchhikers on the California highways in the late 1970's. Director John Murlowski, working from a compact script by David Birke, relates the gripping story at a steady pace, maintains a dark grim tone throughout, firmly grounds the premise in a totally plausible everyday working class reality, and handles the potentially lurid subject matter in an admirably tasteful and thoughtful manner (this film is more of a stark character study than an all-out gorefest). Moreover, Murlowski and Birke wisely don't try to explain Bonin; instead they merely present him as a ferocious predatory monster who not only was addicted to and turned on by murder, but also was charming and sociable enough to persuade others to partake in his horrible activities. The fine acting from the sturdy cast rates as another major asset: Leet clearly dominates the picture with his thoroughly chilling portrayal of an unrepentant beast, with excellent support from Cole Williams as wide-eyed hanger-on Kyle, Dusty Sorg as scraggly and sensible partner Vernon Butts, Michael Rooker as the no-nonsense Det. Sgt. John, Debbon Ayer as the grief-stricken Ruth Slobo, and Eileen Dietz as Bonin's sickly alcoholic mother Alice. The startling moments of sudden brutal violence pack a harsh punch. Erik Godal's spare moody score and Murlowski's plain cinematography further enhance the overall gritty authenticity. Recommended viewing.

elshikh4 After (The Silence of the Lambs – 1991) a fashion had swept Hollywood in the 1990s and beyond, as if a subgenre had been born in the thriller / horror movies. It's all about the hunt for one crazy ultra-intelligent serial killer, by – in general – 2 different, yet complete together, partners. Else that, the rest of the serial killers, largely the realistic ones, went to be TV movies of the week. While (Freeway Killer) isn't any of the above (having no TSOTL's formula, being based on horrible true story, and cinematic), it leaned to take the worst of both; the poorness of writing, producing, and directing.The writing has no business exploring anything, I think the scriptwriter doesn't know the word "history" or admit it. I didn't understand how come the movie turns into narration near the end, or the necessity of the character of the victim's mother there. Rather how the police caught the title character ? Obviously, the scriptwriter doesn't know the word "thrill" either !The back projections, as in the car scenes, were ancient and funny, which pushed me out of the movie's 70s mood to the laughing mood! The sets did serve as a factor of bore. Not because they were numbered or so usual only, but for the way this movie dealt with them in the first place. The directing is close to awful. It led everything blandly. Remember the scenes at the friend's home; nothing interesting or catchy of any sort was done there. In fact, the whole movie says nothing artistically !Save a melancholic atmosphere and tone, clothes from the events' era, and some good acting, I didn't find something to earn from it. Speaking about good acting; it was good in the tight limits of that script. So Scott Leet, with his scary charismatic presence, was about to be Razzied. Thank god that the other elements didn't harm him much. In best cases it looks like a nihilist and bloody road movie, a glum slasher horror, or a movie about troubled friendship between 3 troubled men, however clueless when it comes to the reasons of their troubles and violence (Bore ? Suppressed anger ? Hate to society ? Inferiority complex ? Persecution mania ??!).Anyway, not the movie that I expected or accepted about William Bonin, whether psychologically or thrillingly. It does have the worst of the famous 2 formulas that I mentioned earlier, and doesn't have something good from or out of them either. It's only a dark tale of a real serial killer, where being poor is the secret of its insipidity.

Daniel Ispas I live in Romania, we don't get that many movies on DVD, especially movies like this one. I am a big horror fan, so when I looked on my torrents site and I've that this movie it's billed as horror, crime, thriller, I instantly downloaded it.It has a low budget, and you can see that, especially cause this movie is set in the late 70s, but the cars are from nowadays. But it doesn't matter. Scott Lee as William Bonin is great ! I never heard about this guy, but I was really impressed and I will keep an eye on his works.It's a great little movie, with unknown actors, that makes wonder what's gonna happen.8/10

sarlex85 The movie itself wasn't so bad. However the storyline could've been fleshed out a little bit more. My pet peeve was that the movie was filled with so many Anochronisms, it threw the story off a bit. This was set around 1979-1980, but it looked very low budget. There were modern cars everywhere, besides the ones used by the actors themselves. The convenience store was riddled with current versions of consumer products, Bonin's alarm clock was digital, etc. Just seems like they didn't make a good effort at setting the theme of the movie to have been in the past. It was shot more like a student film on a shoestring budget.