The Alphabet Killer

The Alphabet Killer

2008 "Based on a true story."
The Alphabet Killer
The Alphabet Killer

The Alphabet Killer

5.2 | 1h38m | R | en | Thriller

Based on the true story of double killings occurring in Rochester, NY during the 80’s and the troubled police officer determined to solve them, with or without the help of her department

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5.2 | 1h38m | R | en | Thriller , Crime , Mystery | More Info
Released: November. 07,2008 | Released Producted By: Intrinsic Value Films , New Films International Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.alphabetkiller.com/
Synopsis

Based on the true story of double killings occurring in Rochester, NY during the 80’s and the troubled police officer determined to solve them, with or without the help of her department

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Cast

Eliza Dushku , Cary Elwes , Timothy Hutton

Director

Clarissa Shanahan

Producted By

Intrinsic Value Films , New Films International

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Reviews

Pete Flint What potentially was a good story line which i can only assume is loosely based on true events was absolutely annihilated by the god awful acting of the lead actress. What the director was thinking when he thought of making her go crazy i'll never know.Thank god that is over!!Please don't waste your time on this
plainntall The idea of a schizophrenic detective was very intriguing. That intrigue got me through most of the movie, but it all fell apart into a confusing jumble at the end. I am still not sure what was real at the end and what was a hallucination.I was very dissatisfied with who the killer apparently turned out to be. It seemed so artificial. The movie had a very interesting true story to draw from and one of the current suspects would have made an excellent character in the movie. If I had to redo this movie I would have Megan Paige (Dushku) using her hallucinations to allow her to use her brilliance to catch or come close to catching the real killer. As it was the hallucinations were merely a visual way of communicating to the audience that she was mentally ill.Promising movie, but fails to deliver in the end.
Girish Gowda This film is a true story and it is not a flashy film which tries to make money by the sufferings of these poor young girls. I cannot stress how much I loathe these paedophiles and rapists. I am a 20 year old guy and if I had any superpowers, I would kill every one of them. If you have read my other reviews, you will know that sometimes I feel very strongly about some issue and burst out like that. I am sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, its just who I am. I was browsing through my friend's DVD collection when I came across this and the cover was very interesting. So, I brought it over a couple of days back to see and the movie was very heart-breaking.A 10-year-old girl, Carla Castillo is found brutally murdered outside the small city of Rochester, New York, and obsessed police detective Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku) suffers a mental breakdown while trying to solve the crime. Megan is diagnosed with adult onset of paranoid schizophrenia and her fianceé breaks of the engagement. The police department is letting the case go into cold storage as there are no leads and the murder seemed to be a dead end. But Megan is convinced that there is a serial killer who goes after children with the same initials. When the child-killings resume two years later, Megan's return to the investigation also brings back her own horrific hallucinations. The only friend she has through all her ordeal is the wheelchair bound Richard Ledge (Timothy Hutton). Even if she can prove a double initial connection to the slayings, will she hang onto her sanity long enough to catch the paedophile psychopath? The director of 'Wrong Turn', Rob Scmidt directs 'The Alphabet Killer'. He is one director who looks very promising. He directs this film with a real reverence to the true events. Eliza Dushku gives her best here as the woman who can see the ghosts of the dead girls. The whole story revolves around her perspective of these killings and sometimes it is very confusing. Is she really schizophrenic or does she actually see those ghosts? Whatever the case maybe, those little girls really suffered from that psycho killer. I really hope that killer is brought to justice soon. The way those little girls are lured into the killer's car is very real. Many of the times, the killer will be a person who you trust. This sick guy doesn't need therapy, he deserves to die for his sins. The ending is chilling with the killer eyeing his next victim. Kenneth Shine, Tom Malloy and Timothy Hutton all give credible performances. This film can be quite traumatizing to below 16 year olds, so the R-rating is definitely deserved (there is also one scene where the beautiful Eliza gets naked, and there is also language and moderate violence, so beware).7/10
Lechuguilla This crime thriller centers on a detective named Megan (Eliza Dushku) who investigates a series of child murders in upstate New York. But Megan suffers from a mental illness, the symptoms of which get worse as she delves deeper into the killings. She hears strange voices and sees "visions" related to the victims.With low light levels and muted colors, combined with creepy background music, the film's first half creates an effective thriller atmosphere. We see the outline of the killer, but never the face. Will Megan solve the murders and overcome her illness, or will the inept police supersede, to botch the case? As viewers, we root for Megan to succeed.Although the script idea originates from a real-life murder case, referred to generally as the "double initial" serial killings, which terrorized upstate New York in the early 1970s, the film's overall plot and main characters are fictional. The story setting is the present, not the 1970s. The scriptwriter created the Megan character out of thin air. And the story's outcome deviates considerably from the outcome of the real-life case. The film's writer wrote a fictional plot, based on a real-life premise. The film's second half fails to convince, largely because of its clichéd plot contrivances.Visuals consist of an annoying widescreen projection and some hokey CGI effects, in the form of "ghosts". But the low lighting contributes tension, as does some clever low-angle camera shots. And the director relies mostly on a hand-held camera, which enhances realism. Overall casting and acting are fine."The Alphabet Killer" gets off to a great start. But it falters in the second half, owing to fictional plot points that dilute the underlying real-life premise. I would have preferred a narrative that followed the true story, though I understand that the reason for not doing so was budget constraints. By lowering one's expectations, the viewer may find the film worthwhile, either as a fictional thriller or as a character study of a woman fighting her own demons.