jotix100 Something is happening in the small Alaskan town where a woman is found dead in the snow. Right after she is discovered, the FBI gets into the case because it ties up with other killings in the Northwest. The town is about to celebrate Christmas, but it won't be a happy time for anyone because suddenly other young women are killed, as well.Michael Bafaro's, "The Barber", shows some interesting aspects as a mystery movie. Although our attention is immediately drawn toward the most obvious person, something that the local police enforcers, or even the FBI overlook. In fact the film seems to be telling us the assassin is getting away with murder, because the one responsible eludes being trapped.The film is watchable because of the work of Malcom McDowell in the film. He is an interesting actor to watch at work. Mr. McDowell is always a welcome addition to any film, as he proves in this one. Jeremy Ratchford is also an asset playing the police chief. The FBI agent discovers something murky in his past that might implicate him in the murders.The bleak winter of that remote town in Alaska is captured in the film with good results by Mr. Bafaro and his crew. While this film doesn't break new ground, it will keep the viewer involved in the story.

sol1218 (SOME SPOILERS) Serial killer on the loose in the north country using the six month winter darkness as a cover for his unspeakable crimes. With two drunken hunters Levi & Buffalo, Philip Granger & Ernst Harth, stumbling on the frozen body of Lucy Waters,Jennifer Martinez, it becomes evident later at the towns coroners office that she's been murdered. The chief of police of the little northern Alaskan town of Revelstoke Vance Corgan, Jeremy Ratchford, is then put on the case.We almost seem to know who the killer is by seeing the towns barber Dexter Miles, Malcolm McDowell, talking to his customer about killing someone that you love and how difficult it is to do it face to face, like Lucy was murdered by strangulation, then with a gun at a safe distance away. Our suspicions about Miles being the killer is later confirmed when he spends the next evening at the home of the waitress Sally, Brenda James, of Revelstoke's rowdy Liquor Pig bar, Sally's later found murdered the exact same way that Lucy was. Miles begins to become suspicious to the police finding him out when FBI Agent Crawley, Sarwin Sanford, and later his fellow agent Sedwick, Vince Murdocco, comes on the scene knowing that they, the FBI, are tracking Miles' previous murders on the Pacific West Coast, that number about 50. These murderers are very similar to the killings Miles is involved with up here in Alaska.With the prime suspect in Lucy's murder, Hawkins, found murdered himself in a hotel room in North Pole Alaska almost every male in Revelstoke, including Chief Corgan, is a potential suspect in her murder. Lucy had sexual relations with almost every man in town and they all had reasons to kill her to keep her from outing them .At the same time the FBI seemed to have overlooked the fact that Lucy was found to have been raped but the rapist, according to the postmortem report, was sterile which eliminated almost everyone of Lucy's lovers but Dexter Miles!The film "The Barber" has Miles one step ahead of the police during the entire movie using the cover of night to get away with his crimes. Miles seems so sure of himself that he makes no effort to distance himself from the killings like admitting that he was in the small town of North Pole the day that Hawkins was last seen alive there. Miles also doesn't seem to care that he was seen with the victims at Revelstoke just hours before they were found murdered. Setting up Chief Corgan, by somehow planting DNA evidence, to implicate him in the deaths of Lucy Sally and later his secretary at the police station Jewels, Erin Wright, Miles has it all wrapped for the FBI to arrest the towns police chief who the FBI agent had thrown off the case because, of what they considered, his incompetence. Miles makes one major mistake he leaves a fingerprint on a beer mug that he gave Corgan as a Christmas present that matches one of his at the Jewels murder scene. Too gimmickry for my taste with Miles always a step ahead, or having fate or luck on his side, of the police and FBI to the point that the film comes across as if it wan't him to get away with murder. The movie tries to show it's audience how a psychopath, like Miles, has superhuman intelligence and unbelievable luck to prove it's point. Yes psycho killers are smart cunning and devious besides being extremely dangerous. A psycho killer can be someone that his friends and acquaintances my know very well, like a Dexter Miles, but will never suspect him in a million years but in reality most Psycho killers, unlike Dexter Miles, end up getting caught.

harrisfalk The Barber is a surprise: a seemingly innocuous townsman in the small town of Ravelstoke, Alaska, supposedly, turns out to be a serial killer, and makes semi-humorous comments about the behavior of the psychopath during his voice-over. The depressive atmosphere is heightened by the 24 hour dark period in which the action takes place. The piece veers between comedy and murderous repulsiveness. Background music is varied, but in keeping with the title, is sometimes the Barber of Seville. I found the film to be well-acted, with Malcolm McDowell playing a role a bit familiar from the first film I ever saw of his, A Clockwork Orange.

Unassuming Local Guy The cover photo of this DVD does just about everything to convince you that it's another entry into the slasher genre (ie: Scream, Urban Legend, The Dentist, et al.), but the first few minutes of the movie quickly dispel this notion. Unlike most of these types of movies, we're introduced almost instantly to the murderer and his cover. Through the wonders of voice-over narration, we get some quick insight into this guy's feelings on life and society. But not too much... While it's really no big deal, the man's history and motivation for the killings is never revealed. The movie starts out looking like a psychological thriller, but quickly becomes a by-the-numbers serial killer flick as the local cops and Feds are put through their paces, performing autopsies, arrests, and the inevitable territorial disputes. But, thank God, the killer doesn't spout off one-liners. In fact, the murders themselves are not witnessed. The fact that everyone in this film's small town is stupid, deceitful, or just plain trash should make citizens of Alaska very happy. Some excuse is made as to how the six month periods of darkness dull the senses or something, but we know that's not the case. No, somebody involved in this movie has a serious problem with Alaskans. Anyway, the movie stays pretty low key until the end, when things finally reach a boiling point. The ending should be most unexpected. And while the last monologue offers up plenty of ham and cheese, I have to say I was really hoping Dex would be caught. That's a lot more than I've ever felt for Hannibal Lecter.