realfandangoforever
180629: If you're a serial killer aficionado like myself, this made for television movie might provide some entertainment. If you're not, you'll be better served finding another avenue.
Woodyanders
After terrorizing Wichita, Kansas for thirty-one years, the police led by weary, yet determined Detective Jason Magida (the always excellent Robert Forster) manage to track down and apprehend vicious and calculating serial killer Dennis Rader (a chilling and convincing performance by Gregg Henry).Director Stephen Kay, working from a compact script by Tom Towler and Donald Martin, relates the gripping story at a steady pace, grounds the premise in a believable everyday reality, and effectively captures the stark horror of Rader's atrocious acts in a tasteful, yet still potent and upsetting manner. However, this film's crowning achievement is the uncanny and unsettling way it depicts Rader as a seemingly harmless and amiable guy who was even a pillar of his church community as well as a complete sadist whose out-sized ego and narcissistic need for attention ultimately proved to be his undoing. The fine acting by the top-rate cast keeps the picture on track, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Maury Chaykin as cagey writer Robert Beattie, Michael Michelle as Magida's loyal partner Detective Baines, and Donna Hoodhand as Rader's sweet unsuspecting wife Paula. Both Boby Bukowski's crisp cinematography and the rattling score by Tree Adams are up to par. Worth a watch.
Bob_the_Hobo
Dennis Rader went decades living as the BTK Killer (stands for Hunt, Torture, Kill), with his final amount murder list will probably never be known for sure. "The Hunt for the BTK Killer" follows Rader, played by Gregg Henry, and Detective Magida, Robert Forster, the man responsible for taking him down.This is a very good true to life television film. The story is for the most part correct, and while I don't know if there was a Det. Magida (or if that was the Detective's name) the police investigation kept me interested as to exactly how BTK was caught. Rader's kills are presented in a creepy and fascinating way. Overall the script is tight and consistently keeps your attention.Henry and Forster are really the only characters that are given much depth, but those two are the only ones that need it. The script typecasts Forster's Magida as your usual cop, he's an older gumshoe working with a beautiful younger actress as partner. Henry does a fantastic job as Rader, his interviews at the end are creepy and award-worthy.There is a voice-over narration by Forster that guides the film, which I suspect was brought in afterwards to tie up loose ends. In any other case, I would drop the quality down for using the worst tool in the business, but here it actually enlightened about Rader instead of insulting the viewer's intelligence.If you're interested in BTK, or serial killer media in general, this one is worth a watch.
Spaceygirl
Boring and bland, this made for TV movie about the famous BTK Killer Dennis Rader is ultimately unsatisfying. With such great material to work with, one would think this would make a great movie, with a real-life serial killer that took thirty years to be caught. The script is stilted, the dialogue bland and the cinematography....well, it looks like its been filmed with a hand-held cam-corder. Makes one feel quite ill! In more skillful hands it could have been so much better. Robert Forster and Maury Chaykin gamely plod along, doing what they can with scant material. TV's Michael Michele provides a bit of glamour for what is essentially an ugly little movie.Not very inspiring!
AD
