The Alphabet Killer Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
Based on the true story of the double initial killings in Rochester, NY.
| Eliza Dushku | Megan Paige |
| Cary Elwes | Capt. Kenneth Shine |
| Timothy Hutton | Richard Ledge |
| Tom Malloy | Stephen Harper |
| Michael Ironside | Captain Nathan Norcross |
| Bill Moseley | Carl Tanner |
| Michael Ciesla | Nurse |
| Eric Cubitt | Husband |
| Tony Delgrosso | Webster Police Officer |
| Martin Donovan | Jim Walsh |
| Nate Dushku | Tim |
| Andrew Fiscella | Len Schaefer |
| Joseph Giorgione | Paramedic |
| Larry Hankin | Perry |
| Ian Kidd | Detective |
| Rob Schmidt |
6.40 out of 10 (278 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Horrible Movie!
posted on 27 Mar 2009This had to be the worst film of 2008 by far. The acting was not convincing and made it seem like a cheap version of the "FBI Files" or any Detective/Police TV show on a higher budget. No one call tell me that that a captain of the police will let a mentally insane ex-detective on a serial killer just because they were engaged? Then he wants to act all "iffy" because he might get demoted! Come on! Then the police plants evidence on this mentally ill guy because they were sure it was him; yeah right... It was clearly predictable, specially how the director placed the alleged killer/confidant around her throughout the whole film. I don't even want to get into the special effects...I can make things look scarier using a Polaroid camera. Get the picture.The only thing this movie will be remembered by is for being Eliza's first topless movie after she said that she will never come out nude in any movie. This is the only reason why I gave it a 2/10.
Great Movie
posted on 20 Jan 2009Brilliant film and excellent acting from Eliza Dushku! I liked her even before when I watched Tru Calling. :) She is not very famous but very charming. Her best roles are acting scary in my opinion. For the moment there are too many artificial movies full of tragedies and sci-fi... not like this one...great script...tragedy...fear...and of course Eliza Dushku. Irecommend you this film as one of the good ones...because it's original...not one of the same old FBI movies and investigations that you wish you never watched to the end. The original is always the best decision...Great MOVIE!!! ENJOY watching it!!!
Predictable, not Schmidt's Best Work
posted on 14 Jan 2009Detective Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku) is tracking down a serial killer who finds girls with twin initials and dumps them in a city with the same beginning letter (such as Kelly Kapowski in Kingston). But when she gets too attached to the case, she suffers a mental breakdown. When the killings continue, can she overcome her problems to stop him from striking again? I thought the film would be a pretty decent one... the concept was interesting, even if the movie strays quite a bit from the real events this was based on. And the cast is impressive. Dushku is pretty amazing, Cary Elwes is one of my all-time favorite actors, Timothy Hutton is here, Michael Ironside, and genre fave Bill Moseley. So you can't beat this ensemble cast.But sadly, it just didn't add up for me. It was predictable (even the "twist" seemed obvious from early on) and not as engaging as one might think. It wasn't even as good as another recent murder / detective story I reviewed, "Anamorph" (which was itself not all that amazing). I've been a fan of Rob Schmidt's work, especially "Right to Die" and thought he'd be a good person to bring a dark angle to this story. Sadly, not so much... clichés such as a child-obsessed priest appear, and some (presumably imaginary) ghosts that don't really add to the film.I wouldn't say not to watch this one, but it wasn't gripping. There isn't one thing I can pinpoint as making this film stand out -- not the music, the lighting, the effects... it was all pretty standard. It almost would have been more fitting for a Lifetime movie. As far as serial killers go, this one comes off as remarkably tame. If you want your psyche thrilled, look somewhere else.
Eliza Dushku (Megan Paige) was as distractingly B 'class' as this film.
posted on 03 Dec 2008Eliza Dushku (Megan Paige) was simply distracting. The film was dull with terribly stereotypical characters. Simple as that. i just lost interest in the film. I honestly don't understand how other reviews hype Eliza's performance as 'amazing.' I was not impressed. Unfortunately, the only memorable piece of the film was her bland, unconvincing, portrayal of the lead role. She seemed confused, and noticeably self-conscious throughout the film. She is a very pretty girl, and maybe she has chops, but i'm still not confident she does yet. If you're looking for a run-of-the-mill serial killer flick and you are easily drawn into stories despite sub-par acting.. This film may be a decent couple hours of mindless entertainment. If you are looking for anything else.... Im afraid you will not find it in this movie.
Effective thriller with good performances
posted on 19 Nov 2008Sometimes this film plays like a by-the-numbers serial killer movie, and at times the pacing is a little slow. But 'Killer' is buoyed up by several good performances. Hutton is low key but very good, and a number of small, supporting roles are very well cast and acted as well. Elwes is almost unrecognizable due to some weight gain, and he doesn't come off as strongly as some of the others. As for Dushku, well, this is probably the finest performance she's ever attempted. It doesn't always work – she's not especially convincing when she has to descend into madness – but most of the time she's a cut and a half above her usual fare; it's as if she finally decided to take a role where her looks aren't a factor and actually act, and it was nice to see for the most part she could pull it off (hey, they aren't going to see her as an 'adult' actress in Hollywood as long as she plays cheerleaders and works for Joss Whedon). This is the type of role you would have associated with a younger Sandra Bullock or Angelina Jolie (i.e., pre-skeletal), and Dushku compares favorably.It's not a particularly happy or comforting movie; it's not quite creepy enough to be unsettling, and the director undercuts Megan's madness by showing us what she is hallucinating (showing off, by the way, some really terrific make-up effects); so the viewer is never really sure if, like Haley Joel Osment, she really can see dead people or if she's just going bonkers, or possibly both, the latter caused by the former. But Dushku is interesting to watch here (and not for any of the usual reasons) and shows promise she never has before.
Worst actress award..
posted on 20 Sep 2008As some of the others here I took the IMDb rating at 5.7 as a indicator of a OK movie, WHAT A MISTAKE.. The Alphabet Killer had no edge, no original script, the only decent actors were those in minor roles. Oh my, how I hoped that Eliza Dushku would just die or go insane and be gone. Never have there been a worse actress in this kind of leading role, especially not in a movie that was rated 5.7/10 on IMDb.Someone must have cheated with the rating of this movie and the IMDb staff should take actions against such..I was neutral when I started watching this movie, nothing against Eliza Dushku or any of the other actors, but this movie killed all the future Eliza Dushku movies.. I will never watch another Eliza Dushku movie in my life, except if she is an extra and dies in like 4 seconds..
Annoying Bland Comical
posted on 10 Sep 2008Bland is the right word to describe this movie. Absolutely nothing interesting, nothing new and a cruelly stupid plot.Eliza Dushku is pretty but that is all she is. In most parts of the movie she walks and talks like a zombie. Not sure if that is how delusional people would behave, but her performance looks comical. And since the whole movie circles around her, she single handedly manages to bring the entire movie down. I really hope to see her cast in a better and more suitable role.This is one such movie where everything looks bad, right from the acting, music, script, dialog, plot – everything.I was shaking my head and hoping to see the movie end at some point. Stay away from this one – unless you want to totally waste your time.
One of the worst movie this year!
posted on 21 Aug 2008I would rank this movie as one of the top 10 worst movie I have seen this year.I thought it was a crime type movie according to its name. It turned out to be a horror movie, with ghosts throughout the movie to scare people.It was not a brilliant crime story as well; the ending was quite silly with no logic. It seemed like the ghosts brought the female police to the solution. And the ending is "The Alphabet Killer" had not been caught, how positive was that? At the end, every one of us looks like idiot, and waste our 1.5 hours.Did the female police had serious mental illness? She was over-reacting, the character could be more normal than what she did. For the last, half an hour, I really grind my teeth to finish this movie. If I have a brick on my hand, I would throw it to the screen.Definitely one of the Hollywood junks, don't waste you time and money, and fooled by the beautiful and exciting movie name!!
not horrible, but definitely not great
posted on 15 Aug 2008I normally am not a fan of crime movies, especially those based on reality but stretched to the extreme, and the "Alphabet Killer" is no exception. Poor acting, horrible misrepresentation of reality, inaccuracy beyond belief, and camera work that my high school journalist could have topped takes this movie to the bottom. I do, however, enjoy movies that i don't know what's going to happen five minutes into it, and that is where this movie does succeed.I watched "Alphabet Killer" twice; once confused and then once playing the "Alphabet Killer" drinking game. Neither was incredibly enjoyable but compared to most of the films these days it was not repulsive. If you are bored and happen to have a free redbox code its worth the 2 hours for sheer enjoyment of how truly worthless cops are.I know this is one of my less useful reviews but i really don't have much to say about this movie; that's why i watched it twice. It really isn't that bad but at the same time it's not that good. I gave it the benefit of having funny cop hating to get the 6 instead of the 4.
A weak thriller
posted on 13 Aug 2008I thought the "serial killers" genre was as dead as its victims,after using all the variations from the subject and after having stolen every single aspect from Seven and The Silence of the Lambs.But,on recent times,that genre resurrected in the straight-to-DVD universe.These films use a recognizable formula and a killer who acts with an ingenious modus-operandi.Also,the production costs are low : actors with medium fame,generic Canadian or European locations,a little bit of blood and sad and depressing cinematography.I have to say some of these modest films have resulted much better than the infinite quantity of rip-offs of Seven and The Silence of the Lambs I have seen on the cinema.The weak thriller The Alphabet Killer did not have that luck.Director Rob Schmidt had impressed me pretty much with his previous film Wrong Turn,a simple but very competent film which updated with success the formula established on legendary films like The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973).After 5 years of inactivity (with the exception of his mediocre episode for Masters of Horror,called Right to Die),Schmidt came back with The Alphabet Killer in which he backs to use Eliza Dushku on the main role but without the ingenious screenplay and the dynamic direction which stood out on their previous collaboration.This thriller bored me and I found it pretty mediocre.For one sight,Dushku's role was too big for her.It was needed an actress with much more intensity and credibility for a so dramatic role.The supporting cast is composed by solid character actors (Cary Elwes,Michael Ironside and Timothy Hutton) who make a good work on their roles.I think they added some points to this mediocre movie.The main problem from this movie is its weak screenplay,which follows the same formula we have seen too many times.In other words,The Alphabet Killer is a completely unambitious movie,because did not risk to do something different to what we have seen a lot of times.The Alphabet Killer is a very weak thriller which bored me and I do not recommend it.
Painful
posted on 13 Aug 2008Saw the rating of 6/10 on here and decided to give this a try. Bad mistake!I thought this was the worst serial killer movie I have ever seen. You know it's a bad sign when the serial killer seems more sane than the lead character.The lead character was not very bright nor likable, and I spent most of the movie hoping for her demise.Just because it's loosely based off a real life event does not mean it should become a movie.I would NOT recommend this movie at all.
There's a Hole in Your Talent...Dear Eliza, Dear Eliza
posted on 11 Aug 2008http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/If you ever cross paths with Rob Schmidt or Tom Molloy, the director and screenwriter of The Alphabet Killer, then take the opportunity to insult their intelligence, the way they did yours for claiming their movie, The Alphabet Killer, is based on a true story. This movie is so loosely based on the real Alphabet Killings, it needs both a belt AND suspenders to keep it from falling down to its ankles. Artistic license is one thing, but these two go off on such amateurish tangents, you'd swear they were first year film students desperate to impress their teachers and peers with their cleverness. Problem is, there's nothing clever about AK and if these two had any talent, it should have been the ability recognize the source material didn't need embellishment. As it is, Schmidt and Molloy's treatment is so ridiculous, all it needed to complete its film student predictability was a scene with the protagonist lying naked on the floor, in the fetal position, after suffering a mental breakdown. Oh but wait, she slashes her wrists instead! What a novel substitute.Eliza Dushku acts her little heart out and the harder she tries, the more embarrassed you feel for her and her complete and utter lack of talent. Dusku may be eye candy, but her inability to act natural is such a distraction it even seems the other actors are staring back at her with pity. And there actually are a few talented actors in this film, but they're working with such poorly written material and are horribly misguided by Schmidt's inept, blunt-force direction. Did Timothy Hutton burn every bridge known to actors to be left with no other option but to accept a job on this shameless piece of on-the-nose garbage? Avoid at all costs. Shutoff time: 32:14.
Only Watched Because I'm in Rochester
posted on 09 Aug 2008I only basically wanted to see the location shots of my crap city, and surely did notice a few! The part that really drove me insane is the use of cell phones and laptops. I noticed the cars were pretty old looking but when the dad of Wanda hands over HER CELL PHONE to the cops for her contacts-- the movie was just dead to me after that. The kid was 12 year old and the year was 1972. Also I wasn't sure about the time frame because I think the killer struck again well before two years after the first girl's death.I know it was only supposed to be "based on" these murders, but if they went to all the trouble of actually filming on location in Rochester, why didn't they go for a little more credibility? It was just meh, but again, fun for the location shots, and Eliza Deshku is always very good in everything.
Utterly Unbelievable.
posted on 22 Jul 2008If this story is based on a true story, the only thing this story had in common with the truth was the fact that it all happened in a world not unlike the one we live in.Police planting evidence to incriminate a person they know did not do it and therefore taking a chance to loose face if the murderer strikes again is one of the many, and sadly not the least unlikely, things that makes this movie a bad one.This movie strings a lot of unrealistic actions together with at the top of this the miraculous recovery of a handicapped man. It was if i was watching Lou and Andy from Little Britain.I think this movie is an insult of the real victims.
One of those movies where you hope the ending is going to save it
posted on 08 Jun 2008Starts out sorta creepy. Kids dying. Don't really want to see that anywhere, even in a movie. Yet as a parent, it really hits home. My wife who normally falls asleep even in the best of action movies stayed awake thru the entire flick. Mostly because we were both hoping for justice. We got WAY less than that. Not only was the ending a "What the hell?", but we COULD NOT understand or comprehend was the last printed lines in the movie: "A fireman was exhumed in 2006 and cleared of the murders. Nobody has been convicted of the crimes to date."What? There were no firemen in the movie! What happened to the psychiatrist gone bad? You can't expect people to pay money to rent your videos to give them cr@p like this. Never mind paying box office prices. And you wonder why bitemetorrent is as popular as it is.You'll wind up getting a rep for pushing the "artistic license" window, and people will stay away. Far away. Especially producers.
Fairly creepy, with an interesting story
posted on 25 Apr 2008I like films about killers, especially those with an interesting little story or something that makes them a bit different. The Alphabet Killer doesn't disappoint in this respect. I'll admit, the start was pretty poor, I felt it was quite disjointed and it seemed as though a lot of scenes that should have been there to develop the plot were on the cutting-room floor. However, once we get into the middle and latter stages of the film, we definitely see a marked improvement.I think Eliza Dushku played her role well in this, and I felt the slant of Megan's mental illness playing such a large part in the story made her character more believable, and added interest to the film.Overall, this was a nicely put together film. It had little gore or anything really adult-themed, so if that's what you're after this isn't for you. If you want a killer movie portrayed more through the eyes of the main detective than is usual, you might like this. Yeah, you'll probably suss it out, but that's half the fun.
YAWN! Very bland and boring film
posted on 14 Mar 2008It is really hard to believe this movie comes from the same director and star of Wrong Turn. I have to admit that I did not really enjoy Wrong Turn it was intense and well made.This movie is about a schizophrenic detective who is trying to track down a serial killer who is killing kids who have the same first and last initial in their name. The movie is told almost completely from the point of view from of the detective (Eliza Dushku).I have to say I was interested in this because I respected the director for energy he put into Wrong Turn and had really liked Dushku on Tru Calling.The movie is bland and the story is really not interesting. There is no excitement or really any surprise plot twists that make come into play.This is probably the tamest R-Rated movie you will ever see. Is has no gore outside of some dripping blood and has a flash of breasts for less than second in a non sexual content. In fact there is no sex, blood, or violence outside of dead bodies and a attempted suicide. I believe it uses the dreaded F word two or three times. I am in no way saying the quality of the film is related to the adult content. This movie has mentioned along the lines of Se7en. It honestly is closer to the Sixth sense if you took out good acting, a great story, and a fantastic ending.I believe this movie went to theaters shortly and then was immediately sent to Video because the studio knew this was not a bad film.I truly believe the director was trying something different and to show the point of view of a person with severe mental problems and what she sees. Unfortunately, the film never gives the viewer anything to be interested in.If you like the CSI type shows then stay home and watch your favorite one of those because it will be more interesting than this flick.
Some good effort but not much of a story.
posted on 16 May 2009Eliza 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.