The Hillside Strangler Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
They lived to watch you die.
In the end of the 70's, the dysfunctional Kenneth Bianchi lives with his mother and is obsessed to join the police force. When his application is refused, his mother sends him to Los Angeles to live with his sadistic cousin Angelo Buono. Kenneth unsuccessfully tries to join LAPD, and Angelo convinces him to start a prostitution business with him. They force two girls from Tucson to work for them, but their competitors destroy their business and steals their money. The frustrated Kenneth and Angelo decide to revenge against a prostitute, and Kenneth strangles her, feeling a great pleasure with her death. The two cousins become addicted in death, initially killing prostitutes and then attacking single women, dumping their bodies on the hill.
| C. Thomas Howell | Kenneth Bianchi |
| Nicholas Turturro | Angelo Buono |
| Allison Lange | Claire Shelton |
| Marisol Padilla Sánchez | Christina Chavez |
| Jennifer Tisdale | Erin |
| Kent Masters King | Gabrielle |
| Aimee Brooks | Felicia Waller |
| Natasha Melnick | Karyn |
| Damon Whitaker | |
| Brandin Rackley | Janice Cooley |
| Jessica Allegra | April |
| Roz Witt | Frances Bianchi |
| Lin Shaye | Jenny Buono |
| Tricia Dickson | Heather Brewer |
| Kylie Rachel | Peaches |
| Chuck Parello |
5.10 out of 10 (447 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Pretty Good
posted on 08 Apr 2009This was a pretty decent flick. It wasn't amazing or anything. It had a real dirty 70s feel to it though. Thats what I liked best. The film has dirty language and dirty characters, which I enjoyed. They drop some serious bad words in bad combinations and mistreat women pretty constantly. Its not a happy film. Its a little light on the horror and gore, but its not really focusing on that. It focuses more on what kind people the serial killers were. Namely dirty bad people. But I found myself enjoying it and have recommended it to like-minded individuals. If you like dirty and exploitative films, you'll enjoy this throwback.I give it an overall 6 of 10, but it will probably find its niche out there.
Reprise of the video nasty
posted on 29 Mar 2009The tagline ‘reprise of the video nasty' was inspired by the comments of Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF ) Artistic Director Shane Danielsen when introducing its world premiere. The Director Chuck Parello said that in previous serial killer movies the killer was often likeable or funny or sexy, so he had to show the creepy, nasty side and make the audience hate him. The killings are graphic. The lighting is always such as to show off the stripped women's breasts. If it were a good film that might simply be part and parcel of the genre, but Hillside Strangler is a poor film with an absence of tension or skill. It has the quality of a soft porn movie shown on late night tv, where the only incentive that can be offered to the audience to keep watching is the next gratuitous display of flesh. If it were part of a horror film festival (say Edinburgh's ‘Dead by Dawn') I would perhaps feel more charitable towards it – presented in that manner it would be part of a gore fest that accepts such trashiness as part of the fun. That it is included as part of the EIFF raises other questions. If EIFF defends its choice for inclusion on the grounds that it wants to greatest possible diversity, I would like to have seen it advertised as a video nasty style movie.
inspirational.
posted on 13 Feb 2009You know, every once in a while, a film comes along and changes they way we think about certain things. A good example of this would be something like Amistad or even possibly Mississippi Burning.Hillside Stranglers can now rest alongside such films in the "attitude-altering" section.Simply inspirational.Prior to watching this film, I had my mind set in stone when it came to strangulation, rape and necrophilia. However Hillside Stranglers has simply opened my eyes.From the onset, where C Thomas Howell and his cousin engage in a spot of double entry with a rather friendly lap dancer, right to the final credits where the music simply stops and the rest of the credits proceed in utter silence, I can categorically state that this film has changed me. It has changed the way I live and think and breathe.Generally, necrophilia isn't a subject often approached by writers and directors today, but the way that it is handled in Hillside Stranglers is frankly refreshing. Rather than focus on the seedy evil side, the director, Chris Fisher, gives the viewer a sense of the excitement involved. The glee on C Thomas Howells face is heart-warming to say the least and any misplaced fear for the dead hooker is quickly dissipated.However what lifts the Hillside Strangler above any other movie ever made, is the dialogue. The snappy inter-changes of "banter" surpass anything that the great Elmore Leonard could conjure. C Thomas Howell and his cousin Nicholas Turturro are at the hub of this, trading insults and affection alike. "Angelo's" wittily added "eat s**t… and die" to the business end of a phone call between the cousins is timed to perfection. Also, "Angelo's" use of the "c word" is prolific to say the least - however each and every time it is warranted. The icing on the cake arrives early in the film, when a whore is fellating Angelo. Somehow, he has the presence of mind, and again the timing, to remind her to "suck the balls". As an amateur writer myself, I was simply awe-struck.My only criticism is that the interaction between Angelo and his alter ego Tony is left unchecked for the majority of the film.Aside from the dialogue, the excessive nudity is arty, and the strangulation is tactfully handled. Many directors would prolong the suspense and elongate theses brutal murders, however Chris Fisher dispenses with age-old tradition and bulldozes his way through nude rape and strangulation after nude rape and strangulation. This leaves the viewer both stimulated and appalled.Finally, any review of such a masterpiece cannot conclude without small mention to the dance scene. Chris Fisher has managed to intersperse the horror and destruction with a sublimely choreographed piece of entertainment. Angelo starts the dance with the waitress, but my god does C Thomas Howell finish it. He clearly has a variety of moves in his locker. The whole scene has a bizarre ethereal feel to it, which only serves to heighten the suspense, and remind viewers that rape and murder is incorrect in today's society.All in all, 10 on 10. Majestic.
The most disgusting pile of garbage ever made.
posted on 03 Aug 2008The Hillside Strangler's audience demographic would be the lesser intelligent side of men who have committed violent sex crimes. I saw this film in Cannes at a market screening, thinking it might be some art film about the infamous Hillside Strangler. What I found instead was a production of the lowest standards on virtually every level. I got up and left the theatre when Nicholas Turturro and C. Thomas Howell(may these two never work again) were threatening a girl into getting gangbanged by a couple of old men. The Hillside Strangler is one of those rare pieces of crap that are so fundamentally repugnant that any and all members of the cast and crew should feel a deep shame for being any part of this revolting project. And one added note, it is pretty hard to offend me. I'm not a church goer or a censor. This film is really just too low to not hate! Mostly I think I hate it because in Cannes, where I saw it, there are so many better things you can do with your time.
Worthless crap.
posted on 22 Jul 2008The Hillsiade Strangler starts as store detective & wannabe police officer Kenneth Bianchi (C. Thomas Howell) decides to leave New York, fly to Los Angeles & stay with his cousin Angelo Buono (Nicholas Turturro). There Kenneth applies to be a cop but is rejected so together with Angelo he kidnaps two young girls Erin (Jennifer Tisdale) & April (Jessica Allegra) & force them into prostitution, all goes well until a local pimp & his heavies come round & put a premature end to the cousins nice little earner. Frustrated & angry Kenneth & Angelo cruise around & pick up a prostitute named Gabrielle (Kent Masters King) who told the pimp about them & murder her, both men enjoyed it & are soon addicted to posing as police officers, kidnapping, raping, abusing & murdering women. In the press they are dubbed as 'The Hillside Strangler'...Co-written & directed by Chuck Parello this is one in a number of films to portray real life serial killers over the past few years including Summer of Sam (1999) about the Son of Sam killings in New York, In the Light of the Moon (2000) about Ed Gein also directed by Parello, Dahmer (2002) about Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy (2002) unsurprisingly about Ted Bundy, Nightstalker (2002) about Los Angeles serial killer Richard Ramirez, Gacy (2003) about John Wayne Gacy, Monster (2003) which profiles female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007) about Ed Gein & The Zodiac (2005) & Zodiac (2007) which were both about the San Francisco bay killer of the same name. It seems that films about real life serial killers are all the rage, God knows why since how many of those films I have listed are actually any good? Well The Hillside Strangler certainly doesn't buck the trend as I think it's a piece of crap to be quite frank. The scripts plays it from the point of view of the two lead psychos, a lot of the original details of the case are retained although anyone not familiar with those details will not notice anyway, however there are a few things that the makers have changed like how the two girls forced into prostitution escape but I don't think it particularly matters. I'm not really sure who would enjoy a film such as The Hillside Strangler, the constant profanity & bad language really becomes annoying & distracting, the scenes in which the two cousins abduct, rape & kill their victims are very unpleasant to watch & to be honest the film bored me. At almost 100 minutes I found this very hard to sit through, the constant profanity gets irritating & since the entire duration of the film is spent following these two highly unlikable scumbags around it's difficult to find any sort of enjoyment here.The film is nowhere near as graphic as it would like you to believe, there is nudity but all the rapes occur off screen, the murders are relatively tame & don't feature any blood or gore & I think the reason why The Hillside Strangler is disturbing is because it's based on actual events which all decent human beings will find reprehensible. In reality between November 1977 & May 1978 the two cousins murdered 10 women, the two split up in 1978 & Bianchi then killed two girls on his own & was arrested soon after which Buono was implicated in the earlier killings & both were sentenced to life in prison in 1983. That six year period is what the film actually concentrates on as well as a bizarre real life incident about a female writer who Bianchi convinced to commit another murder in the style of the Hillside Strangler to try & make police think they had the wrong person in jail. In another bizarre fact the two actually stopped Catherine Lorre with the intent on abducting, raping & killing her but let her go after they found out she was the daughter of horror acting icon Peter Lorre! The film isn't scary & much of it's shock value comes from the fact it's based on true events rather than it's graphic content of which there is actually very little.Technically the film is solid, it doesn't really have a late 70's feel about it, I can't quite put my finger on why but I just don't think it did. The acting is alright, both C. Thomas Howell (looking like a cross between Ernest & Jim Carrey) & Nicholas Turturro (looking like a fat Raul Julia) make their character's very unlikable so I suppose they did what was required. No-one else is given much to do.The Hillside Strangler takes a notorious late 70's Los Angeles murder case & tries to make a character driven film out of it, personally there is next to nothing that I found enjoyable about The Hillside Strangler & should filmmakers really give scum like Bianchi & Buono more publicity & almost turn them into some sort of anti-hero? As far as I am concerned they should rot in jail in total obscurity. The film Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders (2006) also focused on the crimes of Bianchi & Buono.
A darkly entertaining movie
posted on 16 Mar 2008"The Hillside Strangler" is a seedy, hard-hitting and unflinching serial killer movie, based on true events that occurred in '70s Los Angeles.C. Thomas Howell plays a role very distant from Jim Halsey in "The Hitcher". His portrayal of true-life serial killer Kenneth Bianchi is very convincing, to say the least. I was genuinely taken aback by his gaunt appearance in this film - he isn't instantly recognisable.Nicholas Turturro is splendid as the psychotic, cruel other half of the serial killer duo, Angelo Buono.The Tartan-funded film contains some hard-hitting sequences but despite these it remains an entertaining experience. You won't feel like you need a shower after watching this movie but you may feel a little guilty for viewing some of its seedier content. Definitely recommended for fans of true-life crime.
Lust for Death
posted on 02 Mar 2008In the end of the 70's, the dysfunctional Kenneth Bianchi (C. Thomas Howell) lives with his mother and is obsessed to join the police force. When his application is refused, his mother suggests him to go to Los Angeles to live with his sadistic and perverted cousin Angelo Buono (Nicholas Turturro). Kenneth unsuccessfully tries to join LAPD, and Angelo convinces him to start a prostitution business with him. They force two girls from Tucson to work for them, but their competitors destroy their business and steals their money. The frustrated Kenneth and Angelo decide to revenge against a whore, and Kenneth strangles her, feeling a great pleasure with the act of killing. The two cousins become addicted in death, initially killing whores and then attacking single women, dumping their bodies on the hills of LA."The Hillside Strangler' is a low budget movie based on a true event that happened in 1977 in Los Angeles, with the police chasing one serial killer when actually they were two. The disturbing and violent story has many strong moments with the explicit sadism of the two cousins, and sex exploitation with many nudism, but it is well acted and attractive. This movie is not recommended for sensitive persons due to the psychopathic violence, but for those that like a cruel and credible story, it is a good choice. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Estrangulador" ("The Strangler")
Comedydanceserialkillergangster!!
posted on 15 Dec 2007This is certainly a weird bag of mixed "sweets", and about 4 fifths of it tastes like manure, and by that I do not mean the murder-sequences. The director, Chuck Parello, doesn't seem to have a clue about what a good script entails, and he is extremely eager to consult "The Great Book of Clichés" at almost every turn. While the real life Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi probably were quite simplistic and pathetic, however under the ever watchful eye of Parello, they come off most of the time, as nothing but ridiculous caricatures. It is not a good sign when you actually find yourself laughing your head off at lines obviously meant to be menacing, but which on the contrary becomes truly great, unintentional comedy. There is so much hilarious dialogue going on here, that it's unfathomable, and it goes without saying, that this in the end will ruin the deep and unsettling impact Parello probably would have liked it to have. It could almost seem that Parello was hoping, in the future, that the film could get some sort of turkey-award, because many of the images on display here, are just beyond belief. After a woman has been strangled, and Buono checks for life-signs, confirming that she is gone, if you look closely, you can see clearly that she is still breathing! Now, that is what I call good acting, it's truly a feat of accomplishment not being able to do the simplest thing, to play dead. The Royal Shakespeare Company next, I assume? Then you have sequences that seem over-the-top unlikely(And trust me, they are many!!), like fex. when they lure one of the first girls to do some hooking for them. At first she seems genuinely scared, and the whole scene is quite believable, but after a little while she seems quite content being the whore of the house! How are we to interpret this, I wonder? Is she still in a state of massive shock, with the result that numbness has set in, leaving a deadened impression on her face, that could be mistaken for serene calm? Or has she really come to her senses, realising after some serious contemplation, that this new line of work really is the best carriere option for her? That these two psychotic madmen really were heaven sent? You are left with one last alternative, and in this context it is most likely the most plausible one I fear, that Mr Parello simply doesn't have a clue how to piece together images in a concise and believable manner. And concise is probably a foreign word for him, because he doesn't seem to quite know which type of film he is directing; am I directing a Italian gangster movie? Is it a comedy? Is it a movie about dancing? No, wait I'm actually directing a movie about two real-life serial killers!! Well, what the hell, let's just mix them altogether, it probably will turn out more believable that way! Since I've actually given it a 3, that could only mean that there actually were a few sequences that I found to be intense, compelling and disturbing. One of the first murders, I actually found to be one of the most unsettling I've seen in quite a while, and after watching horror films for about 16-17 years now, it goes without saying that I can watch almost anything. So congratulations Mr Parello, for having that brief moment of clarity! I also found some rewarding intensity in the scene where Buono is arguing with his mother, and for the most part I think the women playing the victims did some good acting, in that they seemed genuinely scared, and that they managed to evoke some pity on my part. As a conclusion though, the film is quite simply manure, with just a few bits of candy strewn on it for good measure. And of course, that is far from good enough. See "Bundy" or "Dahmer" instead.
No stars.
posted on 29 Nov 2007In the world of serial killer movies, which are almost becoming a sub-genre in themselves, it's hard to call one of them bad because it is too brutal or gory or there is too much foul language. This is, after all, the things that the people portrayed did, which is why they're famous and people make movies about them. It's also why they generally land in the horror section and why average moviegoers tend to be unimpressed or uninterested. You can't really criticize a movie like this for its characters being completely distasteful in every single way, given who the movie's based on. It is difficult, really, to criticize a serial killer film based on almost any set of aesthetic values, it's like they're exempt. The Hillside Strangler, however, comes up with all sorts of new ways to suck.The movie starts off by giving us way too much detail into the life of one of the killers, Kenneth Bianchi, and none into the life of his cousin, who ultimately becomes his partner in serial killing (not that there is any reason to show any history behind this lunatic). The first half hour is an intolerable slog through massive serial killer clichés, such as Kenneth's abusive parents, his total incompetence in the work field, his antisocial nature, and his bizarre sexual behaviors. These things may very well have been true of the real Kenneth Bianchi, but they're also true of just about every other serial killer who ever lived, in which case much less screen time should have been necessary. On the other hand, I would accept any reason for this movie to have been shorter.It's not long before Kenneth moves to Los Angeles to live with his cousin and try his luck getting a job there. Angelo, his cousin, accepts Kenneth with open arms, then proceeds to display a steady line of promiscuous women who seem all too eager to envelope themselves in his sweaty, disgusting embrace. The thing that I wondered about this movie was that, while it was trudging through the serial killer clichés in the beginning, why wasn't the smallest scrap of attention paid to the one that serial killers tend to be good looking and charming? I admit that I don't know much about the story on which this movie was based (and given what an awful film it was, I probably never will), so maybe these guys really were the greasy, slimy dirtbags that we saw in the film. This does, however, tend to cast a shadow of doubt over their remarkable ability to lure women into their beds two at a time. If nothing else, it seemed strange that a fat slob like Angelo would walk into his house with his arm around two women, sisters, even, and put his hand on the back of one of their heads while he ordered the other to do the same to his equally creepy cousin. Maybe there were drugs involved.Not that it matters, these two guys killed a lot of people so of course someone had to make a movie about it, and of course I had to watch it because I'm a die-hard horror fan. Read any review by a critic who saw even the slightest redeeming value in this movie (which, I assure you, was a massive hallucination on their part) and they will say something like, "true horror fans will find it irresistible." I'm one of those kinds of horror fans. And I HATED HATED HATED this train wreck of a movie.After about 30 minutes into the film, I continued to watch the rest of it because I wanted to see these guys finally get caught and killed. I was hoping for a shootout or something where they get injured and survive long enough to truly suffer from their wounds. The things that these guys did makes them very much deserving of horrible, horrible deaths, but you have to remember that the movie's based on a true story. They died of old age in prison, which is a horribly unsatisfactory conclusion to their lives and another in a huge line of reasons why this movie should never have been made in the first place.I have a hard time believing a lot of what this movie claims are based on a true story. I don't feel obliged to believe, for instance, that Kenneth was able to lure a college girl from Tucson into his apartment and force her into employment as a prostitute in the brothel that he and Angelo think would be a great way to make money. Nor do I believe that they also got her to convince her friend to fly out from Tucson to do the same thing. When a group of rival pimps arrive to liquidate their assets, as it were, the girls escape, and evidently go home and forget about the whole thing. I suppose neither of them thought to tell the police what these two guys were doing, and they could have prevented all kinds of hillside stranglings! After they are tricked into the house, ominous ads appear on screen advertising them as call girls in the back of porn magazines and reducing the film to the feel of a z-level horror film. This is the kind of tripe that you expect to see on a staggeringly bad horror TV show like "Monsters" at 3am.The thing that really makes The Hillside Strangler a completely pointless film is that there is not for a second that morbid interest in the killers, what led them to commit their heinous murders, what exactly they did, how they got caught, etc. In this movie the serial killers are murderous, perverted caricatures, reduced to movie monsters that we just want to see dead. This movie is an endurance test if ever there was one.
Ultraviolence with bad intentions
posted on 05 Nov 2007I suppose it's a bit trendy to do so, but Tartan films certainly does take advantage of the direct to DVD/late night cable market. The books recounting the ill deeds of Gein, Dahmer, Gacy and Buono/Bianchi are well documented. Cram as much shock into 90 minutes as possible and if you can effectively capture the pathos and motivation of these grandiose sickos all the better. I love a challenging film, one that leaves me a bit mentally drained without long-term ill effects.I'd say this is one of the better ones, due mostly to the benefit of having two protagonists with anti-social manias to capture instead of one. And the casting of fairly well known actors doesn't hurt either, although the roles actually could have been reversed physically speaking. What I remember from the book's photos is that Bianchi was much more vital and really did look like a cop, not the skinny smarmy John Watersy used car salesman-y figure Howell presents. And Angelo Buono was tall and lean and the book described him as incredibly fastidious and anal, whereas Turturro is a bit too cliché Italian. Either way, the formula works and I think their chemistry is still effective.This is definitely the hardest of this series of movies by the producers. The language, the real-time realism, the fear of the victims are all very palpable.
Dire.
posted on 25 Aug 2007Regardless of your opinion about the validity of this and similar films the fact remains that it is an interpretation of actual events and complaining about the content of the movie and bleating about the film offending your sensibilities is the same as complaing about watching the murdering of innocent Iraqis on the news. Seldom few do it because it is pointless. These things happen and people will use different mediums to tell the story.As for the film well, I settled down to watch this and It all goes downhill from there.I am well aware of the story of these murderous cousins and was looking forward to seeing this when I spotted it. I had heard nothing about it but thought that it can't be too bad with C. Thomas Howell in it. I remember him as a decent actor.How wrong was I? This has got to be one of the worst films I have had the misfortune to see in the last decade, and trust me, I've seen some utter crap. The whole thing looked like it had had a budget spent that is equivalent to my weekly beer budget. Made on a shoestring with a bunch of amateur actors ( loose term ) I can't believe Howell joined this movie let alone finished it. Even his acting was dire having been dragged down to the level of the rest. I have seen better made 1970's porn flicks that contained better dialogue and storyline than this tripe.I pride myself upon watching ( or reading ) anything I start right to the end. I considered stopping this at least three times and then when I least expected it it suddenly ended. However I was glad of that. Avoid at all cost.
Gratuitously nasty & shallow
posted on 14 Jul 2007It's hard to believe that this film was made so recently - it comes off like a very bad 70s TV movie, only with more graphic violence. Because there is no depth to any of the characters & no attempt to shed any light on the psychological state of the 2 main characters & what led them to commit the murders, the repetitive scenes of degrading sexual attacks on vulnerable young women seem gratuitous bordering on misogynistic. It's miscast too - Howells is a good actor but he's not a natural bad guy & his performance isn't enough to redeem such a bog standard film. On the upside, there are some classic moments of unintentional comedy resulting from the ridiculous script, so if you have to sit through it look out for those.
Frightening stuff!
posted on 11 Apr 2007I watched this film with a mix of dread and anguish. At more than one point I was shouting at the screen; 'No, no! Oh Lord! Don't kill her! Oh let her go!'And other pointless instructions. The victims were tragic specially victim number two, the addle brained young hooker who, on being fooled into believing she was being arrested was taken to the cousins home and started to realise something was wrong, quietly begged Kenneth Bianchi 'you aren't gonna hurt me, are you, Mister?'While Angelo Buono was in the bedroom preparing her death bed. According to the sleeve notes in the UK DVD version, the genius level producer Mr Hamish McAlpine wanted to make clear that these two men were not role models, after being accused of making Ted Bundy and Ed Gein, the other two serial killer subjects of his films too sympathetic. Well, he succeeded! Evil swines, both of them. Mr Buono died of a heart attack a bit back but Mr Bianchi is still in prison, lying and fooling those around him that he is a changed man! My favourite scene was when that black pimp and his gang threatened the twosome with guns and Ken was begging for his life, even though sparky little Angelo stood up to them. One slight niggling complaint; Mr Nicholas Turturro who portrayed Mr Buono was far too handsome and clever in a cocky posturing macho way. The real Mr Buono was an ugly slow witted low life who didn't kill before or after Mr Bianchi came into his life. Also, I think there should have been some kind of sequel made, where Mr Bianchi took on the whole forensic psychological profession with his faked tale of Multiple Personality Disorder and held them to a draw for a good while, till he was seen through. THAT would make a whole film in itself. All the same - whenever two men come to repair anything in my home, I always make sure neither of them can get behind me with a rope, just in case!
Why did i have to watch this DISGUSTING Movie.
posted on 08 Mar 2007I made the wrong decision, when i saw this Disgusting movie. I am surprised some people have given this film good reviews. It was completely Out of this world and shockingly Nasty. I have never seen such a unpleasant movie before. I thought Clockwork Orange was Disturbingly nasty, this one goes 10 steps ahead. The movie focuses on 2 cousins who kidnap, torture and rape their victim again and again. If the director wanted to make a movie based on real life incidents like the hillside stranglers. Why did he make it from their point of view, He should of made it from the Polices point of view. This movie is the most shockingly disturbing film I've ever seen. It should of been banned instantly, Cant believe i had to see this crap. Not recommended at all, I know some people like a challenge of a movie, but this one is not worth a look.
Good Docudrama and Exploitation Flick
posted on 08 Mar 2007This movie is not for the faint of heart. These two men were sadistic, woman hating thugs but it transcends the genre by presenting them as human and bad, not as stereotypical Hollywood killing machines or some victim of uncontrollable compulsions. It was certainly better than earlier flicks that only hinted at their lifestyle. C.T. Howell's Ken Bianchi is a little overdone but he does a good job as portraying him as a liar, geek, sadist, weakling and a con man with a smidgen of humanity. Nick Turturro stole the show with his over-the-top Angelo Buono who was a real goon in the Soprano style of "lovable" Italian sadists. The movie takes a slap at Italian macho man culture but in the case of these two goons, it isn't offensive or unwarranted. Even before they slapped their first women, you got to really dislike them as Nick took his weaker cousin on a journey through the tawdry sexual night life of LA. The way they duped the small town girls with their phony modeling agency spiel then forced them to be whores was a good warm up to their later murder spree. Good late night flick, but definitely not for your date or the sensitive type!
Hilarious! Funnier than the Ted Bundy movie!
posted on 02 Feb 2007This is without a doubt on of the most ridiculously funny films I've seen in a long time. This is one of the most quotable films ever with lines like, "How you like it I hack off your arms and legs and stick a live rat up your snatch?" The graphic violence and rape scenes mix so well with the insanely funny lines and acting. There were several moments where I had to pause the film and wait till I stopped laughing so I wouldn't miss the film. The scene where the protagonist kills and rapes a black hooker in the back seat of a car while his Joe Pesci wanna-be cousin cheers him on from the front is to die for! A must see if you want a good laugh.
Lacking in Substance
posted on 27 Jan 2007Well, not bad but by no means not great. What is missing from this telling of The Hillside Strangler story is what is usually important to making a good serial killer movie: "police involvement". The fact that what really stumped the LAPD for so long is that they didn't know they were looking for two people was key in the real-life story and not even mentioned here. Also the film makers failed to really show (only in some quick snippets) just how sick and twisted these two were and some of the really gruesome things they did to their victims. I'm not saying it needed to be shown but it should have been at least mentioned. But there again that would call for police involvement. That being said I would mention that C. Thomas Howell turns in a pretty good performance here. With his gaunt appearance, silly thin mustache and pathetic shleprock mannerisms he gives his character, he almost channels the spirit of an icky Willem Dafoe performance. Almost. I'll be kind and give this a C-.
"I have seen his film and would like to..."
posted on 21 Jul 2006Well, I have NOT seen this film. Reading about it and seeing the trailer, WHY would I want to? Did you see this Brit guy's comments on it? "Mint"? Who is this made for? The sexual sadist murderer in all of us? While it is open to argument whether the "depiction of real-life events" is ever helpful in preventing the behavior in the future(ala Schindler's List), this is obviously pure exploitation. Indeed, I agree with one comment that the people involved with this production should be ashamed. To put out a 100% stupid comedy or melodrama is one thing. So it makes money and entertains someone somewhere. But this? To make money off those murders? To "entertain" vicariously through murderers? THE goofiest comedy ever might give someone a laugh. HOW does THIS enliven anyone's life in the least? There is no place for this kind of production to hide behind, no artistic or business justification. Only for it to return to the rock from which it crawled out from under(no offense intended to small crawling things that live under rocks), just like the scum murderers it depicts.
Eerie in its Realness
posted on 09 Jul 2006"Hillside Strangler" tries to given a realistic portray of two cousins who became one of the most notorious mass murder duo ever. First up, the actors were quite good - in C. Thomas Howells' case, it's hard to recognize him when keeping his teenage roles from the 80s in mind. But as far as acting goes, he obviously improved. Lots of good looking girls share the scenes, but when the viewer is shown were it all leads to (as if we didn't already suggest from the title), the more disturbing the story becomes. Not only do Kenneth and Angelo rape, torture and kill these girls on the screen - they did it in reality. What we see is, of course, an "alternate version" to the real world, but still one that sticks to the actual events quite closely. Even though many people may feel uneasy when watching both the explicit sexual scenes and the even more graphic murder moments, it seems that some gruesome details have even been left out. Other parts, such as a female writer who fell in love with Kenneth while he already in prison and who tried to commit another murder in order to install arguments for him being innocent, have been changed, though not entirely made up - that woman really existed (and seemingly, still does exist in some jail). In total, the movie gives a very realistic insight in the late 70s Californian suburban atmosphere and it's darker sides, with the Hillside Stranglers minds being the pinnacle of darkness.
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A Creepy, Uneven Exploitation Flick that is Very Disturbing yet Mildly Entertaining
posted on 20 May 2009This peculiar movie simply didn't make sense. Here are two guys who seem to get as much "tail" as they want from several sexy young women, yet inexplicably they start to hate women for reasons that are superficially and inadequately explained. Bianchi is a slick talker who fakes his credentials as a psychotherapist yet repeatedly is rejected by various police departments when he applies to be a cop. Turturro's Buono is a menacing pig who works on cars for a living. On the side, the pair effectively force naive young girls into prostitution. Oddly, the girls seem to settle into the situation with only the initial coercion being required. Then a black prostitute sells Buono and Bianchi a list of johns that she stole from a black pimp. He retaliates by paying them a visit, threatening them, robbing them, setting their girls free, and thus destroying their "escort" business. Determined to get back at someone, anyone, Buono decides to kill the black prostitute. Other than that, there is no serious explanation provided for his sudden murderous resolve. She was a nice looking woman, too, with a beautiful figure, and it was hard to understand how they could snuff out her life so casually, despite the fact that she had indirectly endangered their lives. The scene in which Bianchi has sex with her in the back seat of the big car and then chokes her to death while Buono cheers him on from the driver's seat is probably the most chilling, disturbing, and realistic one in the movie. In fact, it's kind of shocking that "nice guy" Turturro, the young cop on NYPD Blue, could act out such a creepy scene so effectively. From it, we get the distinct impression that Buono is no stranger to murder, although Bianchi is portrayed as having real qualms even after he has indulged his taste for it. After that, the sick pair start to kill prostitutes simply for kicks, although Buono lamely justifies it by claiming that they are ridding society of bad people (whores). The real motivation for this gruesome spree is never made clear and the movie jumps from one murder to another and one event to another without bothering to transition the scenes very effectively. It's as if too much of the footage were edited out and what's left is a slightly confused montage. The killings themselves are gratuitous, both in their sick violence and their exposure of naked, busty young women. It quickly becomes uncomfortable to watch and increasingly unnecessary to the plot, but how can you tell such a sordid tale without showing at least some of that? Certain scenes, apart from the murders, are actually interesting and it's too bad there wasn't more of that and much less of the sadistic violence. Turturro is such a pig as Buono, while Bianchi is portrayed as a sobbing little whiner who is completely unbelievable as a lady's man OR a crazed killer, yet somehow he makes it work. However, why he keeps hanging around Buono, who threatens him repeatedly with guns and knives, is not adequately explained. The women in this movie, most of whom end up as victims, are depicted as total airheads. For some odd reason, some really sexy chicks are inordinately attracted to either Buono, the aggressive, menacing slob, or Bianchi, the dorky sob sister. They are perfectly willing to have sex with these two lost souls, who would rather kill them, instead. Once again, it didn't make much sense. As a whole, the flick is exploitive and twisted, but after all, it was YOU who rented it, so how can you complain? It's too bad the lady who played Buono's mom had just a cameo role. She was quite good. In fact, the argument between her and Turturro at the kitchen table was very entertaining and probably the movie's most interesting scene, initiating the campy, over-the-top style that became more predominant as we neared the conclusion. That's when this strange movie started to remind me a little of "Bloody Mama," a depressing flick about Ma Barker and her brood of incestuous sons, which starred Shelly Winters and a young Robert De Niro, among others. De Niro played the junkie son who camouflaged his works in a Baby Ruth wrapper in his shirt pocket. "The Hillside Strangler" is a very odd movie, too, and probably one that should not be distributed so freely because it just might give some unstable types unhealthy ideas. It was rated R, but as such, I think it deserved an X.