serial killer

THE WHISPER MAN: an unsettling thriller with three creepy villains

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Photo caption: Robert De Niro, Adam Scott and Michelle Monagan in THE WHISPER MAN. Courtesy of Netflix.

The Whisper Man is even more disturbing than your average serial killer thriller because of three creepy villains with even creepier habits. Amanda (Michelle Monagan) is a police detective in a race against time to solve child abductions before they become child murders. Her suburban community in northern New Jersey experienced a spree of child killings a generation ago; these new crimes have exactly the same modus operandi, even though the original serial killer has been locked away for 25 years. She seeks the advice of Peter (Robert De Niro), the long-retired cop who caught the original killer, but he resists re-engaging. But then, Jake (Acston Luke Porto), the young son of Peter’s estranged son Tom (Adam Scott), is kidnapped, and Peter joins the manhunt.

The investigation takes Michelle and Peter behind bars to interview the original murderer Frank (Michael Keaton), who eagerly relishes the attention and who is just dripping with unhinged evil. Next, Michelle tracks down the wealthy weirdo Norman (Hamish Linklater), a fetishist proud of his transgressive collection. As they get closer to a solution, The Whisper Man becomes almost unbearably harrowing.

Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer adapted the screenplay from the Alex North novel. The writers have added some intriguing twists to a serial killer story – one about fingernails, another about collecting, and a third, horrific one involving cassette tapes.

As the good guys, often in conflict with each other, De Niro, Monagan and Scott all give strong performances. But it is the intense creepiness of villains played by Michael Keaton, Hamish Linklater and Owen Teague that makes The Whisper Man so unsettling.

Owen Teague in THE WHISPER MAN. Courtesy of Netflix.

I first noticed Owen Teague in the little indie family drama Montana Story, which I admired as one of the best movies of 2022. I wrote that Teague’s “quiet performance is exquisite. This is a melodrama, and the performance as Cal could easily have been overwrought. Instead, he perfectly captures this dutiful and seemingly passive man, with a hidden, festering guilt.” In The Whisper Man, Teague gets to go full-out maniac, and it makes the end of the movie even more gripping.

The Whisper Man is streaming on Netflix.

THE LITTLE THINGS: worth it for Denzel

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Photo caption: Denzel Washington in THE LITTLE THINGS. Courtesy of Warner Bro. Pictures.

I finally caught up with caught up with the neo-noir crime procedural The Little Things on Netflix, and it’s much better than I expected. I had skipped it until now because, upon its 2021 release, it disappointed critics who were eagerly awaiting this neo-noir with Oscar-winners Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto. Its Metacritic rating is a middling 54. True, it’s no David Fincher or Martin Scorsese movie (or even a John Dahl movie) but, compared to the other noirish crime procedurals that you could be streaming (and I watch scores of them), it’s pretty good.

Denzel plays Joe Deacon, who is a deputy sheriff in Kern County, not an exalted position in law enforcement. We learn that Deacon used to be a crack detective in Los Angeles County, but something happened that caused him to leave that department. A Kern County departmental errand takes him back to his old stomping grounds in LA, where some old-timers greet him warmly and some warily. There’s a murder that bears resemblance to an unsolved serial killer case that still obsesses Deacon and the young up-and-coming detective Jimmy (Rami Malek) invites him to help.

The two hash through clues, augmented by Deacon’s institutional memory and his hunches. After some wrong turns, the evidence hints at a primary suspect, Albert Sparma (Jared Leto). Yes, it’s a whodunit, but the real story is about how the earlier unsolved case broke Deacon emotionally, and whether this unsolved case will do the same to Jimmy. Late in the film, there is a reveal of the moment that devastated Deacon. I loved the ending, which is about whether Deacon can find a way to save Jimmy.

Denzel Washington elevates any material and that’s the case here. Nobody does a profoundly sad and very masculine man as well as Denzel. There’s a scene where he drops by and greets his ex-wife which is wrenching, all because of the heartbreak in his eyes. Plenty of actors can portray an emotionally tortured character in a showy performance (think Nic Cage), but Denzel, in an utterly contained performance, can make us understand how a man who is doing everything to conceal his pain, is really shattered to the core.

Malek, whom I have never warmed to, is as reptilian as usual, contrasting oddly with his character’s suburban poolside family.

Jared Leto in THE LITTLE THINGS. Courtesy of Warner Bro. Pictures.

Leto does creepy magnificently, and his Albert Sparma has an especially twisted menace about him.

The Little Things was written and directed by John Lee Hancock, who directs better movies that others write (The Rookie, Saving Mr. Banks, The Founder) than the ones he writes (The Alamo, The Blind Side, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). The Little Things is a bit too long at 2:08.

Still, Denzel’s performance and the ending make The Little Things a worthwhile watch for fans of neo-noir and of crime procedurals. The Little Things is included with Netflix and Max subscriptions and rentable from Amazon, AppleTV, VUDU and YouTube.

FOX HUNT DRIVE: one gobsmacking plot twist

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Michael Olavson in FOX HUNT DRIVE, premiering at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

In the thriller Fox Hunt Drive, Alison (Lizzie Zerebko) is an architect whose career has been stymied by an unfair blackballing; she works as a rideshare driver at night to make the rent and subsidize her futile daytime job search. She picks up a ride (Michael Olavson) who may be a serial killer, and we’re all off on one wild ride.

The rider is anything but the wild-eyed Charlie Manson type. He is polite, professional and contained, and he doesn’t show any sign of compulsivity. But Alison finds some disturbing evidence in his bag…

So, here we have a woman alone, driving around deserted streets at night with a killer in the back seat, and the audience is screaming “Get away! Get away!” But she doesn’t.

This sets up a massive plot twist. Setting up this turn of events so that it’s credible as well as gobsmacking requires some ingenuity, so kudos to screenwriters Adam Armstrong and Marcus Devivo and director Drew Walkup.

Cinequest will host the world premiere of Fox Hunt Drive.

Stream of the Week: PEEPING TOM: scarier than Psycho

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PEEPING TOM, coming up on Turner Classic Movies and better than PSYCHO
Anna Massey and Karlheinz Böhm in PEEPING TOM

Here is the best-ever psycho serial killer movie. Peeping Tom was released in 1960, the same year as Psycho. The British film critics didn’t know what to make of a thriller where the protagonist was so disturbing, and they trashed Peeping Tom so badly that its great director Michael Powell (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Stairway to Heaven, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes) wasn’t able to work again in the UK. But I think Peeping Tom is an overlooked masterpiece and even better than its iconic counterpart Psycho.

Karlheinz Böhm plays a mild-mannered urban recluse who most people find socially awkward, but wouldn’t necessarily suspect to be a serial killer. The very innocent downstairs neighbor (Anna Massey) finds him dreamy and in need of saving – not a good choice.

Two aspects elevate Peeping Tom above the already high standards of Hitchcockian suspense. First, he’s not just a serial killer – he’s also shooting the murders as snuff films. Second, we see the killer watching home movies of his childhood – and we understand that ANYONE with his upbringing would be twisted; he’s a monster who repels us, but we understand him.

Until the last decade, Peeping Tom was unavailable, but you can find it now on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes and Google Play.  There’s also a Criterion Collection DVD with lots of extra features.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

THE STRANGLER: momma’s boy hunts down women, then fondles dolls

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Victor Buono in THE STRANGLER
Victor Buono in THE STRANGLER

This Friday night, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1964 serial killer movie The Strangler, the masterpiece of director Burt Topper, who specialized in low-budget exploitation movies.  It’s on my list of Overlooked Noir.

First, we see that lonely lab tech Otto Kroll (Victor Buono) is twisted enough to murder random women and then return to his lair to fondle his doll collection. Then we learn his motivation – he dutifully visits his hateful mother (Ellen Corby – later to play Grandma Walton) in her room at the convalescent home; she heaps abuse on him in every interaction. Pretty soon, even the audience wants to kill Mrs. Kroll, but Otto sneaks around taking out his hatred for his mom by strangling other women.

Because Otto is outwardly genial to a fault, it takes a loooong time to fall under the suspicion of the cops.  The character of Otto and Buono’s especially brilliant and eccentric performance elevate The Strangler above its budget and launches it into the top rank of serial killer movies.

Victor Buono and Ellen Corby in THE STRANGLER
Victor Buono and Ellen Corby in THE STRANGLER

The Strangler, which plays occasionally on Turner Classic Movies, is NOT available for rent from Netflix or streaming providers. You can buy the DVD from Amazon or find a VHS on eBay.

Victor Buono in THE STRANGLER
Victor Buono in THE STRANGLER

Cinequest: AMATEUR

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Jazmín Stuart in AMATEUR

The taut Argentine thriller Amateur reminds us of Psycho, but with more grisly killing and sexual perversity.  A new hire at a television station is combing through some old tapes and discovers a sex tape (hence the title).  He becomes obsessed with the woman in the tape and later meets her in real life. As in Psycho, a serial killer suddenly takes over the story, and Amateur plunges into tales of blackmail, kidnapping and a sordid back story of sexual exploitation.  Trying to solve the first murder, the police stumble along as the bodies pile up.

The original sex tape is only the first layer of voyeurism in Amateur. More and more characters video record and view the actions of others.

Jazmín Stuart is very good as a woman that the audience is likely to underestimate at the beginning of the film  There is a moment in Amateur when she has just had a consensual sexual encounter but her eyes start to signal that something is terribly wrong; it’s unforgettable.

Alejandro Awada is perfectly cast as a guy who seems formidable at first; we keep learning that he has more and more assets, including his trophy wife.  His easy-going affect of geniality and confident charm is an effective juxtaposition to the monster he is revealed to be.  Awada delivered another excellent supporting performance in the overlooked neo-noir The Aura.

The veteran producer Sebastian Perillo makes his writing and directing debuts with Amateur.  The US premiere of Amateur is at Cinequest.

Scare Week: PEEPING TOM

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PEEPING TOM, coming up on Turner Classic Movies and better than PSYCHO
PEEPING TOM

Here is the best-ever psycho serial killer movie.  Peeping Tom was released in 1960, the same year as Psycho. The British film critics didn’t know what to make of a thriller where the protagonist was so disturbing, and they trashed Peeping Tom so badly that its great director Michael Powell (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Stairway to Heaven, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes) wasn’t able to work again in the UK. But I think Peeping Tom is an overlooked masterpiece and even better than its iconic counterpart Psycho.

Karlheinz Böhm plays a mild-mannered urban recluse who most people find socially awkward, but wouldn’t necessarily suspect to be a serial killer.  The very innocent downstairs neighbor (Anna Massey) finds him dreamy and in need of saving – not a good choice.

Two aspects elevate Peeping Tom above the already high standards of Hitchcockian suspense.  First, he’s not just a serial killer – he’s also shooting the murders as snuff films.  Second, we see the killer watching home movies of his childhood – and we understand that ANYONE with his upbringing would be twisted; he’s a monster that repels us, but we understand him.

Until the last decade, Peeping Tom was unavailable, but you can find it now on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.