The Alphabet Killer |  | Director: Rob Schmidt
Actors: Eliza Dushku, Cary Elwes, Timothy Hutton, Tom Malloy, Michael Ironside
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.97
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Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 18874
Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: DV16325
UPC: 013131632590
EAN: 0013131632590
ASIN: B001HVZO7A
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: January 6, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ALPHABET KILLER, THE (DVD MOVIE) |
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Product Description
10 YEAR OLD GIRL FOUND MURDERED AND OBSESSED POLICE DETECTIVE MEGAN PAIGE SUFFERS A MENTAL BREAKDOWN WHILE TRYING TO SOLVETHE CRIME. THE CHILD KILLINGS RESUME 2 YRS LATER, MEGAN'S RETURNTO THE INVESTIGATION BRINGS BACK HER OWN FLASHBACKS FROM THEPAST.
Amazon.com
In the spirit of suspense films and television shows that focus on the sleuth’s attempt to make something out of senseless violence, Alphabet Killer is less about the murders it details than about the detective, Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who suffers mentally for studying brutality. Though opening scenes show young girls slayed at various wooded Rochester, New York crime scenes, the film quickly digresses into Megan’s stressed relationship with her co-detective lover, Kenneth Shine (Cary Elwes), who watches her obsession with the case spiral out of control. As murders continue, Megan gets psychic leads and is haunted by the ghosts of the wrongly deceased, but cannot solve the case. Megan’s diagnosis as a schizophrenic complicates matters greatly, and elevates the film into deeper story, especially when one senses, through subtle filmic clues, the creepiness of Megan’s therapist, Richard Ledge (Timothy Hutton). Some silly, dramatized enactments of mental illness on Dushku’s part do not help convince the viewer through fine acting, though one may be willing to look past this in hopes for pending potential spookiness. And the conundrum posed by Megan in her therapy group is engaging: manic people do often excel due to intuition, yet it is their ability to experience the world differently that gets them into trouble. Although the ghosts hallucinations are unconvincing, and Dushku probably could have used more research before she took the role, Alphabet Killer captivates because it shows how convoluted layers of reality can confuse even the sharpest detective. The disturbing thing about Alphabet Killer is not the film itself but the idea behind it: that the majority of what we know and trust is illusory, and that truth is discovered best through madness. --Trinie Dalton
Stills from The Alphabet Killer (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
GOOD IDEA! OK FILM! January 25, 2010
! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b (TRI STATE AREA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I liked this little serial killer film because it had a nice little twist and some disturbing images. The idea of the detective who is wrapped up in this murder case going insane is very intriguing as we don't know if she is actually going insane or if the victims are actually talking to her. The director does a decent job of trying to keep us guessing by throwing the usual suspects in our path, but in the end I figured it out before the killer was revealed.....ah you thought you could fool Mr. Know It All!? ....I think NOT! Regardless this is better than average for this kind of thing and I liked the ending.
Half-decent serial killer flick January 4, 2010
N. Durham (Philadelphia, PA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Alphabet Killer is a pretty standard serial killer flick that manages to stay compelling enough to keep you interested despite its flaws. Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse) stars as Megan, a schizophrenic detective assigned to the murder of a young girl, which soon enough sets her down the path of a meltdown. Two years later, the killer strikes again and Megan is back on the scene, haunted by the apparitions of the victims all along the way. From a director like Rob Schmidt (Wrong Turn, Masters of Horror: Right to Die), you'd expect The Alphabet Killer to be a grisly, bloody opus; but the film instead focuses more on Megan's story and her quest. This actually works towards the benefit of the film, even though Dushku's wooden acting more often than not drags things down a bit. That aside, The Alphabet Killer is pretty compelling and offers one or two genuine surprises, and features genre stalwarts like Cary Elwes, Michael Ironside, Timothy Hutton, Tom Noonan, and Bill Moseley, as well as smaller roles for Martin Donovan, Carl Lumbly, and recent Oscar nominee Melissa Leo. All in all, while nothing special in the least, The Alphabet Killer is worth seeing for fans of the genre, and its bleak denouement manages to set it slightly above the rest of the pack.
 Eliza Dushku with some weird neurological disease November 11, 2009
D. WISELY (DaleForce One)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This movie might have been crafted into, at least, a fairly conventional cops & serial killer movie, but fails. It's a waste of a pretty decent supporting cast, including Timothy Hutton, who doesn't appear to get the kind and quality of work he deserves. There are many problems, including a silly answer to the whodunnit that you can see coming up the street way, way early. And then, once revealed, the plot gets even worse. Most problematic, I'm afraid, is Eliza Dushku's performance. Actors talk about how hard it is to "do crazy" and this is as glaring an example I know of how NOT to portray a person with mental illness. She's got all kinds of weird tics and an arm that seems to always be threatening to go Dr. Strangelove on her. I'd diagnose any number of neurological illnesses before the schizophrenia which is supposed to be her affliction. Her hallucinations are straight out of The Ring. Avoid this stinker.
AVERAGE FILM WITH INTRIGUING PLOT September 26, 2009
Margaux Paschke (New York)
This film is well acted and based on a real case from the 1970s. The film has an interesting theme - is being mentally sound a handicap in catching criminal deviants?
Eliza Dushku plays an Upstate NY detective with adult onset of schizophrenia. It brought Nietzsche to mind: when you look into the abyss (or monster), the abyss looks back at you. Did her overwhelming drive to capture mentally unbalanced criminals bring on the mental disorder? Or, did the disorder help her with her job and this particular failure, push her off the deep end? Interesting concepts however you look at it. The killing of young girls and their voiced pleas for help to the detective were creepy and the right note for a thriller. The whodunit aspect had the usual red herring and plot twist ending although predictable enough if you were paying attention.
Overall, the detective's struggle was overdone and lead to implausible scenarios that mucked this film into the sea of mediocrity.
So-so September 24, 2009
C Wahlman (Merrillville, IN)
The Alphabet Killer tracks an investigator (played by Dushku) who has the unique ability to become obsessed with cases until they are solved. When a young girl is murdered, she is convinced she can solve it. She quickly slides into a manic/maniac state: talking to herself, not sleeping, and obsessively studying the case. When time elapses without a break, she has what appears to be a nervous breakdown. She is diagnosed with schizophrenia and losses everything. A couple of years later, slowly recovering, she gets involved in another series of murders. Will she unravel this time?
Strained acting and some slow parts make this film less than great. That coupled with a plot line that is pretty easy to predict made this your typical suspense/mystery/thriller. The transformation into schizophrenia was pretty quick, but I thought it was done well. The scenery, wintery Richmond NY, was compelling, and really added to the story; this part was well done, too. Without the "ghosts," the red herrings, and with a better ending, this would have been a better film. I definitely think that if you are interested, this would be a good film to rent.
*Note: I have realized that the words "based on" or "inspired by" are legal words that films must use, even if they use just a fraction of a detail of a story that resembles something else. The idea of a killer targeting 3 girls with matching initials is really the only link to the original 70s murders this film eludes to when it says "based on." Just so you know....
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
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