The Hunt For the BTK Killer (2005)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Blistering performances.

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.

Another made-for-TV serial killer movie "based on a true story" that tries to introduce one or two notes of originality into a cinematic pattern that is so nearly exhausted it's staggering on its pins.One such attempt is in the musical score. Ordinarily with a story about a serial killer, we'd expect violins tremolo until they shriek madly as the hatchet descends. Not here.As Dennis Rader, the "BTK Killer", Gregg Henry, in a completely satisfying performance, goes about his business of seeing to it that the community's lawns are properly mowed and that his victims are tortured, raped, and killed, and he's accompanied by some kind of Orff Schulwerk music filled with glockenspiels and a cute pizzicato melody. Well, why not? It worked in "Badlands." But when the rubber meets the road and there is action on the screen, Tree Adams, the composer, goes nuts and the air is filled with the loud racket of pots and pans being clanged together. It may be innovative but it's distracting too.Robert Forster does a decent job as the detective in charge but because of lax direction or some other reason he's not as convincing as he was in "Jackie Brown." He's given a voice-over narration that's stale. Something like, "I realized we had to go through this to be a better people." Ugh. It's too bad that the narration is so full of old saws and empty observations because the plot really needs something to tie the episodes together. The killings themselves aren't a problem because they're not lingered over and are only suggested in double- and triple exposure. But the timeline is warped. There were times when I didn't know whether we were in 1974 or 2004. No kidding.It isn't a memorable movie but Gregg Henry has the simple, innocent, friendly face of true evil down pat.

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.

John Dunsworth ... Jim Lahey of Trailer Park Boys has a few different appearances in the movie.As the Reverand of the church BTK goes to and speaks several lines but there is no mention he is in the movie.just seemed odd to me.I am from Halifax and enjoyed seeing a few people I knew in the film and of course recognizing locations.I did also see a few other people I knew from just seeing them around not really knowing them but there is no mention of them either.For some reason I never heard of this movie until this week and it is 2 years old. I normally am pretty on top of what movies are out there but this one slipped me by and it was a local movie for me also.I rather enjoyed watching it but does have a bit of the stereo-type of a Canadian film look to it but very glad to watch it and will again with my wife at a later date.