Erwin
Leder stars as a mentally ill man who goes to a random house and shoots the
occupant when she answers the door. He
goes to jail for ten years and when he is released, he immediately sets out to
satiate his bloodlust. After missing his
chance to kill a taxi driver, he takes off into the woods where he finds a
remote country house. It’s here where he
begins to terrorize a family.
Leder
is great as the cold-blooded psychopath and all, but the camerawork is the real
star here. Having the camera attached to
his body feels a bit disorienting at first.
However, as time goes by, it helps to put the audience squarely in the
killer’s shoes throughout most of the running time. Because of that, there is often no turning
away from the horror. (This technique
would later be used on several reality shows.)
Another impressive camera move is the long crane shot that looms over
the prison walls as Leder is being released.
The
film’s clever use of narration heightens the sensation that we are in the
killer’s shoes. We hear him telling us
trivial biographical tidbits while he’s committing unspeakable acts. Not because he’s trying to, you know, justify
what he’s doing, but to tell you more about himself.
The
opening scenes are equally effective, even though they use a completely
different style. This part of the film
almost feels like a true crime show. We
are shown several crime scene photos, pictures of the killer as a child, and
court documents while a morose narrator tells of his various crimes. (It was supposedly based on true events.)
All
of this adds up to an unflinching, harrowing moviegoing experience. While the murders themselves aren’t
particularly graphic, it’s that feeling of being under the killer’s skin that
is so unnerving. It would make a perfect
double feature with Henry: Portrait of a
Serial Killer, although you’d probably be too depressed to sit through them
both.
AKA: Schizophrenia. AKA:
Fear.
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