31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 25 B.T.K.

 

TITLE-B.T.K.

SOURCE-Lionsgate DVD

Heard a bit about this back when it hit home video 15 or so years ago. But thought that Kane Hodder was the wrong person to play the BTK Killer. As  often mentionedd on here I will go buy used dvds in huge lots at pawn shops and thrifts. Getting discount. This was a film I grabbed to hit that number that makes those dvds 50 cents each instead of a buck each. And like normal with stuff I buy in bulk it sat and sat and sat.

Dennis is a pillar of the community. Loved by all. Or so he thinks. But he is actually a killer that has been doing his evil deeds for years. Daring the cops to stop him.

Based on the real Bind Torture Kill Serial Killer this is a fictionalized examination of Dennis Radley. With a cast of people I have seen in nothing else. Besides Kane Hodder as the lead.

Kane is best known for his stint as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th franchise. Plus being a stunt man. But until this I had never seen him show as much range as he does in BTK.

There was a pile of cheaply made DTV serial killer movies coming out in the early 2000s. I just assumed this one of those. A badly cheaply made cash grab. Nope this had a budget and it shows. Locations,set design and even the costumes are not cheap.

Then there is the brutal kills. Lots of well done practical FX work. And some of them so brutal I am surpised this got an R rating.

Worth seeing ,even if just to see Kane Hodder show some acting range. 

BTK gets a C+

31 Days of Horror Day 5 Henry Portrait of a Serial Kiler

Title-Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer
Source-Joe Bob Briggs' Last Drive In on Shudder

This was the second feature of the 6th week of the first season of Joe Bob's Shudder show,airing after Wolf COP! Now I have seen Henry many times. First seeing it at a con back in 90.

Henry was made on the cheap in 1986. But for various reasons didn't get any kind of wide release until late 1990. Part of this was cause the producer wasn't happy with the film. The producer wanted a gore film and was given a very arthouse feeling dark drama. Another factor was once the film got submitted to the MPAA the MPAA gave Henry a X rating. Telling the director that cause of the overall tone of the film no matter what he cut it would get a X. Back then,as it is now,a film rated X had trouble getting distributed. Finally MPI released the film uncut on VHS.

Based,in part,on Henry Lee Lucas,this film is set over a few weeks tops. Henry,played by Michael Rooker, is in Chicago living with a buddy from prison named Otis,played by the late Tom Towles. Henry works as a insect exterminator. And has been killing people. Not long after the film starts Otis's sister moved into the tiny dingy apartment Otis and Henry share. She is trying to get away from a abusive husband.

Henry introduces Otis to killing. And explains how he keeps from being caught. Henry uses a different method of killing each time and never stays in one area for long. Otis quickly becomes in love with killing.

There is so many brutal scenes in the film. Like when Henry and Otis goto a local fence to get a new tv. Since they only have 50 bucks they would be stuck with a tiny b/w tv. The fence insults them and they kill him by stabbing him with a soldering iron then slamming a plugged in tv over his head. Afterwards they leave with a new color tv,a VCR and a camcorder.

The next scene is the most infamous. In it we are watching on the new tv camcorder footage of Henry and Otis invading a home and killing the family. Now the entire film was done on 16mm so it is grainy. And the camcorder footage is even grainier. Which gives this scene a eerie feel. After seeing this home invasion we see that Otis is rewinding the tape to watch it again.

On this episode of Joe Bob he has on the director of the film. Who talks about all kinds of behind the scenes info. I figured I would just watch the bits with the director,since I have seen the movie many many times. But got so into to movie ended up watching all of it.

Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer gets a A+.

31 Days of Horror Day 16 Killer's Delight

Title-Killer's Delight

Source-Code Red DVD

Before finding this DVD I had never even heard of the movie. Made in 1978 this is one of the many proto-slashers that came out before Friday the 13th took the subgenre and exploded it into mainstream.

As I mentioned in my review of Blood Feast II,this was the other DVD I found while waiting in line. I saw the cover. Saw it was from Code Red and took a chance on it. It was cheap and I know that most Code Red stuff that goes out of print jumps up in price pretty quick. So figured I would get home check it's value sealed. Then if it wasn't worth a bunch open it up and give it a watch. Well turns out this is one of the early releases from Code Red and I guess there is enough supply to satisfy the demand for the DVD. Cause used copies are selling for about what I paid for it new. And sealed copies are at the most 10 bucks. Yep that means I am gonna open and watch it.

Set in San Francisco in the late 70s this movie was inspired by the unsolved Zodiac Killer murders and the then unsolved Ted Bundy murders.  Seems like this movie didn't do much in theaters. Then was forgot about until it got retitled The Dark Ride during it's VHS release. Then got retitled again as The Sports Killer when it got released in syndication for TV airings.

Now Killer's Delight is less like the serial killer movies we have gotten in the last 30 years and is more like a 70s cop drama. The focus is on the two cops trying to solve the murders. And the killer is kept a bit mysterious for a good chunk of the film.

The cast is almost all people I don't know. Outside of 2. First up is Martin Speer.

 Now while most horror fans won't know his name,they will remember him as Dee Wallace's husband in the original Hills have Eyes. And in this movie he is good. The other known actor/actress is Susan Sullivan.

 I know she has been around for decades. I best know her as Kitty on Dharma and Greg. 

The DVD has a decent amount of extras. We get some trailers. But the best extra is the commentary. With the director and a moderator. It is pretty informative and entertaining. 

I wish Code Red had used a different cover. There is plenty of nice movie posters for this movie. Ones that don't make the movie look like a super sleazy piece of 70s exploitation. Which this film really isn't. Hell there isn't much in this movie that would have to be cut for it to air on TV today. And really it feels a lot like a 70s TV show version of an episode of Law and Order SVU than a late 70s slashers.

While I am glad I found and got to see this movie,mostly cause I love finding slashers or proto-slashers I have never seen,it isn't one I see myself watching often. Since I bought it I have watched it 4 times. 3 of the 4 times I watched it with the commentary. 

Killer's Delight gets a C.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 044 Cinema Serial Killers

TITLE-Cinema Serial Killers
AUTHOR-Paul B. Kidd
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
COST-$4

Grabbed this last month at Dirt Cheap. It is a collection of short reviews of about 20 serial killer films. Then if the film is based on a real case we get long articles on that.

Most of the entries are well written. But I was kind of shocked the author isn't a fan of Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer. With him saying there was nothing entertaining about the film. Also since the author is from Australia there is piles of Australian slang. Most of which thankfully I can puzzle out from context.

Now thanks to the book I got a list of films I want to see. Like the Dahmer film with Jeremy Renner. I had no idea this film existed. Same thing with the H.H. Homes and Albert Fish films that are mentioned.

Cinema Serial Killers gets a 2.50 outta 5.

31 Days of Horror Movie 26

The Hunt for the BTK Killer
2005
Mill Creek DVD

Ever since I was about 10 I have been fascinated with serial killers. I had heard of the BTK killer but really knew nothing about him. Then when I moved back in 2007 I found a good book on him at the local library. So when I found this DVD really cheap I took a chance on it.

This is a made for TV movie. And from what I remember it seems to follow the actual case pretty closely. Robert Forester is great as the cop trying to crack the case. And Gregg Henry blows it all away as the BTK Killer. The BTK stands for Bind Torture and Kill. Which was Dennis Rader's style. He manages to kill 10 people from between 1974 and 1991.The only reason he was finally caught was because he was stupid and sent a floppy disk to the cops. This disk contained metadata embedded in a word file.

Normally I am not a fan of made for TV films. But this one is really well done. I didn't even know it was a made for TV film until I did a small amount of research for the post.

The DVD is barebones. No extras. But it looks decent and the sound is ok.

The Hunt for the BTK Killer gets a B.