Onetrickpony-1 Can remember seeing this shortly after release to DVD, and - put it this way - it made a significant enough impact for me to recall the title and watch it again the othar night on Amazong Prime. Was very glad I did; liked it more this time, which, IMO, is one of the hallmarks of a well-made film. Particularly appreciated the fact, that, for the most part, it is NOT a gore-spattered spectacle; many of the murders are depicted only by a short clip of the victim's head hitting the ground. The film is strong enough to not need a plethora of such morbidly explicit scenes. Most remarkable aspect, AFAIC, is that despite the horror of the crimes, in the end, this is an inspiring and uplifting story.As has been pointed out by othars, there are fine performances all around, no need to reiterate - except perhap to mention that, to date, have not personally seen a film Stephen Rea appeared in where his performance didn't impress.This one is worth adding to your To Watch List, people.

maggiemaggamuff-69556 I won't give any spoilers for this amazing film, but I'll say that if you have never seen Stephen Rea before, you'll really appreciate him as an actor in this particular film. I've seen him in a few films in the past, and always appreciated his work but somehow this gem of a film slipped by me until just now. He's simply stellar, and that puts it mildly. His input truly allows the viewer to experience his character's empathy. He should be given more parts in other films, I'd personally like to see him a lot more often. Anyway.. HE is the reason this movie is so excellent as it is. The film it's self, I give 9 stars. It was well written and directed. If you like thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat, this is one for you. My taste in films is rather scattered and eclectic, and there are a few that stand out as timeless and I want to watch them again and again. This is one of those films.

bobbobwhite Such terrible detective work resulted in so many dead who should not have died if the search for the serial killer was even competent, let alone good. The killer could have been caught so much earlier than the 11 years it finally took due to awful detective work that did not even consider two key tactics not used early on....those of surveillance and decoys. Once the killer's MO was discovered and his identity was suspected early on, he should have been placed under close surveillance 24/7, with special attention given to RR stations after those locations were determined to be the ones most likely to expose the suspect in the act of enticing his next victim. Also, using a decoy would have supplemented the first tactic and may have been even more immediately successful. Absolutely the worst police work I have ever seen in a modern film story, and totally embarrassing to anyone who has ever been on the the job, but may have been somewhat realistic considering that it happened in Russia in the 80s.That said, the movie was a pretty slow slog with little progress through the years, albeit massively hindered by many total political incompetents with their communist militaristic mindset and rigidity. Only by the persistence of the impassioned doctor(Rea)leading the case and the understanding and supportive colonel(Sutherland)in charge of it all was this case finally solved after too many years, all the while using archaic medical tech and police work that allowed so many killings to occur that never should have happened. Without those two dedicated men to find the killer eventually, it surely would never have been solved. A slowly involving story, but maddening for all the incompetence and posturing instead of good police work.

allizoloughlin Wonderful cast. Bit of a flat story line, but was produced for TV so to be expected. Even so, this movie will keep you interested until the end. Good insight into crime fighting behind the iron curtain, and the final scene uncovers stark differences between Western and Soviet justice. How did this person get away with murdering 52 victims before being caught? One of the focal points of the movie reveals the growing bureaucratic incompetency of the crumbling Soviet regime. In spite of this, we see that people are people everywhere with the same passions and concerns. Life continued in the Soviet Union just as it did in the West. And although the world was changing for Russia at the time of these events, yet for ordinary people, life went on.