Woodyanders Grim and disturbing portrait of Richard Speck (a creepy and convincing performance by Doug Cole), a remorseless serial killer who raped and murdered eight young nursing students in Chicago, Illinois on July 13, 1966. Director Keith Walley, working from a tight script by Don Adams and Aaron Pope, pulls no punches in his graphic and upsetting depiction of Speck as a monstrous brute: Speck's sadistic thoughts serve as a kind of nihilistic narration, the moments of savage violence pack a ferocious punch, there's a good deal of nerve-wracking tension, the tone is suitably bleak and unsettling, and the stark terror and utter helplessness of the scared victims is vividly rendered in a most unnerving manner. Moreover, this movie doesn't really try to explain why Speck did what he did; instead it merely shows that this guy was a cold-blooded psycho through and through. The actresses who play the victims do credible work in their roles. Kirk Douglas' stylized cinematography gives the picture an appropriately grungy yellowish look. The shuddery score by Walley and Lance Bachelder does the skin-crawling trick. A gut-wrenching film.

daviddaveinternational Watching this, at least to me, was a pain. I could make no connection between this character and Richard Speck. At all! Zip! Nothing! First off, Speck was not a "serial killer". He was a "spree killer" meaning he only killed people within a very short period of time. Second, he was a half-wit, to put it nicely. This guy in the movie was portraying Speck as a mastermind. Speck was missing a few candles on his birthday cake but in real life, was a very quiet and shy individual. He was very polite to the girls. The idiot in the movie kept repeating, "I love to kill" and horse-hockey like that. I could only watch about the first 15 minutes of this garbage before I had to turn it off. In no way does this movie even faintly resemble what really happened in Chicago. For instance when the one girl comes home stumbling drunk. What's up with that? Most of the girls hardly spoke any English and were too young to drink. At any rate, do NOT buy/rent this movie. It is NOT the way it went down. Kind of reminds me of "The Gray" movie. Just horrible directing, producing, etc. If you are not into reality, this movie is for you.

jasonwtx Richard Speck was always one of the most scary true-life serial killers so I was hoping to be frightened by this picture.It starts off with a warning saying that the film has been edited so it could gain an "R" rating. So I'm thinking this is going to be some nasty gore-fest.If there was any gore, it was all edited out, and badly.Richard Speck is one terrifying dude, but this film comes across as something you might see on UPN. Wait for "Great Trials and Crimes of the 20th Century" to re-air on PBS and look for the Richard Speck segment. It will scare the pants off of you. This is pretty bad2/5 stars.

Katatonia I rented the Rated R version of Speck, and i can only imagine what the Director's unrated version is like. To call this is a disturbing movie is an understatement. This is not a film to be entertained by, it is rather slow-paced at times. I am not saying this is a bad movie, it serves it's function very well. The acting is very well done. I say this because the women who play the nurses truly made themselves believable in their performances in sheer terror.I am no expert on the actual story of Richard Speck, so i can't say just how accurate this film really is. I do know that he was surely a complete psychotic in every meaning of the word. Not everyone will enjoy this film, or even like it. Some will be turned off simply due to the fact that it is so dark and depressing. It's a coin toss, but i would recommend it for fans of the genre.