Coventry Between the years 2000-2010 it was quite popular (and very profitable) to make horror films/thrillers that were based on real- life serial killers. Practically all notorious American serial killers from the second half of the 20th century passed the revue, and the nastiest ones even twice or more, like Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Charles Starkweather, Albert Fish, John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgway, etc. Many of these flicks aspired to be semi- documentaries and as factual as possible, but still most of them are pure rubbish (especially the ones directed by Uli Lommel, of course). Dennis Rader, more commonly known as BTK-killer, from Wichita Kansas also had the questionable honor to form the main subject of at least three contemporary low-budgeted horror flicks; one directed by the aforementioned Uli Lommel (I rather die than ever having to watch that one), one starring the legendary Kane Hodder in the titular role (which allegedly is quite decent) and this modest but surprisingly adequate made-for-television and documentary-styled thriller. It's fairly obvious why the film industry wanted to exploit the story of BTK – short for "Bind Torture Kill" – as much as possible. Even though he committed his vile crimes, the murders of at least 10 innocent people, 10 to 30 years earlier, Rader only got apprehended in 2004 following a massive police hunt that he pretty much set into motion himself. Rader was always proud of the unsolved murders and suffered from a tremendous ego, so he really couldn't accept that a random writer/profiler was psycho-analyzing him on television. Rader, now a happily married and respectable church-community member, started sending clues and evidence of his old murders to the press and the authorities. He gradually became more careless and megalomaniac, which led to his arrest. "The Hunt for BTK Killer" focuses primarily on the police investigation, but also follows around Dennis Rader in his private life, during the preparations of the correspondences in his tool shed and as he's stalking a potential new victim. There are also a couple of sequences in the courtroom that feature blurry flashbacks of the murders committed in the early seventies and eighties. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this film. It doesn't aim to be overly sensational but provides a solid rundown of the facts, as well as a realistic impression of the fear and paranoia that reign in a small town when it gets faced with the return of an old boogeyman. Robert Forster's performance comes across as fatigue, but that's also what you expect his character to feels like after chasing a killer for three decades. Gregg Henry's performance as Dennis Rader is more than praiseworthy, as he manages to find the ideal balance between menacing creep and exemplary community hero. One more element that really struck me as far above average is the score and effective use of music. The soundtrack is moody and ominous, and sometimes it even sounds as if the tunes could easily have been composed by Hans Zimmer.

Robert J. Maxwell 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.

Ed-Shullivan The Hunt for the BTK Killer (the initials BTK stand for serial killer Dennis Rader's monogram Bind, Torture and Kill), which Rader signed on most of the taunting communications he sent to the police and various media outlets over a 30 year period. This made for TV movie is based on the true account of Dennis Rader, a serial killer from Witchita, Kansas. He was responsible for the murder of at least 10 people over the 17 year period between 1974 and 1991. Rader then somehow stopped his murderous ways for more than 13 years. It is believed that he took exception to a television show narrated by David Lohr on Court TV on the BTK killer, and also to writer/lawyer Robert Beattie's book released in 2005. Rader said that he chose to resurface in 2004 because he wanted his story to be told by himself. Gregg Henry's performance as serial killer Dennis Rader was uncanny. I recall first watching Gregg Henry as a young actor as Wesley Jordache in the 1976 mini-series Rich Man Poor Man. From that first performance on the small screen he has went on to an endless and varied stream of television and big screen performances. The lead investigator Detective Jason Magida was played by one of my favorite actors Robert Forster (best known for Jackie Brown).This story is outlined in a quasi documentary style that commences with the actual arrest of Dennis Rader in his vehicle. The movie then takes us through some of the actual events and Rader's murders, as narrated through the interrogation of Dennis Rader when he was first arrested.What this movie does well is it outlines how Dennis Rader was able to elude capture for so long (over 30 years) as his murders were sporadic, and then he just simply stopped killing and sending any further taunting communications signed BTK. Gregg Henry looked and acted quite similar to the real serial killer Dennis Rader. The movie may not appeal to all movie enthusiasts as it focuses more on the events surrounding how Dennis Rader was actually captured. I would say that his capture was a combination of sound police work, and Dennis Rader's ego not willing to let anyone else glean any notoriety due to his infamy, which forced him to come out again and start taunting police. What he did not realize was that over the past 13 years when his killings had stopped, the world of technology was advancing rapidly and the police sciences were also ahead of the criminal curve.This TV movie provides insight in to the mental instability of serial killer Dennis Rader and his intense need for acknowledgement through the media for his murderous crimes known under the monogram as the elusive BTK serial killer. His actual court "matter of fact" confession is still available today on youtube for those of you that are interested in evaluating Gregg Henry's uncanny portrayal of Dennis Rader. Rader's court confession is told as if he were making dinner or calmly putting on his coat, not outlined as the actuality of his having sexual fantasies of killing people and then living out his fantasies by plotting and then committing these heinous crimes. On closing, Dennis Rader tells the police and the judge that there were many people who are very lucky to be alive today due to unforeseen circumstances that did not allow him to execute some of the murders that he had planned.

MovieCriticMarvelfan It doesn't present anything that we haven't seen in a gazillion movies with the same premise of serial killers and slasher flicks, but it was OK TV movie.This movie is about the BTK killer who like the Zodiac Killer, Son of Sam terrorized a community in Kansas with his own reign as a warped killer. Actually he's not that warped, Dennis Rader as portrayed in the movie was Presiden of the Lutheran Church was actually a Greg Henry portraying the killer Dennis Rader is actually very good, damn he almost looks like the guy with that makeup applied. Henry though has played enough killers in his time to probably do this type of role without breaking a sweat.The movie then chronicles how he taunted and fooled the police for thirty years sending them cryptic messages and watching them idiotically trying to put clues together. Despite Robert Forsters's portrayal of a cop "hot on his trail", the scent is very cold, and really if anything the cops in the movie are incompetent , dimwits who have the luxury of having a vital clue fall in their lap done by an over cocky Rader ( a floppy disk).Still this is an OK TV movie. They even have a psychiatrist at one point trying to explain the killer's state of mind but really any "theories" about the guy failed to produce any concrete leads until the killer himself made a crucial error of ego.Overall though the acting was good, and it shows how the so called "normal" looking guy and allegedly good upstanding citizen can be that hidden serial killer who nobody suspects because of their misconceptions about what a killer is supposed to be.Good movie.