Sometimes I feel like I've gone through all of the good movies (especially so with horror), and I find myself taking chances on anything out of desperation. 95 out of 100 of these dvds deserve to be burned instead of mailed back, just out of public concern. This isn't one of those. What a good film! Feels like old school horror. Not so heavily CGI'd that it feels like a Windows screensaver. It uses effects sparingly and carefully, relying on tension and pace to whip up the dread. Also nice seeing something that's not formulaic, for once I couldn't predict the story. The cinematography is a pleasant mix of throwback and contemporary. The town used as the setting and the way the camera explores and films it is incredible, and makes this a fully realized and believable environment.
The cast couldn't be improved upon. Max Records is great in this film. A gifted young actor, you feel like you're discovering secrets and murders alongside him. We are interested. We are dialed in. He is believable, playing someone who's supposedly incapable of empathy, going from a detached investigator to fully invested and concerned had to be a tightrope and he walks it well.
Now onto Christopher Lloyd. If I had known he was in this movie, I would have skipped it. Not because he's a bad actor, but because I was under the misassumption that he was more or less a one trick pony. Wrong! So glad I was clueless. I feel like every role since Back to the Future has been some variation on Doc, and assumed that was his comfort zone. Now I see he's been limited or typecast one, because he's scary in this. Actually menacing. If you had told me that was possible I wouldn't have believed it.
He rocks. Max rocks. This movie rocks. Sometimes terror is the best therapist.
Review of I Am Not a Serial Killer
