Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 26, 1996
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303461484
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,746 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Based on the true story of the most savage and elusive serial killer on record. Eight bodies are found in the woods, brutally murdered, raped, mutilated. The victims are young, often loners, who made the mistake of talking to a stranger and paid for it with their lives. A brilliant forensics expert but an inexperienced detective, Viktor Burakov (Stephen Rea) is put in charge of the case by his Colonel (Donald Sutherland). It is the Colonel's job to give Burakov as much support as he can, but as the number of victims continues to rise, the investigation slows to a standstill, buried under government red tape.

The slaughter continues unabated, until Burakov calls in a psychiatrist (Max Von Sydow) to create a psychological portrait of the murderer. With fifty-two victims to his name, the killer they call Citizen X is finally taking shape before their eyes. But can they trap him before he kills again...?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Man Is What He Fights For" - Soviet Search For Citizen X, July 1, 2004

By 

Sheila Chilcote-Collins "Sheila Renee Chilcot... (Collinswood, Van Wert, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Citizen X (DVD)

From Robert Cullen's true crime novel, "The Killer Department" comes HBO Studio's "Citizen X". Originally cablecast on HBO February 25, 1995, Donald Sutherland won the Golden Globe for Supporting Role Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Made for TV in 1996 and also the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Special in 1995.

Based on the true story of the eight year long manhunt in communist Soviet Union (1982 - 1990) for one of the most savage and elusive serial killers on record - Andrei Chikatilo (a chilling Jeffrey DeMunn).

The story starts out with newbie forensic pathologist, Viktor Burakov (a great Stephen Rea), and his first cadaver that comes into the morgue. A quick nightime search of the wooded area where the body was found is completed with eight MORE bodies found in varying degrees of decomposition and desication. All are children, boys and girls alike and have been murdered, raped and mutilated in some very odd ways.

Viktor, somehow, is put in charge of the WHOLE blessed case by Colonel Mikhail Fetisov (Donald Sutherland). With Viktor now being forensic expert, detective, and case cracker extraordinaire, he is more than a little wary of his own capabilites and feels like the only man who cares about these horrific murders that are taking place.

The investigation continues on for many years with many murders being committed over time because the case is being buried under the communist parties' government red tape and "poo pooing" by the Colonel's superior and sinister leader, Bondarchuk (Joss Ackland).

Thankfully and finally the cold war hits and Viktor is given permission to bring in a psychiatrist, Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky (Max von Sydow) to create a psychological profile of the serial rapist and murder. Not only is this the first case of serial murder in the USSR but the first to employ psychological profiles, US FBI tactics, and dissemination of the crimes to the general populus.

With fifty-two victims to his name, the killer they deem "Citizen X" finally takes shape right before their eyes... Watch this doozy of a true crime story and see if they "KATCH THEIR KILLER"!

All of the performances are top-notch with only a bit of the Russian accents faltering a bit, even in Sutherland's double award-winning portrayal. Rea, DeMunn, and von Sydow also deserved awards for their truly engrossing performances.

If you like true crime or the Hannibal stories, you are sure to enjoy this film!

Happy Watching and Don't Talk To "Strangers On The Train"...

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best "made-for-TV" movie I have seen, June 6, 2000

By 

N. Solunac (CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Citizen X (DVD)

Steven Rea is outstanding in his portrayal of a police forensic specialist who must piece together the clues as well as fight a system unwilling to admit it's own shortcomings. His ability to convey the complex emotions of his character through facial expression rather than dialogue is reason enough to watch the movie. A cameo by Max von Sydow as a psychologist willing to brave the criticism of his contemporaries in an attempt to develop an M.O. for the killer is most notable for it's keen insight into the mind of a serial madman.

Donald Sutherland is actually quite entertaining as a communist aparatchik colonel who goes full circle with the changing climate. Jeffrey DeMunn, who has many supporting roles to his credit, is remarkable as the unassuming and pitiful murderer who manages to inspire revulsion as well as sympathy.

Not action packed by today's standards; however, an excellent psychological thriller with deep and thought provoking glimpses behind an "Iron Curtain" few of us ever really understood. Had it been released in theaters rather than on HBO, it surely would have received praise akin to other notables such as "Silence of the Lambs." The story strictly focuses on character development. In allowing viewers the unique luxury of using their imaginations, it does not offend by relying on eye-candy and shock effects. It simply tells an interesting story.

I couldn't wait for this one to come out on DVD!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-watch, October 15, 2004

By 

Tracy Rowan "dargelos" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Citizen X (DVD)

"Citizen X" boasts a brilliant cast which includes Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Max Von Sydow and Jeffrey DeMunn. It also offers viewers a compelling storyline about one of the most prolific serial killers in history and the man who finally brought him to justice. We follow an honest, driven cop (Rea) as he negotiates his way through the labyrinth of denial and bureaucratic stonewalling in the former Soviet Union.

Sutherland as an army Colonel who is at first just in it as a part of a grand political scheme, is affecting as a man who comes to understand the importance of Rea's work on a wholly human level. Von Sydow is wonderful (as always) as a psychiatrist who is willing to go against prevailing attitudes in his own field for the chance not only to help catch the killer, but to study him. And DeMunn is nothing short of amazing as the killer who provokes revulsion, anger and pity by turns.

This is a film which cannot leave you untouched. But be warned, it's a hard film to watch. It doesn't shrink from the details of the crimes or the harsh realities of life at the end of the Soviet Union.