6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Did Angelo Buono really act like Joe Pesci?, February 2, 2005
This review is from: Hillside Strangler (Unrated Edition) (DVD)
Filmed with what actually appears to be a budget and a little bit of style THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER stands head and shoulders above the influx of cheap serial killer biopics that have infested the video store shelves the last few years. Unfortunately it's still not all that good.
There's plenty of mean spirited violence and nudity, but what I would like to know is why these two vile, deranged, worthless individuals acted the way they did. What ignited their immense hatred for women?
When the movie opens Bianchi is already an evil security guard who moves in with his womanizing, abusive cousin in California. They start forcing women to be hookers. That falls through so they start killing...and that's it. Kill, kill, kill until they're arrested and the movie abruptly ends leaving me with more questions than when the movie began.
If you're a sadist looking for nothing but the "highlights" of these two sickos crime spree then this is the movie for you. If you're looking for something with depth and maybe a little insight then read a book. I hear "The Hillside Strangler" by Ted Schwarz is good. Also "Two of a Kind: The Hillside Strangler" by Darcy O'Brien got some good reviews.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Needed more of Bianchi's psyche, February 13, 2005
This review is from: Hillside Strangler (Unrated Edition) (DVD)
I was so repulsed after watching this film that I felt like hopping into a steaming hot shower and scrubbing down with an S.O.S. pad.
If this film accurately depicts how they treated their victims, how they spoke to them, etc., then these were two of the most revolting humans ever to have crawled out of the ocean.
But I had problems with the movie itself. Bianchi's character development seemed like snapshots. We didn't know why - and this was, in my mind, the most essential part of the film - he went from having an interest in psychology and a desire to be a police officer, to a depraved, deranged killer. We saw him move from one person to the next, but there was never any reason why. Angelo was Angelo from the beginning, and it was no surprise to me that he got ticked off and wanted to start killing people. He started out bad, and there really wasn't anywhere else for him to go but down. However, that wasn't the case with Bianchi. He might have been slimy and dishonest, but he was very different from Angelo.
Instead of spending so much time showing us images of what was basically soft-core porn, the filmmakers could have dug into Bianchi's brain. It's a shame that they thought nudity more important.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Grim, downbeat...you get the idea, February 1, 2007
This review is from: Hillside Strangler (Unrated Edition) (DVD)
The sordid tale of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, the killing cousins who strangled their way to infamy in 1970s Los Angeles, finally made its way to the big screen (or at least straight to DVD) with director Chuck Parello's 2004 film "The Hillside Strangler". The movie absolutely oozes evil out of every pore, which is just as well considering its grimy subject matter. Bianchi and Buono would pose as cops or modeling agents to lure in girls, and then would kill them and dump their bodies around town during a four-month period in 1977 and 1978. Actually, the two engaged in lots of sordid activities. Bianchi was a chronic thief who posed as a psychologist when he moved out to California in the late 1970s. Buono was a car thief, sadist, and child abuser who ran a car upholstery business in L.A. When Bianchi hooked up with Buono, bad things were sure to follow. And they did. Ten murders, with two more attributed to Ken Bianchi in Washington after he left Los Angeles. Once the authorities apprehended them their trials drug on for years, well into the 1980s, largely because of the scheming machinations of Kenneth Bianchi. He was an accomplished liar as well as a heartless killer.
Parello's film covers most of Buono's and Bianchi's antics, starting with a look at Ken's unsuccessful career as a security guard in Rochester, New York. When his hopes of becoming a police officer end in frustration, Kenny (played by a gaunt C. Thomas Howell) heads to L.A. to stay with his loudmouthed cousin Angelo (Nick Turturro in the performance of his career). The two have an unusual relationship, to say the least. Angelo is an abusive, misogynistic cretin who quickly asserts emotional control over the weaker Bianchi. In no time at all the two set up a brothel in Buono's house, a plan that quickly sours when a rival threatens to kill them for stealing his women. This incident serves as the impetus for murder, as Buono and Bianchi seek revenge against the prostitutes that supposedly sold them out. Meanwhile, Ken Bianchi works hard to maintain a façade of respectability. He lives with a nice woman who bears him a child, but his dependence on his cousin and his various scams soon undermine the relationship. This woman eventually pulls up stakes and moves back to Washington. It is while he's pursuing her that Bianchi commits the two murders that bring about his arrest.
"The Hillside Strangler" is a deeply, DEEPLY disturbing look at two sociopathic personalities. It's a movie that will stay with you long after the credits roll, mostly because of the grimly effective performances from C. Thomas Howell and Nick Turturro. Both actors really nail down their parts, especially Turturro as the hateful Angelo Buono. He steals nearly every scene he appears in. His character spouts the most barbaric, anti-female language I've ever heard in a movie. He's so over the top that I cringed during many of his scenes. In fact, if you can watch the dinner scene between Turturro's Buono and his mother Jenny (Lin Shaye) without inwardly shriveling, you're a stronger man than I. C. Thomas Howell is just as effective and, without a doubt, just as creepy as Turturro's Buono. It's tough to watch Howell's Bianchi cackle as he turns out the light on one of his victim's in Washington at the end of the film, or hear him say with deep relish, "Let's get us another girl*!" at the restaurant without feeling deeply disturbed. On a lighter note, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the luscious Aimee Brooks in a small part as one of the most unfortunate victims in the entire ordeal (She can dance, too!).
Then there are the killings, which are graphic and shown without any sense of pity for the victim. I've noticed this a lot in many Hollywood offerings these days. The viewer really has to bring his or her own sense of morality to a movie like "The Hillside Strangler" because the filmmakers and scriptwriters refuse to make moral judgments about the perversities on display. We know that Buono and Bianchi are monsters, we know they preyed on numerous women and destroyed the lives of countless people in the process, but we don't really see any of that on the screen. There aren't scenes showing the families of the victims in a state of complete devastation because of the horrific crimes, nor do we find release through lengthy courtroom sequences. In this way, I would have to say that Chuck Parello's "The Hillside Strangler" is more an exploitation film than a serious examination of the Buono and Bianchi crime spree. It's a film that exists to show murder, mayhem, and unbridled criminality--period. If you think you will have a problem with that, if you must have a denouement that shows the punishment of absolute evil, you might want to give "The Hillside Strangler" a pass.
O.k., the extras. Tartan throws us a few bones here. We get a commentary track with director Parello, a few deleted/extended scenes that don't add much to the proceedings, trailers, and a lengthy interview with C. Thomas Howell that has to be seen to be believed. Howell comes off as a complete whack job, a total space cadet whose ramblings achieve epic proportions of Keanu Reeves-like vacuousness. I'm at a loss to tell you what he actually talked about in this interview. I will say that if this is what the actor is normally like, it's no wonder he went from making A-list material like "Red Dawn" and "The Hitcher" to low budget stuff like this and "Glass Trap". What a weirdo! Anyway, there you go. The performances are good, and Aimee Brooks is hot. If "The Hillside Strangler" sounds like your cup o' tea, insert the DVD and push play.
* "Girl" wasn't the word he used. I'm not allowed to use the actual term, apparently. Sorry.
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