El signo del asesino

TRAIL OF A SERIAL KILLER is an aggressively bad entry into the serial killer genre, or in this case made for video which means I won't bother comparing the good movies in the genre(Seven, Kiss the Girls) or the bad(Copycat, Switchback) This movie which lurches across the screen before dying of its own nauses would deserve a mantle all its own.

The movie opens with a young girl who leaves a movie theatre(the Paradise none other) and is murdered on the walk home. But wait there's more. The killer takes the girl's picture, tapes her hands and then puts one of those movie notes in her mouth for Detectives Michael Madsen and Chris Penn to find, complete with magazine clipped lettering. It's hilarious, this killer with his sense of all purpose. And of course Penn has a psychological battle with the killer who "he knows" is responsible for this one too. The killer calls him and his family so you see it really is important that he finds this guy fast.

Did I mention the intercut between the shrink (Jennifer Dale) who only sees her crazy patients at night? One of her patients tells her she gets excited by committing violent acts. Is she the killer? Dale holds a meeting at a dark church for her most dangerous patients where we hear dialogue about sex and violence that's so corny you wonder how the actors could even respect the material enough to speak it. The whole movie's at such a garbage level what with the hollow plot and abandoned settings which smacks of four in the morning filming locations shot in warehouses and crackshops. The identikit, do everything killer is so bad it really is funny and Madsen and Penn spend the whole movie being over the top and macho when they should be taking fingerprints and watching smarter, techically competent movies of the genre.

A few weeks ago I was watching a show about killers where the host suggested that murderers like Ted Bundy should kill themselves instead of wasting society's time. You got a murder suicide plot, kill yourself is the point I think. TRAIL OF A SERIAL KILLER wants us to accept a serial killer, a cop, who we're supposed to suspect is crazy himself, wrapped up in a silly, low-rent world to find out who the killer is. Who knows? Who cares?

DG

NO STARS(out of four)

When a killer kills a woman in an alley and brings her body with a severed arm to a movie theater, FBI Agent Brad Abraham (Michael Madsen) calls FBI Agent Jason Enola (Chris Penn) to help him in the investigation. Jason is an agent that destroyed his career and his family years ago obsessed to capture a serial killer; now the leads indicate that the same killer has just started a new crime spree. Soon the psychiatrist Dr. Alyce Robertson (Jennifer Dale) receives phone calls from the killer and she meets Abraham that asks her to talk to Jason. He asks to participate in a meeting with her patients William Frost (Chad McQueen); the agoraphobic Rachel Quinn (Terri Hawkes); Gail Morgan (Catherine Blythe); Jerry Saracen (Kenneth McGregor); and Eileen Gibbs (Thea Gill). Now Jason suspects that one of them might be the serial killer. Who might be?

"Papertrail" is a low-budget thriller with a terrible story and an awful conclusion. The characters are poorly developed and Michael Madsen has a very small part to give his name to the credits. The explanation given by the killer is laughable. But the attitude of Dr. Robertson summoning her patients in the middle of the night is ridiculous. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Mensageiro da Morte" ("Messenger of the Death")

Yes I liked this movie. Why? because I didn't bother comparing it to others in the serial killer genre. It was low budget, yes, but it had strong performances from the always entertaining Chris Penn and Michael Madsen. Other performances (such as Jennifer Dale and the guy who played William) make this movie noteworthy as well. The first time I saw it, I wasn't too terribly impressed, but I watched it again, and I liked it far more the second time, and the third. There were funny moments (Enola talking to the lawyer) and heart-wrenching times (i.e. Enola calling his kids) and very nice tensions were built up in the therapist's office. I'd give this movie a 7/10, nice job all!

This is a low budget serial killer movie that is low budget and not the best quality acting either. In most serial killer movies, there is a twist or the killer is one of the characters you get to know. I won't give the ending away other than the "who is the killer" at the end of the movie is badly done (overworked) and leaves you pretty disappointed. I am also continually amazed at the stamina shown from gun shot victims (observe Mr Penn towards the end).

I am not sure what role Michael Marsden is playing in this movie. His character has no real bearing on the plot and fades in and out (and disappears before the end).

Its not big budget, has no big names and really is a TV/Video movie at best. Expect nothing flash and you won't be disappointed. There is a slight story there for the viewing, but its nothing that hasn;t been seen and done over and over and over (and much better as well)

Not worth the effort

Horrible acting, horrible writing, ridiculous story. I like Penn and Madsen and thought this may be good. Boy was I wrong. Like the earlier reviewer asked. Why was Madsen in this movie?? He did drift in and out and added absolutely nothing to the story and he did in fact disappear before the conclusion. Weird. I did get a laugh from how bad some of the writing was. Just listening to some of the lines being read was hilarious.