Lettres à un tueur

This film is pretty well written and plot is not usual stuff, A Mystery I would say. Swayze is ok and so on, But there's still something missing. Anyway, I would give it 3/5.

Are prisoners actually allowed to send and receive audio letters to multiple people at a time or anyone at all? Is this really something a prison would entertain, especially if the guards have to listen to every single second of every tape? It seems kinda ridiculous whether it be legit or not, but that's the general setup here. The downside to this premise is a slow tedious build-up of these 'letters' being narrated to us while we watch Swayze trapped in his cell. The first half of this movie drags along with little reward, so much time is given to such a simple idea to explain. Things do pick though in the second half with the movie transforming into an enjoyable, yet somewhat predictable thriller. It never endeavors to explore its possibilities too much beyond a cat and mouse chase, and there's a feeling of a lot of story left on the table with this one. Ultimately the movie is too hampered by its beginnings that it all descends into a bit of a rush to finish it off towards the end. The supporting cast is as you expect, but the recipients of his 'letters' could have been fleshed out more. Swayze is fine, reliable, but somewhat passive throughout.

I didn't expect too much from this movie which had no cinema release in the UK, but for its first hour or so it's a competent and original drama, and it just about holds you until its end. Race Darnell, played by Patrick Swayze, on Death Row for killing his wife, exchanges letters in the form of casette recordings with four women, each of them thinking she is his sole support. But one of them discovers the truth, and turns nasty. Soon after, his conviction is reversed; he gets out, and meets up with the women one by one, trying to find out who's threatening him. But before he identifies her, she starts killing the others, using the same method he was supposed to have used with his wife.

From then on, the film becomes more implausible, and more gory. Also, though tension is first built up with Swayze going on the run, it's then reduced by cutting away from the action to show the Feds having discussions about who the killer is, instead of them simply pursuing Race implacably. A nice touch - or a digression, depending on your point of view - is a buddy-buddy friendship between Race and one of his former wardens, Horton (Roger E Mosley) who's a fan of cowboy stories. You're kept guessing until the last few minutes, though mainly because one of the characters acts irrationally, and the Feds climb some stairs very slowly! All in all, it's worth a look on TV, or as a bargain rental.

Patrick Swayze portrays a death row inmate that gets a new trial, when a witness testifies that he wasn't the killer of his wife several years earlier. He is re-tried and found not guilty, but this is just the beginning.

He becomes a successful writer, and one of the women that recorded a taped message would later frame him for the murders that occur on film. He is eventually stalked, a la Clint Eastwood in Play Misty For Me (1971), but in this film, he is framed and later vows to find the real killer.

The scene in the apartment near the film's end is horrifying, where a meat cleaver and a handgun are present, which makes this film like a Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street flick, and one that would view this particular scene would remember it for eternity.

Letters from a killer has a very unusual storyline. It starts off quite confusing and uninteresting, but as it goes on the excitement gets more and more. Then at the end, you are at the edge of your seat, with all the gun shooting and racing about. I think that this is a film worth watching, but if you miss the beginning, you will probably find the rest of the film hard to understand.