I Am Not a Serial Killer

John Wayne Cleaver(Max Records) is a high school student with an unhealthy obsession with serial killers. His small Midwestern town begins to experience a series of brutal murders. John's mother is the town's only mortician and she allows her son to help her with the postmortems. He plays detective and becomes friends with an elderly neighbor, Crowley, played by Christopher Lloyd, in his best role since Back to the Future. Lloyd is funny, sarcastic and he pretty much steals this film. The less written about where his quirky character goes, the better. Lloyd and his young costar, Max Records, have a strange and endearing chemistry which will keep viewers guessing as to how it will all end. The final scene is not what I expected, but I can recommend I am Not a Serial Killer without reservation.

This is it. The creepiest killer persona I've seen in a while -- and I've only recently come out of an insane horror-binge that spanned over the length of a couple of months. Laurels to Mr. Lloyd for his incredibly chilly performance that framed so eloquently a very competent ensemble without dominating with experience; barring, of course, his grand "solo" which was just... remarkable.

Now, if I cared about the brackets of cinematic categories, I would class this movie as "uncategorizable" for it makes a run through so many genres, it ultimately brakes all the boundaries and uses the shards to create a stunning patchwork quilt of peculiar unity.

Providing us with a fresh outlook on a topic old but favorite, the movie, on the whole, is capable of qualitatively standing alone on the merits of its technical points, however, a few pacing issues aside, we are also graced with effective build-up and organic plot progression, making this subtle endeavor an unmissable filmic underdog.

Obsessed with a spate of bloody murders in his hometown, a disturbed teen begins to stalk his elderly neighbour.

Mostly a tale of alienation in a decaying society, but with a light hearted touch. The hero is presented in the unusual scenario of a family that runs the local mortuary, and there's some nice gore on the dissecting table as the vascular pump ticks away in the background. Also sets up a nice sight gag for the credits music at the end.

It's well shot and paced, but only picked up for me at about the half hour mark, when the horror element was introduced. At about 54 mins there is a well thought out and skillful jump scare. But the tone never gets heavy, so this is horror lite. Maybe they should have gone full horror once the ambiguity over the killer's identity was cleared up. Instead we had to wait for some over cooked CGI at the very end.

Lead actor is very good, and the villain too - though some of his lines were obscured by the aged voice. There are too many characters, some of whom seem significant but don't matter to the story or only appear in scenes that could have been cut - mostly the high school stuff. So the screenplay is not the tightest.

Music is interesting, applied with a light touch. A bit of poetry too.

Overall, whimsical horror that needed a heart transplant somewhere along the way.

ps. Interesting to see US-Irish collaboration.

As an average movie goer who was let down by major titles released this year, I decided to give this one a go. As it was part of the Melbourne International Film Festival program this year, I closed one eye and picked something that sounded mildly interesting to watch with a friend.

This is a movie-adaption of Dan Well's book, which already received quite a reputation, but I didn't know that. Heck, I didn't even bother to look at the cast list, or anything further than the 'psychological thriller' genre. Boy, was I in for a ride.

Overall, I was mildly surprised by how entertaining this movie was. The pacing was adequate - not rushed, nor was it too slow. It was also quite easy to follow with no convolution in the story and it doesn't feel forced. I was even more impressed about the clever slice of humor being thrown here and there. I enjoyed the cinematography and clever use of sound effects to keep you at the edge of your seat.

So I'm giving this a good rating, simply because I really enjoyed it - and that 2016 really need more gems like these. I wouldn't mind watching it again, or pick up the book.

It was a rather unusual film. As it continues and it appears a bit ordinary but then what is happening seems rather silly. But gradually a very strange story emerges as the killer doesn't seem the usual at all. I don't want to give away the end but everything makes sense, also I'll mention that the song at the final credits is Norman Greenbaum and Spirit in the Sky. It even made me smile. And many will be very pleased to see Christopher Lloyd, specially, I imagine.