Freeway Killer

William Bonin was a real-life serial killer who murdered a number of young men in the Los Angeles area around 1980. The plot of "Freeway Killer" gives us a character study of this man as an adult already in the process of carrying out his evil schemes.

We see him as he entices young boys into his blue van; gets to know them with general chitchat; then, without warning, strikes, like some wild animal attacking its prey. As Bonin, Scott Anthony Leet gives a really fine, naturalistic performance, with emotions that run the gamut from cheerful normality to blatant hatred. Bonin had at least one accomplice, a young man named Vernon, well played by Dusty Sorg.

The film conveys some gore, though not a lot, mercifully. On the one hand, we do not want a sanitized version of Bonin or his crimes. But we also don't want gratuitous gore and violence that seem to sensationalize people and events. I think "Freeway Killer" strikes a reasonably good balance.

The guys being picked up by Bonin were so similar in age and appearance, they were almost interchangeable. I never did pay much attention to them; they were like stick figures. Any given victim could almost substitute for some other victim, so impersonal and fleeting were their roles in the script.

This is no police procedural; very little time is spent on police investigation. Also, there is no mystery here and very little suspense.

In this low-budget film cinematography is competent. There are lots of close-up shots, with emphasis on peoples' faces, showing their anger, desperation, fear, and deception. Rear-screen projections are noticeable in a few scenes.

Intended mostly for viewers with an interest in true crime, "Freeway Killer" zeroes in on the Bonin character, a madman with the demeanor of a normal guy who liked to mess with the minds of his prospective victims. I rate the film above average for its genre.

My brother and the brother of my best friend, was victims of Bonin. I found this movie very incomplete about the true facts. Bonin killed over 16 young men, he was only convicted of 14. Bonin and his minions, would use Chloroform to knock the victims out, they would then have sex with them and then kill them. The night when he was arrested he was in the act of abusing a young hustler in a gas station parking lot in Hollywood. Bonin was killing young men in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas for years. He was even on parole. He was on parole for the same thing. He was not under police watch. No one knew who The Freeway Stranglar was until he was arrested. He lived on Death Row for over 12 years.

The movie itself wasn't so bad. However the storyline could've been fleshed out a little bit more. My pet peeve was that the movie was filled with so many Anochronisms, it threw the story off a bit. This was set around 1979-1980, but it looked very low budget. There were modern cars everywhere, besides the ones used by the actors themselves. The convenience store was riddled with current versions of consumer products, Bonin's alarm clock was digital, etc. Just seems like they didn't make a good effort at setting the theme of the movie to have been in the past. It was shot more like a student film on a shoestring budget.

There can be No Excuses. No Matter the Budget, it is Incomprehensible to make a Movie about a Real-Life Serial Killer and Eliminate the Most Profound Identifying Characteristics of said Serial Killer. Bill Bonin was a Sexual Predator First and Foremost. He was a Gay Killer/Torturer/Rapist who Preyed on Teenage Boys and the Brutality of His Crimes are Well Known.

So Why Bother? The Movie is Competent, even Well Done as far as it goes and the Acting is Certainly Up to the Task at hand. But the Disassociation from and Elimination of the Sexual Aspects (aside from a few lines of dialog) about the Nature and Motivation of the Crime Spree is Unacceptable and Disrespectful of the Victims.

Even with all the Glaring and Sneering and Far Away Eyes of the Lead Actor, the On Screen Character Never Comes Close to Fleshing Out the Real Freeway Killer. The One On Display here is a Bonafide Psycho No Doubt but the Real Life Sexual-Maniacal Whack-Job is Somewhere in the True-Crime Files and Nowhere to be Seen here.

This is a Missed Opportunity because the Ingredients are all here. Some Good Acting and Low-Low-Budget Exposition, but it is a Shame that the Filmmakers Stayed Away from Exploiting the Excesses of the Motivational Kill-Lust, Perhaps a Fear of Exploitation, but in doing so the Heart of the Story is Abandon when it should have been Cut-Out, Carved-Up, and Creatively Displayed.

Well it was engaging and intense and it held my down to watch in curiosity mainly because of that sicko sinister character, a gracious savior to this film in my opinion. Other than that, most of the acting coming from all the other characters were lackluster and nothing groundbreaking really happened in this movie. I predicted pretty much how the story would weave, it wasn't hard to see much of it coming. Just sit back and watch it and don't expect anything major at all. But definitely once again an intense and engaging submission that reminds us the kind of people we inevitably share society with. So overall, it was an alright movie! I give it 5/10. Is it worth a watch you ask?...It won't make your eyes bleed.