O Assassino da Autoestrada

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.

I never saw a flick with Scott Anthony Leet but what he performed here really did impress me. His face and his laughter really gives you the creeps. And after doing some research on William Bonin he really looked like him. As you all know who follows me on the net I'm not only into horrors I do dig serial killers too. And I have seen a lot of movies about serial killers, some really bad (B.T.K. for example with Kane Hodder) and some really good. This one here I do file under a real good one. Why, because it delivers what you expect from such kind of movies. You really go into the character and not that much into his killings. Now and then we are confronted with some killings and they are gruesome. It isn't all based on the real life of William, he was a pedophile and killed 45 boys. But he was also as we can see in this movie the first one who got a lethal injection. The fact of Vernon is true but he had more companions than shown in this flick. Of course the director couldn't show them all, then he should have made a flick like The Deliberate Stranger or To Catch A Killer which both clocks in over 3 hours (to catch even clocks in at 360 minutes). It's funny to mention To Catch A Killer because Scott did remind me of Brian Dennehy's performance. I guess that the production changed the names of his companions with a reason, just let me say that William Pugh was sentenced to 6 years. Bonin was prisoned for 17 years before he got his injection so the end of the flick wasn't really right. Whatever, a great flick to see and collect if you are into serial killers and horror. And of course don't forget to catch the short performance of Eileen Dietz of The Exorcist (Pazuma) fame and it's also funny to see Michael Rooker playing the good guy in a serial killer flick due his fame as a serial killer in Henry: A Portrait Of A Serial Killer.

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.

It is interesting to see Leet in the principal role of Freeway killer William Bonin, who apparently was an extremely disturbed individual who also teamed up with young boys he either picked up hitchhiking, or at local parties in the area of Southern Los Angeles.

The product of a pedophile grandfather and alcoholic mother (we only see a glimpse of his mother, a psychological wreck for certain). Yet none of the back-story of Bonin can explicate the heinous acts of kidnapping and torture he put his victims through, in real life.

There is also an odd scene where his friend "Vern" is dressed as wizard, into the occult and Tarot cards, and helps host parties to attract young boys. (Reminiscent of John Wayne Gacy, Des Plaines Illinois serial killer).

Actor Michael Rooker (from JFK film), is excellent as the detective who finally trails the killer, there is an especially good scene at a local newsstand, while Bonin is salivating over the headlines and murders, Rooker is observing him casually. Then Bonin suddenly turns to him to try and out him as a detective.

If you like this type film you may also be interested in "The Hillside Stranglers" with Billy Zane and Dennis Farina as the killers (actually a good true crime story due for a re-make). As well as the Gacy film with Brian Dennehy, in the lead role as John Wayne Gacy.

The story is based on facts, and a cautionary tale for random young people who will just trust any stranger. This story shows,no matter how friendly a sociopath may seem, they are chameleons, and capable of anything. You may also like criminologist author Michael Schecter's book "Serial Killers" . truly surreal and horrifying.

8/10

Well, I just finished watching this and I must say I'll be looking forward to seeing Scott Leet in the future. What a performance! He alone made this movie worth watching. And no, I'm not a friend of his, but I certainly am a fan now. His take on the main character was just pure genius. As a fan of horror-thrillers, he has my vote for "best performance of a psychopath" ever. I thought he was as good as Jack Nicholsen was in The shining. Yeah, that friggin' good!!! Watch for yourself and pay attention to the many expressions and micro-expressions he pulls off throughout the entire flick.

Those who rated this a "1" should be ashamed. If you don't like a movie give it a 3 or 4. To give a "1" means you don't fully understand the "1-10 scale". Unfortunately, a great many people don't, which is why a lot of movies get passed on without a second thought.

I hope many of you don't pass on this because of the low rating like I almost did. You will have really missed out.