Awakening the Zodiac

The real life, unsolved Bay Area Zodiac killer case gets a fictional exhumation four decades after the murderous spree, when a trio of junk collectors stumble upon canisters of incriminating film. This clever retro take on the YouTube crime clip phenomena presents our innocents with a chance at a $100,000 reward. And we're off.

For the most part, this is a terrifyingly terrific movie, full of creepy, shadowy scenes, hair- raising tension and clever comedic quips. Our trio of trailer trash Sherlocks are very engaging as they stagger into a complicated and dangerous world, not so much for possible riches, but also for adventure. Taunting cryptogram clues, a sinister hood, and creepy voice messages; the Zodiac put the "K" in killer.

Great stuff, but it is almost ruined with a messy, straight forward, by the numbers, uninspiring climax. Which in turn is then inexplicably thrown under the bus with an attempt at an open ended, confusing conclusion. It really does suffer from a proper wrap. "Awakening The Zodiac" needs a rewrite tweak focusing more on mystery than monster. Still a pretty good thrill ride.

The characters are so dumb in this film. How do you not know how a cipher works?! Ugh these characters are ridiculous. Acting out of pure emotions and not giving any thought whatsoever to their actions. Dumbest characters ever.

I'll make this a short review since there is a couple longer ones already.

Basically, a young couple and their friend decide to track down the zodiac killer to receive the $100.000 reward, so they start investigating.

However, their behavior is absolutely ridiculous with no sense for consequences and danger at all. They have the maturity of toddlers and the intelligence you would expect from the average, stereotypical victims in horrormovies.

This is very frustrating since the movie and the basic plot sound really good and could've easily made an 8/10 movie if executed well.

I'd recommend the movie if you're looking for light entertainment and don't get fed up by the protagonists making predictable decisions.

The movie itself is alright but you can't watch it without rooting for the bad guy because the protagonists are absolute morons and poorly written.

Not even mentioning the end which is poor garbage and doesn't wrap up the film at all - pretty fitting for the movie...

Saw this recently on a DVD. Having background information about the Zodiac n having seen Fincher's excellent Zodiac multiple times, i decided to watch this. Obsession apart, honestly, the trailer was very enticing but the movie wasn't. This film is about a couple who gets hold of some snuff footage linking it to the Zodiac. They along with the help of a friend, decide to track down the true identity of the Zodiac and claim the long offered reward money that could change all their lives. The movie opens with a re-creation of one of the Zodiac's murder—an attack on a couple parked in a car on the side of a road in San Francisco a la David Fincher's Zodiac. This movie relied more on the silly investigation as opposed to the actual murders committed by the Zodiac Killer. Even the investigation was kinda meh. The connection between the snuff footage and the Zodiac killer is concluded very easily by the trio. The premise of the film was very good. The film reels are discovered in a small town in Virginia where the couple reside in a trailer. The Zodiac killings happened in San Francisco. How did those reels get there all the way from San Francisco? The Zodiac going into hibernation? The film also has some decent cinematography, likable characters n acting. But the suspense n tension was lacking leading it to a dull n meh kinda ending.

The most stupid characters I've ever seen! The girlfriend didn't even understand how a cipher works! The boyfriend wanted to fight everyone. The killer was a genius in his day, now he made huge mistakes. How is that plausible? Only positives were cinematography, score and editing, I suppose... Avoid at all costs, unless you want to actually lose some IQ-points!