BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Steineded How sad is this?

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

LeonLouisRicci An interesting premise of a Detective going insane while investigating a case is so ineptly handled here as to become irrelevant. It relies only on hand twitching and neck bending with a hallucination of pasty face corpses walking around. After TV shows like CSI and Dexter there is no excuse for this bland, dull, and un-stylish movie. It cannot rise above anything more than a well below average excuse for a serial killer story that is as uninteresting as a serial killer story could possibly be. In fact, the whole process of filmmaking is so lacking in creativity it is criminal.There is nothing to recommend except that it is a notch above awful, and oh yes, shaky camera fans can rejoice, because here we go again, but at least the lead actress doesn't mumble.

Michael O'Keefe A thrilling crime drama full of intrigue and anxiety. Megan Paige(Eliza Dushku)is a Rochester, NY detective with a devotion for her work that borders obsession. She gets deeply involved with the case of a ten year old girl that is brutally raped and murdered. Megan works herself into a frenzy and when she begins seeing visions and talking to herself she is taken off the case. She suffers a total nervous breakdown and is institutionalized for two years. She returns to work as a records clerk. Her ex-boyfriend(Cary Elwes)has been promoted to head of the department and wants to keep a safe distance from her. When another young girl is abducted, raped and murdered Megan finds a connection that no one else immediately sees. This new case is off limits to desk jockey Paige and she slowly begins suffering a relapse and the only one that seems to understand her situation is a friend from her time at the psychiatric hospital(Timothy Hutton). Paranoid schizophrenia gets in the way of Megan's new work as an adviser in what has become a hunt for a serial killer. Director Rob Schmidt is able to present the grim story in a convincing fashion. The atmosphere is dark and cold and frazzles the viewers nerves...and that is a good thing. Dushku is fantastic in the role. Others in the cast: Michael Ironside, Tom Noonan, Carl Lumbly and Tom Malloy.

MBunge The Alphabet Killer is a promising tale that's ultimately undone by a bad casting decision and an ending that is pointless and unsatisfying.Based on a true story from the early 1970s where three young girls whose first and last names started with the same letter were murdered and their bodies dumped in New York towns with names which also started with the same letter, this film dispenses with the original era and is set in the present day. That decision starts the movie off on the wrong foot as there are aspects of the true tale that don't neatly fit into the 21st century. It's like making a film about Jack the Ripper but setting it in 1950s London.When the first dead girl turns up, Rochester, New York police lieutenant Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku) is assigned to the case. As the months pass and no progress is made in finding the killer, Megan grows increasingly obsessed and starts seeing and hearing the dead girl crying out for help. She finally tries to kill herself to end the torment.The story then jumps forward a couple of years. Megan has been diagnosed with adult onset schizophrenia. She's trying to manage it with drugs and group therapy sessions where she meets Richard Ledge (Timothy Hutton), a wheelchair bound former math teacher who suffers from his own mental disorder. Megan is no longer a detective but still has a job in the police records department, thanks to her old partner and ex-fiancée Kenneth Shine (Care Elwes), who's become a police captain. When another dead girl turns up, Megan pleads to be allowed to help with the investigation and Ken reluctantly agrees. He assigns Megan to tag along with officer Steven Harper (Tom Malloy) as he investigates the case, with strict rules about her only functioning as a consultant. As Megan and Harper try to track down suspects, they have to overcome the interference of police captain Nathan Norcross (Michael Ironside) from a neighboring jurisdiction who wants the capture of the Alphabet Killer for his own force. Megan also has to deal with her own schizophrenia returning in full force.There's really not much of a mystery at work in The Alphabet Killer. A few suspects are quickly introduced and just as quickly discarded and there aren't any investigative twists and turns to the story. This movie is all about the inner turmoil of Megan Paige and Eliza Dushku isn't up to the task. She's a beautiful woman and does have some acting skill, but she possesses what you could call a "limited instrument". Dushku is like a female Mark Wahlberg. If you put her in a role that's suited to her, she can be quite effective. When you ask her to do things beyond her comfort zone, she noticeably flounders. Here, Dushku is playing a complex character who dominates the entire narrative and there are absolutely no levels to her performance, no depth of subtlety to her acting, which wouldn't be so bad if the film were trashy and melodramatic or if there was another major character to carry the storytelling load. But Megan Paige is the heart and soul of this attempt at dark and serious drama and Dushku cannot pull it off. She doesn't need to be ashamed or embarrassed by her work, but she's like a career AAA minor leaguer who doesn't have the game to make it in the Major Leagues.The ending of this film is also one of those where even if you did like the movie, it will leave you disappointed and unsatisfied. Nothing is resolved and you're left wondering why you bothered to watch The Alphabet Killer in the first place. Dushku is one of the producers of this movie and, following the rule of Producer Self-Nudity, she does show off her upper front. Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans might enjoy those scant few seconds. The film is also reasonably well written and the rest of the cast are fine, though again, none of them are given anything interesting or significant to do.It's unfair to blame one person for the failure of a motion picture, yet there's nothing else to do in this case. If an exceptional actress had been cast in the main role, The Alphabet Killer might have turned out to be something worth watching. One wasn't, so it's not.

Girish Gowda This film is a true story and it is not a flashy film which tries to make money by the sufferings of these poor young girls. I cannot stress how much I loathe these paedophiles and rapists. I am a 20 year old guy and if I had any superpowers, I would kill every one of them. If you have read my other reviews, you will know that sometimes I feel very strongly about some issue and burst out like that. I am sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, its just who I am. I was browsing through my friend's DVD collection when I came across this and the cover was very interesting. So, I brought it over a couple of days back to see and the movie was very heart-breaking.A 10-year-old girl, Carla Castillo is found brutally murdered outside the small city of Rochester, New York, and obsessed police detective Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku) suffers a mental breakdown while trying to solve the crime. Megan is diagnosed with adult onset of paranoid schizophrenia and her fianceé breaks of the engagement. The police department is letting the case go into cold storage as there are no leads and the murder seemed to be a dead end. But Megan is convinced that there is a serial killer who goes after children with the same initials. When the child-killings resume two years later, Megan's return to the investigation also brings back her own horrific hallucinations. The only friend she has through all her ordeal is the wheelchair bound Richard Ledge (Timothy Hutton). Even if she can prove a double initial connection to the slayings, will she hang onto her sanity long enough to catch the paedophile psychopath? The director of 'Wrong Turn', Rob Scmidt directs 'The Alphabet Killer'. He is one director who looks very promising. He directs this film with a real reverence to the true events. Eliza Dushku gives her best here as the woman who can see the ghosts of the dead girls. The whole story revolves around her perspective of these killings and sometimes it is very confusing. Is she really schizophrenic or does she actually see those ghosts? Whatever the case maybe, those little girls really suffered from that psycho killer. I really hope that killer is brought to justice soon. The way those little girls are lured into the killer's car is very real. Many of the times, the killer will be a person who you trust. This sick guy doesn't need therapy, he deserves to die for his sins. The ending is chilling with the killer eyeing his next victim. Kenneth Shine, Tom Malloy and Timothy Hutton all give credible performances. This film can be quite traumatizing to below 16 year olds, so the R-rating is definitely deserved (there is also one scene where the beautiful Eliza gets naked, and there is also language and moderate violence, so beware).7/10