MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

SnoopyStyle The Boston Strangler is on the loose and the cops are without a suspect. They throw a wide dragnet for "the peepers, the men's room queens, the exhibitionists, subway jostlers, the dirty word specialists." Atty. Gen. Brooke assigns scholarly lawyer John Bottomly (Henry Fonda) to head the fractured investigation scattered in several jurisdiction. Det. DiNatale (George Kennedy) and Det. Frank McAfee (Murray Hamilton) investigate. Suspects include gay Terence Huntley, disturbed Lewis and compulsive liar Lyonel Brumley. Dianne Cluny (Sally Kellerman) survives an attack by family man Albert DeSalvo (Tony Curtis). He is caught after trying to break into an apartment.This movie is basically split in two halves. The first half is the police investigation which I find very fascinating. They are hopelessly without a clue. In that part, even Henry Fonda isn't the star of the movie. It's the investigation and the many dead-ends that is the true star. I like the split screen in this section which give a scattered feel to the police work.The second half starts with the introduction of Tony Curtis. It becomes a lot of psycho-babble trying to dig into DeSalvo. I'm not convinced of its authenticity and I don't think it's that compelling. The second half could have continued the idea of the first half. It could have made DeSalvo less definitive as the killer. Instead there is no mystery. The audience is simply waiting for him to admit his guilt which is not in doubt. The first half is a terrific crime movie and the second half is much less compelling.

rbrooksie12 The Boston Strangler was perhaps one of the most dangerous serial killers in American history. The Boston Strangler stars Tony Curtis in a career best performance as Albert DeSalvo and co-stars Henry Fonda as John S. Bottomly, and George Kennedy as Detective Phil DiNatale. All the acting performances are wonderful but the performance by Tony Curtis stands out.One thing that a lot of people do not like about the film is the split screen camera that is present in this film. There are times where they show for example DeSalvo knocking on the door on the left side then on the right side they show a woman reacting to the door being knocked on. This is not distracting but it starts to get distracting when four or five different images are being shown because it is hard to concentrate on all of them at once.This is a great film for anybody that are fans of Curtis, Fonda, or Kennedy, or a great film for anybody interested in serial killer biographies. However I wished there was more. It felt as if the film were missing something. After watching this film, you can assume that DeSalvo was guilty but he was never tried for the murders nor imprisoned for the Boston Strangler murders. I wish this film mentioned The "Green Man" rapes, which DeSalvo was actually sentenced to life in prison for. All in all this was a great film and I enjoyed it. The portrayal of Albert DeSalvo by Tony Curtis is not one that you will want to miss if you are a fan of him. It is a career performance and deserves recognition that he didn't get. I encourage you to see this film!

Leofwine_draca THE BOSTON STRANGLER tells the true-life story of a serial killer who terrorised the women of Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1960s. I came to this film as somebody totally unaware of the facts surrounding the case, so watching the story unfold and develop made for an interesting film. My only complaint really is with the style; director Richard Fleischer insists on using various split-screen techniques to tell his story, and I think they detract from it.This isn't just brief, de Palma-level split screen; the entire film is full of shots which roll on and off the screen, and are manipulated in various ways. To be honest, it's fairly distracting, and comes across as dated more than anything else; I get the impression that split-screen was a bit of a fad, and I'm happy it hasn't taken off to a great degree.Otherwise, the movie is a mixed bag. Casting pretty boy Tony Curtis as the killer was a good stroke, as the star acquits himself well with the role, while Henry Fonda and George Kennedy are fine as the dogged cops on his tail. However, it's fair to say that this film is a bit overlong, with over an hour before we get to meet the killer himself. It becomes more interesting towards the end, when it takes more of a psychological approach to the proceedings, but it's never electrifying in the same way the likes of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS were electrifying. An interesting curio, then.

lee1888 This movie is so bad it needs to be shredded up. Tony Curtis made one of the biggest mistakes in his movie career making this film; he was so out of touch with his acting. Henry Fonda was just as bad seemingly just walking though the movie.The actors are never believable in this movie and most of the facts in this move are wrong. Of course we all know now that Albert DeSalvo was no more the Boston Strangler than you or me. At best Albert was a second rate burglar. Many people now believe it was just a rash of rapes that happen by several people around the same time and the news media blew it out of proportion ( like they would ever do anything like that) and created the famous non- existing Boston Strangler in print only.Never the less the movie takes us on this long journey about how the police track down DeSalvo. The director total made a mess out of the movie, even going so far as using split screen, a God awful technical aspect of movie making that no sane director would ever use in a film, and not many have.This film would have been better off I believe in the hands of Richard Brooks who had just done "IN Cold Blood". If you feel you must waste 3 hours of your time, then this is the movie for you. By the way, after making this film, sadly Tony Curtis never made a come back from this terrible movie.