Rating: NR
Genre:
Crime
Theatrical Release: 10/08/2004(USA
Release Date: 11/09/2004
SubTitles: Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 98 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Nudity, Rape & Sexual Abuse, Profanity, Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs)
Distributor/Studio: Tartan Video
A real-life series of killings that held Los Angeles, CA, in the grip of fear during the late '70s provides the inspiration for this tense
crime drama.
Kenneth Bianchi (
C. Thomas Howell) is a nebbishy security guard who lives with his mother in Rochester, NY, and dreams of becoming a police officer. After
Bianchi's application to join the Rochester police is turned town, he takes his mother's advice and moves out to Glendale, CA, where she arranges for him to stay with his cousin,
Angelo Buono (
Nicholas Turturro), who works in auto repair. When he's unable to get a position with the Glendale Police Department,
Bianchi steps outside the law and, claiming to have a degree in psychology and a license to practice, sets up shop as a counselor. While
Bianchi never had much luck with women in Rochester,
Buono gives him some advice and sets him up on a few dates; soon
Bianchi has a string of girlfriends, though things become complicated when one of his steady girls,
Claire Shelton (
Allison Lange), becomes pregnant and moves in with him. As
Bianchi becomes increasingly obsessed with sex, he and his cousin join forces to set up a prostitution ring, which quickly earns them the enmity of a group of career criminals. When
Bianchi and
Buono discover that they have been double crossed by one of the hookers in their stable, the two men rape and murder the woman in the back of a car;
Bianchi discovers he enjoys the thrill of killing, and soon he and
Buono begin committing a string of sexually tinged murders throughout the Los Angeles area, with the press soon dubbing the culprit "The Hillside Strangler."
The Hillside Strangler was one of two identically titled films based on the same true story that were released in 2004; the other was directed by
Chris Fisher and starred
Clifton Collins Jr. and
Tomas Arana as
Bianchi and
Buono.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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