B.T.K.

Introduction

Between 1974 and 1991, Dennis Rader murdered 10 people, sending letters to the police detailing each murder which followed the same pattern of Bind, Torture and Kill - giving him the nickname of the BTK Killer. After a lengthy gap, a letter was sent to the police in 2004 in which he claimed responsibility for an unsolved murder and the manhunt began again. He was planning to kill again but DNA from under the nails of victim matched his familial DNA and, as a result, Rader was arrested in 2005, After giving a lengthy and detailed confession, was found guilty and sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences.

After making straight to video films about serial killers Ed Gein, Ted Bundy and Richard Speck, Michael Feifer continued in the same vein with B.T.K., a film based on Dennis Rader but not following the real life killings - this saw him team up again with Kane Hodder (who played Gein and Bundy's Warden).

The film shows the 'normal' side of Rader (Hodder) as he rigidly enforces community rules in his position as Compliance Department Supervisor - the sort of Stepford-esqe body that penalises you for parking just off your drive or for having your grass too long - and becoming president of his local church. This life coexists with his murderous tendencies as he kills women who he sees as breaking the rules, for example an escort girl who steals his money and a woman whose negligence allows her dog to escape.

Video

Shot digitally and released straight to DVD, B.T.K. looks impressive with no loss of clarity in the low light scenes and bright colours.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 English track is very clear and the surrounds are used sparingly but to good effect.

English HoH subtitles are available.

Extra Features

The Making Of covers the visual effects, with b-roll footage, interview with the actors and make-up artists, and the way the film has invented a whole new set of victims out of respect for the dead.

In the commentary Michael Feifer and Kane Hodder chat between themselves, imparting some information but the result is a fairly dull and missable yak-track.

There menu is preceded by skippable trailers for The Spirit, The Eye, Five Across the Eyes and Buried Alive

Conclusion

There are reasons why this has gone straight to DVD: it's low budget and amateurishly acted; it's leading man, Kane Hodder is predominately known as a stuntman and for playing Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Parts VII-X (where he also played Uber-Jason) rather than for his thespian talents. The rest of the cast is comprised of actors of whom I have never heard and probably never will again. The writing isn't great - there is one gaping plot hole when Rader flicks through the yellow pages in a hotel room, phones a escort agency and describes what kind of girl he wants then hangs up without saying where he is - despite this, she has no problem finding him and looks nothing like the girl he asked for.

Another problem with B.T.K. is that it is in the company of far better films based on real serial killers (Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Silence of the Lambs and Zodiac spring to mind) and it seems that Michael Feifer even seems to be trying to evoke the feel of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer but the illusory quality of his film does not have the visceral impact of John McNaughton's genre classic. B.T.K. begins with Dennis Rader waking up and continues with the theme of Rader's dreamlike existence. I never felt like I got any closer to knowing Rader, why he killed or how he reconciled his dual lives. It's too light to work as a documentary (and, in any case, the facts have been changed) and isn't tense or gripping enough to work as a horror film.

This isn't even something to recommend to genre fans.