September 29, 2004
"THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER" COMES TO DVD (unrated) In Nov. 2004
(MPAA Rating: Unrated) Chuck Parello's "The Hillside Strangler" plays as a blackly comic slice of mock '70s-style exploitation that flirts with the viewer before applying its chokehold: grab-and-run theatrical biz preceding robust DVD sales.
Look for a review of the DVD in the next issue of MK.
The Hillside Strangler This is based on the true story of two serial killers who committed gruesome murders together, and became known by the media as The Hillside Strangler. C. Thomas Howell plays one of the serial killers Ken Bianchi.
Director Chuck Parello makes a spectacular return to the True Life crime dramas he began with Ed Gein. After Ted Bundy it's now the turn of The Hillside Strangler to be brought to the screen and those familiar with the controversial Tartan Trilogy will know the accent is on unflinching fact and clinical detail with the naked flesh and agony on full-frontal display.
In October 1977, the mutilated body of a prostitute was found near the gates of a cemetery, outside Hollywood. At the time no one paid much attention, but little did they know it was the start of a brutally sadistic killing spree that would grip California in a reign of terror for two years. C. Thomas Howell (The Hitcher) and Nicholas Turturro (NYPD Blue) get their aspiring pimp attitudes astonishingly right as cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono who actually teamed up to carry out the torture and slaughter of helpless hookers. Parello's cruise through disco porn sleaze and evocation of the kind of grind house exploitation circa I Spit On Your Grave comes complete with Auto Focus irony and censor-baiting gold medallion misogyny. Would you expect anything less from maverick producer Hamish McAlpine?
Release Date: 11/09/2004
Cast: C. Thomas Howell, Nicholas Turturro, Allison Lange, Lin Shaye, Molly Brenner, Aimee Brooks, Hal Cutler, Tricia Dickson, Keva Hargrove, Alexa Jago, Julia Lee, Zarah Little, Kent Masters King, Natasha Melnick, Sarah Ann Morris, Kevin Mukherji, Laura Mulrenan, Marisol Padilla Sánchez, Robbie Peron, Brandin Rackley, Ken Rosier, Jennifer Tisdale, Roz Witt, Cletus Young.