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If you look at my reviews, I've read WAY too many serial killer (SK) books. At least that's what my wife says. But what does she know, anyways? But I've read quite a few books on the BTK Killer alone, also known as Dennis Rader. "Inside the Mind of BTK," I think maybe John Douglas' best book actually as Mr. Douglas really, well, gets into the mind of BTK, as the title more than implies. "Bind, Torture, Kill" by Roy Wentzl which is maybe the best book on the case when it comes to the play-by-play analysis. "Confession of a Serial Killer" by Katherine Ramsland which gives a great inside view of Mr. Rader as many of the words contained are actually directly from him, from memory. Maybe I've read others.
But supposedly, Christopher Ford, who wrote the screenplay for "The Clovehitch Killer" (TCK) was "inspired by BTK." Now usually, movies that are "inspired by true events" are neither "inspired" nor "true." Discuss. But TCK is one of those rare exceptions that uses the BTK story, adds some fictional elements, and comes up with an oddly inspired "what if" scenario: "What if Dennis Rader had a child that actually suspected that he was the BTK while the case was still active?" Now, Kerri Rawson is the actual daughter of Mr. Rader but she didn't learn he was BTK until a couple of Men in Black -- in other words FBI agents -- showed up at her door one day to give her the bad news. (She's written a couple of books about it but from experience, I can tell you that usually, books written by people too close to criminals aren't very good. I haven't read Ms. Rawson's books although I think I read a sample a long time ago and passed.) Mr. Rader does have a son but that son has stayed wisely out of the "limelight," in my opinion.
But in TCK, Dylan McDermott plays the Clovehitch Killer very well and his name is Don Burnside in the film. He has a son who also is really good played by Charlie Plummer whose name is Tyler Burnside. Madison Beaty is also very good as Kassi who maybe becomes more than just a good friend to Tyler. I don't really want to write too much about plot because I think it's better to enter TCK as a viewer with as little information as possible, other than perhaps knowing about the BTK case, which might actually be beneficial. Obviously, my viewpoint of the film might be slightly skewed because I know so much about BTK but I can't really know without entering an Alternate Universe. But just imagine if Mr. Rader's actual son had suspicions that his father was the BTK before his father was captured. "It creates all kinds of possibilities," as Jonah Hill might say to Brad Pitt in, "Moneyball," even a better film but in a different genre.
And I think that Mr. Ford and the actors in TCK really take advantage of these possibilities. There are all kinds of moral and ethical ambiguities that arise in these scenarios. After all, what would you do if you knew a relative was an SK? What would you do? I think that most people would try to take the high road and say, "I'd turn him in!" but most of those people don't actually understand the way the legal system works, and most of those people don't consider what happens to families of captured SKs after-the-fact. Society uses guilt-by-association fallacies against those families and the majority of them not only have to move far, far away; but they also have to go into hiding and change their names as if they entered the Witness Protection Program. Ms. Rawson has stayed in the public eye after the discovery that her father is BTK, but I can't say what her motivations are. I do have my suspicions is all that I will write.
There is something that TCK and Mr. Ford do that is really unique, at least from my perspective: the use of a really clever structural device to explain events to the viewer. I won't give much away other to say it takes an interesting turn, starting maybe early in the third act. But I can't think of another movie offhand that is similar without thinking too much. I will write that I tend to nowadays be more of a "reader" than a "watcher" though, so I limit the number of movies I watch. But the technique used really allows the viewer to not only be held in suspense but to also understand what actually happened too. This is the main reason why I'm bumping up my score today from a four to a five; I still would've really liked TCK without it, but it wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying to me without it.
There seems to be an overriding theme in TCK to me. It is something like, "People are not as they seem," or, "Often the reputations of people are completely orthogonal to reality." Most people in the film have way too good of an opinion of Don Burnside; many people in the film don't have enough of a good opinion of Tyler Burnside; and everyone has a very bad opinion of Cassie. And one of Tyler's "friends" -- I'd call him more of a frenemy -- is beyond an unlikable character, at least to the audience. At least the audience has this "friend" pegged correctly.
I've been hemming and hawing about renting "The Clovehitch Killer" for a long time, I guess around five years according to its release date and my viewing date. I just have been bitten by too many bad serial killer movies in the past that are nearly unwatchable. Sure, there are a few out there that are really good but they tend to be the exception and not the rule. But don't make the same mistake that I did by waiting. Go ahead and rent or buy TCK today if you're into the genre and be surprised that oddly, one movie seems to get it right.
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Top reviews from other countries
Carmen Abel
Ein etwas anderer Serienkiller-Thriller.
Reviewed in Germany on February 9, 2023
Torsten
Kann nichts weiter zum Film sagen der Anfang auch wenn ohne Ton ist gut.
Reviewed in Germany on April 2, 2020