The Boston Strangler (1968)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

A strikingly shot, often with a split screen, criticised by some, but I feel it was used when it enhanced the storyline, which is also structured beautifully. Several fine performances ( George Kennedy and Henry Fonda- reliable as ever) , two excellent cameos from William Hickey and Sally Kellerman and complex, subtle one from Tony Curtis. Also, a couple of observations on contemporary life( being gay and the Vietnam War). A plea at the end of the film for more early funding for psychiatric help for people is worthy but doesn't answer the question how you identify an often hidden condition.

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!

Surprisingly, the movie's neither gory nor especially violent, except for one segment. It is, however, chilling to the bone. Serial killer DeSalvo (Curtis) is really two dissociated personalities inhabiting one body. On one side is the ordinary blue-collar family man; on the other is a gruesome strangler of women. The odd thing is that the one time we see the killer, his low-key personality seems not too different from that of the family man. I guess I was expecting a Jekyll and Hyde. But that's definitely not the case, which makes the outcome even more unnerving. Curtis delivers a finely calibrated, low-key performance as DeSalvo, resisting temptation to over emote. Instead, he registers DeSalvo's inner state through twitches and quick grimaces. These understatements hint chillingly at an inner turmoil, in which the family man slowly comes to realize a second, unknown personality abiding murderously within. These flashes of self-recognition are very well done, pulling us along with the star-crossed DeSalvo.The movie itself comes in two parts. The first part concentrates on police pursuit of the killer as the bodies pile up. Nothing much happens, but interest is kept up by the colorful suspects that are pulled in. The second part is mainly DeSalvo and the effort to bring out his suppressed side, which a head doctor assures investigator Bottomley (Fonda) is lurking within. On the distaff side, Sally Kellerman delivers a wrenching turn as one of the victims. If the movie has a short-coming, I would think it's the otherwise anonymity of his many victims. Unfortunately, we know very little about them, except as cadavers. Then too, I'm no fan of split-screen, a frequent source of distraction. Here, however, the technique is used sparingly.All in all, it's a riveting film, made more so by the career central performance. Clearly, Curtis is a long way from the pretty boy fluff.(In passing—DNA evidence eventually incriminated DeSalvo in one of the murders though the other 10 remain officially unsolved. The killings however stopped after his arrest, and authorities have no doubt he was responsible for all of them. In 1973, he was stabbed to death by another prisoner.)

Apparently, Desalvo, told people in the Bridgewater Asylum, that he faked the hallucinations, since he knew, if he was declared insane he would not be convicted and avoid prison. He had confessed to his attorney F. Lee Bailey, that he had murdered twelve women and he could not remember the name of the 13th victim, except to say that she had died of heart attack in his arms. There was also a scheme concocted by himself, that his family lawyer would collect the reward money and give the bulk of the money to Desalvo's wife and children, since he knew he would never get out of jail facing multiple rape charges. The movie is based on the book which is complex, since there were four other suspects, who were either mentally ill, lying and or evidence circumstantial. The only surviving victim and witnesses could not identify Desalvo, as the strangler and the positive identify was an inmate at the same asylum, by the name of George Nasser, and he was the only one who fit the profile of the strangler as determined by a panel of experts, but he was never charged. As far as the acting, Tony Curtis's acting was over rated. Any actor could have done his role. Someone like Robert Blake would have been the perfect choice. The fact is, he solicited for that role, by gaining weight and perfecting his accent. The split scenes take away lot of the suspense and the superimposed scenes with Fonda and Curtis lack depth. This is a good movie-a safe seven rating.