Reviews
‘Boston Strangler’ Review – Austere Period Drama Tackles Gender, Obsession and True Crime
The latest film from writer-director Matt Ruskin begins in media res as an attentive neighbor overhears an attack on a female tenant in the unit next door. As he bangs on the door, the words “Inspired by a True Story” appear onscreen as the attacker turns up the radio to disguise the murder.
There are several attack scenes in Boston Strangler, which follows real life journalist Loretta McLaughlin (Kiera Knightley) as she embarks on an obsessive investigation of a serial killer targeting women in Boston from 1962 and 1964.
This first attack is the sparsest: it’s all strategic framing and sound effects to imply violence. This won’t always hold true, however; several other sequences of gendered violence are more explicit and sustained. But while the female victims were sexually assaulted and strangled, Ruskin and director of photography Ben Kutchins are careful not to sensationalize the crimes.
The gendered nature of the crimes is a relevant talking point considering who the victims are, as well as the film’s focus on Loretta and her colleague Jean Cole (Carrie Coon). Boston Strangler takes place at a time when women reporters were relegated to the “Lifestyle” section of the newspaper, which is where a frustrated Loretta works at the beginning of the film. Boston Strangler is equally interested in Loretta’s pursuit of the killer and her struggle to be taken seriously as a crime journalist.
Keira Knightley as Loretta McLaughlin in 20th Century Studios’ BOSTON STRANGLER, exclusively on Hulu. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Each morning, Loretta scours the pages of the Record-American, the newspaper where she works. As she and her husband James (Morgan Spector) get their two kids ready, Loretta compares the coverage from competing papers, clipping out instances where the Record-American has been scooped. She does this because Loretta is desperate to get onto the historically male-dominated crime beat, and she’s forced to go to persistent, dogged means to convince her editor Jack MacLaine (Chris Cooper) that her keen eye is needed.
When Loretta makes a connection between a trio of seemingly unrelated murders of elderly women, she seizes the opportunity to prove herself. After hunting down a police contact in Detective Conley (Alessandro Nivola), the gamble pays off and the story blows up, drawing the ire of the Police Commissioner McNamara (Bill Camp) and forcing Loretta to partner with the far more experienced Cole.
Chris Cooper as Jack MacLaine in 20th Century Studios’ BOSTON STRANGLER, exclusively on Hulu. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Given the film’s real-life origins and time period, it’s hard to shake off the specter of David Fincher’s Zodiac. Boston Strangler features all of the tropes of investigative journalism films: there’s plenty of montages of searches through dusty records, conducting interviews, and sharing conspiratorial drinks late into the night. Emmy nominated production designer John P. Goldsmith and costume designer Arjun Bhasin ensure the visual aesthetic is period appropriate, which – coupled with the casting of Knightley (hiding her English accent without attempting to go Bostonian) – lends the production an air of prestige seriousness.
As any true crime fans know, there are no easy answers in this case, which identifies and tracks multiple suspects, including David Dastmalchian‘s Albert DeSalvo and Ryan Winkles‘ Daniel Marsh. A post-script offers a small measure of closure, but the film is ultimately less about solving the crimes than the grueling experience of being a female investigative reporter in the 60s.
While the lack of closure will be frustrating to some audiences, its female-centric focus is what sets Boston Strangler apart. Ruskin’s script introduces a career-obsessed woman in order to explore how her work aspirations challenge the socially imposed ideals for women at the time.
While Loretta’s struggle to maintain a work/life balance won’t be surprising for contemporary audiences, Boston Strangler does a mostly admirable job of juggling her personal issue with the fact-finding mission of the case. At times the narrative does fall into a repetitive lull, but this is due, in part, to the film’s status as “informed by” the details of the case and its real life protagonist.
Boston Strangler is a compelling, if occasionally uneven depiction of the struggles of ambitious professional women in the 60s. Knightley is a capable lead, and there are a few genuinely thrilling moments when Loretta finds herself in dangerous situations with questionable men. For true crime newbies, this is a solid introduction to the Boston Strangler. Call it Zodiac-lite.
Boston Strangler will debut on March 17 on Hulu in the U.S and Disney+ in Canada.
Home Video
‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space’ 4K Review – It’s Time to Upgrade This Movie One More Time
Scream Factory has just released Killer Klowns from Outer Space in 4K to celebrate its 35th Anniversary, and what an exciting time to be a fan of the 1980s movie. With the recent surge of Klownapalooza happening in the past few years, including tons of merch made available by Spirit Halloween and the much-anticipated video game scheduled to be released next month, it seems apropos for the Klowns to finally make their 4K debut.
In 1988, the Chiodo Brothers (consisting of siblings Stephen, Charles and Edward) took their seemingly ridiculous premise of having otherworldly monsters in the form of circus clowns land on Earth to wreak havoc on a quiet little town and produced it into a full-length motion picture. Inspired by creature features and B-movies alike, their unconventional film with a deliberately hokey title would garner an initially significant following that evolved into a major cult classic close to four decades later.
In Killer Klowns, After seeing what they perceive to be a comet crash down in the woods, Mike (Grant Cramer, Hardbodies, New Year’s Evil) and Debbie (Suzanne Snyder, Weird Science, Return of the Living Dead Part 2) investigate, only to find a totally misplaced Big Top circus tent with some high-tech interior décor and loads of cotton candy. It all seems like a fun time for all, until Mike discovers that the cotton candy contains the bloody corpses of local townsfolk.
The couple seek help from the local police, who of course do not believe their whacky tale. It doesn’t help that the officers include the grumpy Curtis Mooney (played by the late John Vernon in a role almost as memorable as the Dean he portrayed in Animal House) and Debbie’s ex, Dave Hanson (John Allen Nelson, former Baywatch hunk). Hanson is more receptive to their accusations, because he still has a huge soft spot for Debbie, but also has some serious ill will towards Mike for being his replacement. This dynamic is understandably super awkward and a nice little subplot to get you to care about those characters, because who doesn’t enjoy a nice little love triangle. On the flip side, Mooney believes it is only a promotional stunt by Mike’s BFFs, the offbeat Terenzi Brothers (Michael S. Siegel and Peter Licassi), who sell ice cream out of their truck adorned with a giant clown head.
Soon the Klowns get down on the town and start their reign of terror. Will they take over the planet and turn it into one giant cotton candy cocoon? Will Dave win Debbie back or just pummel Mike to let his aggression out? Will the Terenzi Brothers score with the ladies without needing to bribe them with unlimited ice cream? Will Mooney ever crack a smile? All these questions and more are answered in the 88-minute running time.
The Chiodo Brothers created a bizarre yet beautiful carnival of creativity with the Killer Klowns universe that is a major part of the film’s appeal and hardcore fanbase. Let’s start with the Klown headliners— Jumbo, Fatso, Shorty (my boo), Rudy, Spikey, Slim, Bibbo, and Chubby. They are all great villains, vastly unique in look, personality, and weaponry. And that weaponry dreamt up by the Chiodo Brothers is as innovative as the Klowns themselves. The Klowns hunt their prey with cotton candy cocoon guns, flesh-eating popcorn, lethal shadow puppetry, super-sized mallets, animated balloon animals, and boxing gloves with some serious extra “pop.” And if you haven’t seen the film and you think those gadgets sound cool, well they are even more awesome to see in action. Even if the special effects are from the ’80s.
All this talk about extraterrestrial clowns and circus weaponry can easily overshadow our human stars. Kramer, Snyder, Nelson, and Mooney are all fantastic as the leads, playing their parts perfectly. And then there are appearances by veteran actor Royal Dano (Ghoulies 2) and Christopher Titus (Titus), well before his popularity hit its stride.
Now I am sure you are wondering how Scream Factory did with the transfer, and you will be pleased to know that they did an awesome job. The picture is absolutely gorgeous and quite a step up from the previous Blu-ray release. Considering that legacy Blu-ray looked pretty good, you can imagine how great the Dolby Vision is for this 4K presentation. Wish the audio was Dolby Atmos instead of DTS, but not a deal breaker by any means because the sound is fine.
The 4K also comes with a Blu-ray that houses the bonus features. There are not a ton of extras, but the ones they have are very interesting, even if previously released: a making-of featurette, an SFX featurette and a featurette dedicated to the film’s score. There are also deleted scenes, bloopers, audio commentary with the Chiodo Brothers, Easter Eggs, and more.
If you are ready to open your wallet and grab a copy, there are a few editions to choose from. You can either grab the standard edition, the deluxe edition that includes an exclusive slipcover, two posters and a Prism sticker, or the limited edition SteelBook—which this review is based on.
You can order one of these versions now at shoutfactory.com.
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