Woodyanders Grim and disturbing portrait of Richard Speck (a creepy and convincing performance by Doug Cole), a remorseless serial killer who raped and murdered eight young nursing students in Chicago, Illinois on July 13, 1966. Director Keith Walley, working from a tight script by Don Adams and Aaron Pope, pulls no punches in his graphic and upsetting depiction of Speck as a monstrous brute: Speck's sadistic thoughts serve as a kind of nihilistic narration, the moments of savage violence pack a ferocious punch, there's a good deal of nerve-wracking tension, the tone is suitably bleak and unsettling, and the stark terror and utter helplessness of the scared victims is vividly rendered in a most unnerving manner. Moreover, this movie doesn't really try to explain why Speck did what he did; instead it merely shows that this guy was a cold-blooded psycho through and through. The actresses who play the victims do credible work in their roles. Kirk Douglas' stylized cinematography gives the picture an appropriately grungy yellowish look. The shuddery score by Walley and Lance Bachelder does the skin-crawling trick. A gut-wrenching film.

daviddaveinternational Watching this, at least to me, was a pain. I could make no connection between this character and Richard Speck. At all! Zip! Nothing! First off, Speck was not a "serial killer". He was a "spree killer" meaning he only killed people within a very short period of time. Second, he was a half-wit, to put it nicely. This guy in the movie was portraying Speck as a mastermind. Speck was missing a few candles on his birthday cake but in real life, was a very quiet and shy individual. He was very polite to the girls. The idiot in the movie kept repeating, "I love to kill" and horse-hockey like that. I could only watch about the first 15 minutes of this garbage before I had to turn it off. In no way does this movie even faintly resemble what really happened in Chicago. For instance when the one girl comes home stumbling drunk. What's up with that? Most of the girls hardly spoke any English and were too young to drink. At any rate, do NOT buy/rent this movie. It is NOT the way it went down. Kind of reminds me of "The Gray" movie. Just horrible directing, producing, etc. If you are not into reality, this movie is for you.

glenn-adams-1 I watched the unrated version of this movie and as a person who has studied the life and crimes of Speck closely, I must say this movie is a flawed but ambitious take on the real story. While capturing the true horror of Speck and the murders this film makes the following factual errors. 1. Speck did not inject drugs at the crime scene as depicted in the movie. In fact he was mainly an alcoholic and pill popper who rarely took drugs via syringe. 2. The Asian nurse who survived Speck's massacre did not squirm her way down stairs and under the couch in the living room as depicted in the movie. This would have been impossible. In real life she hid under a bed while Speck methodically eliminated his 8 victims. 3. The movie depicts Speck as being violent and brutal with the women as soon as he meets them. Not true. In reality Speck was at first calm and gentle, reassuring the women he wasn't going to hurt them. This is how he was able to tie each of them up. 4. The real Richard Speck was not the deep thinker the movie depicts him to be. FBI profiler Robert Ressler interviewed Speck in the 80's and said that Speck not only DID'NT know why he committed the murders but that he wasn't interested in learning why nor could he shed any light on why. Speck was known to be of below average intelligence and not the philosopher king who narrates this movie. If the story wasn't so tragic and horrifying, the voice over would be laughable. All in all, Doug Cole's performance is adequately menacing and cold-blooded even though I don't think the real Speck was so forward in his violence. No doubt he was a very violent person when under the influence but he was also known, after all, for being a fairly slick con man who was able to put people at ease before victimizing them. Beverly Ann Sotelo's performance as the surviving nurse is the finest in the film. She is a very good actress. If you are at all squeamish, do not see this film. It's very graphic and disturbing.

gerry-7 My girlfriend and I enjoy the serial killer bio pics that have been coming out recently. We've seen "Dahmer" and "Bundy", both of which were released last year. I found both of those movies to be disturbing and realistic portrayals of the mindset of those men and the events surrounding their crimes."Speck" by contrast was highly stylized and contained absolutely no substance. I only watched the first hour and saw only the suggestion of violence along with a laborious soundtrack. The director wanted it both ways, he wanted you to be disturbed by this man but no *show* you anything disturbing. The acting was mediocre and the plot moved at a snail's pace. I am not a proponent of gratuitous violence, but if you're going to make a movie about a serial killer, especially a REAL one, then at least give us some sense of his rituals and behavior. They made Speck out to be a disgruntled cowboy that flashes his knife and does little else. yawn. If you want to see a real dramatization of a serial killer and his mindset, see either "Dahmer" or "Bundy".