The Alphabet Killer

The Alphabet Killer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Schmidt
Produced by	Tom Malloy Isen Robbins Aimee Schoof Russell Terlecki Daniel Sollinger
Written by	Tom Malloy
Starring	Eliza Dushku Cary Elwes Michael Ironside Bill Moseley Carl Lumbly Meltem Cumbul Tom Noonan and Timothy Hutton
Music by	Eric Perlmutter
Cinematography	Joe DeSalvo
Edited by	Frank Reynolds
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release dates	November 7, 2008
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$33,975 (INT)[1]

The Alphabet Killer is a 2008 thriller-horror film, loosely based on the Alphabet murders that took place in Rochester, New York between 1971 and 1973. Eliza Dushku stars as the main character, alongside Cary Elwes, Michael Ironside, Bill Moseley and Timothy Hutton. The film is directed by Rob Schmidt, director of Wrong Turn also starring Dushku and written by Tom Malloy, who also acted in a supporting role.

Plot

Megan Paige (Eliza Dushku) is an investigator for the Rochester Police Department investigating the murder of a young girl named Carla Castillo. Her body was found in the nearby village of Churchville, New York with white cat hair on it. Against opposition of her colleagues and partner/boyfriend Kenneth Shine (Cary Elwes), Megan insists that the murder is a work of a serial killer. Despite Megan’s considerable efforts she fails to catch the killer. Stress and obsession of the investigation causes Megan to hallucinate the victim's image. She ultimately has a nervous breakdown after being kicked off the case and tries to commit suicide.

Following two years of medical treatment and attending a support group headed by a wheelchair-bound man named Richard Ledge (Timothy Hutton), Megan rejoins the police department in an office job. Following a similar murder of another young girl, Wendy Walsh, whose body is found in Webster with some white cat hair on it, Megan successfully lobbies to rejoin the investigation. Partnered with Steven Harper (Tom Malloy), they try to find links between the girls. Then another girl, Melissa Maestro, is killed in Macedon. They find a number of commonalities between Wendy and Melissa, but fail to connect these to the first victim. The Webster Police Department, which has jurisdiction over the latest murder but are uncooperative, receive a call from 19-year-old Elizabeth Eckers who is being held hostage in a house. Megan is convinced the suspect is not the Alphabet Killer and breaks procedure to preempt a police raid. Megan defuses the situation, but an officer shoots the suspect through a window and kills him. Webster police declare that the Alphabet Killer is dead and announce the discovery of white cat hair in the house. Megan spirals into another nervous breakdown.

Certain that the Webster police planted the evidence in order to justify killing an innocent, Megan continues the investigation on her own. Megan discovers that all three girls attended St. Michael's Church in Rochester. Still suffering from hallucinations of the victims, Megan visits the church and tries to question the pastor, but suffers another breakdown and is hospitalized. Megan flees from the hospital and takes refuge in Ledge's home. There, she finds out that he used to work as the math teacher for the St. Michael's Church which finally reveals that he is the killer. Before she can act, he leaps from his wheelchair - having only pretended to be disabled - and attacks her. Ledge knocks her unconscious and drives to a remote spot near the Genesee River to kill her. Before Ledge can inject her with a sedative and dump her in the river, Megan breaks free and shoots him with his own gun. Ledge falls into the river just past a large waterfall - though it's unclear if he is dead. Unsure whether Ledge is dead and confused by her surroundings, Megan is driven by the intense situation to another, longer breakdown.

Megan is hospitalized and kept under intensive psychiatric care. The final scenes of the film show Megan heavily sedated and strapped to a bed in a psychiatric ward. There is no one else in the room, but in her state, she envisions the spirits of the victims waiting for her to return and seek justice for them.

The final scenes of Megan are intercut with scenes of Ledge who, having survived Megan's attempts to kill him, has altered his appearance. He is shown in church, receiving communion and exchanging glances with a potential victim (Gabby Servati). It is unclear if these scenes of Ledge are actually occurring or are part of Megan's psychosis.

A title card announces: "In 2006, police exhumed a fireman's body and posthumously cleared him as a suspect. To date, the Alphabet Killer has not been found."

Cast

• Eliza Dushku as Megan Paige
• Cary Elwes as Kenneth Shine
• Timothy Hutton as Richard Ledge
• Tom Malloy as Steven Harper
• Michael Ironside as Nathan Norcoss
• Carl Lumbly as Dr. Ellis Parks
• Bill Moseley as Carl Tanner
• Tom Noonan as Captain Gullikson
• Melissa Leo as Kathy Walsh
• Martin Donovan as Jim Walsh
• Andrew Fiscella as Len Schafer

Production

From 1970 to 1973, three girls in and around Rochester, New York were brutally raped and strangled, their bodies dumped in neighboring villages. Each girl's first and last names started with the same letter and matched the initial of the name of the village where their body was found. The film deviates significantly from established facts, most evident with the setting in modern time. (See Cheri Farnsworth's book, Alphabet Killer: The True Story of the Double Initial Murders for a detailed look at the real Alphabet murders.)^[2][3] In the movie, the filmmakers chose to focus on the personal aspect of the story and its impact on the lead character, instead of police procedure in the investigation.^[4] Writer Tom Malloy developed the script with the help of a homicide investigator who had worked on the original case. The writer noted that he saw the film as a cross between A Beautiful Mind and Zodiac.^[5]

Dushku was an immediate choice for the lead role.^[4] The filmmakers also deliberately chose certain actors who had earlier played the role of a killer in other films. The film was shot in and around Rochester. The climactic scene was shot near the High Falls of Genesee River.^[5]

Reception

Release

The film was screened at multiple film festivals, including European Film Market and Screamfest Horror Film Festival. The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on Friday, November 7, 2008 when it was released in 2 theaters, only in New York.^[6] As of December 14, 2008 the film's domestic earnings are $29,784 while it grossed $4,191 in the foreign markets for a worldwide total of $33,975.^[1]

Critical response

The film received negative reviews from critics, earning a 14% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[7] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times commended the actors' performances but thought the end was very unsatisfactory.^[8] LA Weekly's Luke Thompson said the plot was quite predictable, but said that the presence of multiple supporting characters keeps viewers guessing, which made the film very interesting.^[9] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times praised Dushku's skills and Schmidt's interest in "facts than in frights".^[10] Andy Klein of Los Angeles CityBeat bemoaned the "preposterousness of the mystery's solution".^[11]

References

External links

• Official website
• The Alphabet Killer at the Internet Movie Database
• The Alphabet Killer at AllMovie
• The Alphabet Killer at Box Office Mojo
• AMC's "Countdown to The Killing: Alphabet Murders"
• Alphabet Killer: The True Story of the Double Initial Murders
• Website for Alphabet Killer: The TRUE Story of the Double Initial Murders