The Boston Strangler

10/16/19681h 56m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Why did 13 women willingly open their doors to the Boston Strangler? ~

Overview:

Boston is being terrorized by a series of seemingly random murders of women. Based on the true story, the film follows the investigators path through several leads before introducing the Strangler as a character. It is seen almost exclusively from the point of view of the investigators who have very few clues to build a case upon.

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

police brutality
double life
boston, massachusetts
detective
surrealism
strangle
serial killer
strangulation
interrogation
lesbian
split screen

Cast

Tony Curtis

~ as ~

Albert DeSalvo

Henry Fonda

~ as ~

John S. Bottomly

George Kennedy

~ as ~

Det. Phil DiNatale

Mike Kellin

~ as ~

Julian Soshnick

Hurd Hatfield

~ as ~

Terence Huntley

Murray Hamilton

~ as ~

Det. Frank McAfee

Jeff Corey

~ as ~

John Asgeirsson

Sally Kellerman

~ as ~

Dianne Cluny

William Marshall

~ as ~

Atty. Gen. Edward W. Brooke

George Voskovec

~ as ~

Peter Hurkos

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

John Chard
Written 9 year(s) ago
9
Impressive procedural skin crawler.

It's a very impressive film from start to finish, the cast are excellent, George Kennedy & Henry Fonda portray the men pursuing the culprit with much believability, with enough moments of frustration and revulsion brought to life with style.

Of course this is Tony Curtis's show all the way, though, he is all bulked up and nothing like the handsome icon that people had grown accustomed to. He is convincingly menacing and handles the dual personality confusion scenes adroitly. One of the films' chief plus points is that the first hour only shows us the aftermath of the murders, it shows the desperate panic it creates among the people of Boston, and of course we get to know the detectives following this miserable trail.

At the hour mark we are introduced to Tony Curtis as Albert De Salvo, here he is in his family home, his daughter all radiant around her father, it's a masterstroke from director Richard Fleischer, and it creates maximum impact. The use of multi screens to show various aspects of scenes is deft and manages to make the film seem all too real, which of course is given weight of impact since it is based on actual events.

Smashing film that gnaws away at the skin some time after the silent credits have rolled. 9/10
Nutshell
Written 5 year(s) ago
10
A frighteningly unique film, made all the more frightening by it being a true story. This is hands down the best performance ever by Tony Curtis (in the title role), why he got snubbed by the academy at awards time is a complete mystery, he was not even nominated...