The Hillside Strangler feels, at first, like it wants to be taken seriously. When it started I found myself expecting another 'Henry, Portrait Of A Serial Killer' but, as the film progressed I found myself changing my opinion. I initially thought that the flat style was meant to make the film look like a 70's TV movie and reflect the type of thing people were watching at the time the film is set but it wasn't long before I started to think that perhaps it was just the lack of imagination and the low budget that gave it the small screen look.
Like 'Henry' the film unflinchingly shows violence but, where as Henry took the viewer into the dark recesses of revulsion and then stood back to let the viewer think about what they were just watching, 'The Hillside Strangler' seems to enjoy the violence too much and doesn't question the nature of violence on film. The film bludgeons the viewer with its brutality but doesn't seem to know where it is going or why. By the end I found myself bored and irritated by yet another mindless serial killer movie
Like 'Henry' the film unflinchingly shows violence but, where as Henry took the viewer into the dark recesses of revulsion and then stood back to let the viewer think about what they were just watching, 'The Hillside Strangler' seems to enjoy the violence too much and doesn't question the nature of violence on film. The film bludgeons the viewer with its brutality but doesn't seem to know where it is going or why. By the end I found myself bored and irritated by yet another mindless serial killer movie