Green River Killer DVD with George Kiseleff, Jaquelyn Aurora, Georgina Donovan (R) +Movie Reviews

DULLER THAN WATCHING PAINT DRY

Tim Janson | Michigan | 07/09/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The Green River Killer is a remarkable achievement in movie making. It actually succeeds in making a serial killer seem dull and lifeless. You know from the opening credits that this is an ultra-cheapo production as the killer, Gary Ridgeway rests by the bank of the Green River (which looks more like a backwoods creek) and mumbles the names of his victims. Oh look, there's a convenient sign that reads "Green River" posted in the ground every time Ridgeway visits it. Ridgeway is one of America's most notorious serial killers with an admitted body count of four dozen and perhaps more, who eluded capture in the Seattle area for some 20 years. This film totally sucks the life out of his story with an incompetent cast, horrible dialog, and poor production values in every area.

George Kiseleff is the rank amateur in the "starring role", and as you can probably guess, it was his first acting credit and hopefully his last. As Ridgeway he is shown picking up prostitutes at a local tavern and taking them either home or another location to first have sex and then strangle them before dumping their bodies into the Green River. When Ridgeway is questioned by his wife about the strange woman coming out of their bathroom, and later about the police asking questions, he merely mumbles something incomprehensible and rolls over in bed. That's pretty much the way he handles police questioning as well...mumbling and looking stupidly nervous until the police leave. Were the police really that dumb? If they were as dumb in real life as they were in this film, it's no wonder Ridgeway got away with it for 20 years. Oh, and if you're going to have women playing prostitutes, do you think you could find one or two who are actually somewhat attractive? These women are plain ugly.

The only positive thing about the film, other than its ending, is the inclusion of scenes of the real Ridgeway during his interrogation by the police. At least this is the real guy talking about what he did. I'd have much rather seen a documentary than this mess. The DVD comes with the director's commentary but I could not bring myself to watch this putrid film a second time.

Reviewed by Tim Janson
"

Schlock, not Shock

R. Schultz | Chicago | 08/26/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is an unbelievably bad film. Its only redeeming features are the snippets of actual killer Gary Ridgeway's police interviews that are ocassionally spliced into the film's tawdry, fictionalized action scenes. I hadn't known this footage of Gary Ridgeway existed. A documentary consisting only of these interviews would have been infinitely more interesting than this trumped up movie.

The movie doesn't even minimally seem to care about accuracy or authenticity. For example, the extremely amateurish actor who plays Ridgeway doesn't match the real Ridgeway's physical description at all. The real Ridgeway was not a "tall, handsome, muscular" fellow. He was shorter, and unassuming-looking. Also, the majority of Ridgeway's victims were not the glamorous, seasoned barroom prostitutes shown here. They were lonely, struggling teenagers whom he picked up along the Seatac Highway.

If you want a better insight into the character of Ridgeway's victims and crimes, read Ann Rule's book, "Green River, Running Red." In any case, avoid this movie mess.

"

Annoying Waste of Time Killer

Michael Bolts | Superior, WI | 06/22/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"George Kiseleff stars as Gary Ridgway or The Greeennnn Rivverrrr Killeerrrr. Anyways he is married and has a son and goes out to bars, picks up some prostitutes and either brings them back to his place when his wife is gone and makes his son hide in the bathroom when he kills them or somewhere else. Then after he kills his victims he brings the bodies of the women and stashes them alongside the Green River...um, yeah. They also have actually footage of the real Ridgway sprinkled in. Also during this boring piece of crud he narrates the women's names. Gloria, Pamela, Betty, Veronica, Dolly, Molly...whatever. The acting is beyond awful and it's direction is sloppy. The writing is idiotic as well as the dialouge. It seemed like it would never end when I was watching it. I wasnt actually screaming for it to end, I was just annoyed. BLAH!!"

Not complete crap

Ross Davis | Little Rock, AR | 01/08/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I just rented this movie and took it home and that's when I saw it on the box, the name Ulli Lommel. This director also directed Zodiac Killer, the worst, most god-awful POS ever created. Now I don't even want to see Green River Killer because it has his name on it. I'm going to give it a shot, expecting the worst, and then finish this review.
Ok, I have just actually finished this movie. It is not entirely unwatchable, like Zodiac Killer, but is still pretty bad. If you are a casual movie renter who tends to rent the big blockbusters or the movies that just come out nationwide in theaters, I cannot recommend this to you. Like someone else said, the film quality looks like an America's Most Wanted reenactment. The only really grotesque parts of the film that some people would find unwatchable would be the short little flashes of autopsy film, which I believe has nothing to do with the Green River Killer, but is added for shock value. Other than these snippets of autopsies showing bodies being ripped open and skulls being trephinated after the persons scalp has been peeled off and over their face (which is the worst part of an autopsy to watch, actually), the movie is not that graphic. One weird aspect of the film is whenever he goes in the same bar to pick up prostitutes, the film plays like a very bad 80's music video with a dancing serial killer.
In summary, the film as a whole seems to go nowhere, is often repetitive, is not that fun to watch, but is a little enjoyable with some Evan Williams. It gets one star, not zero stars like Zodiac Killer. If you like crappy, bad, unwatchable indie film drivel, then this movie is for you. Everyone else, don't waste your time. I watched it so you don't have to. If you want a decent serial killer film that is fun and actually frightening and creepy to some extent, get "The Devil's Rejects", directed by Rob Zombie."

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