DVD Release
The Hunt for the BTK Killer (2005)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Sony Pictures / 2007
Directed by: Stephen T. Kay
Written by: Tom Towler, Donald Martin, Robert Beattie
Cast: Andrew Church, McKenzi Scott, Cecil Wright, Michael Michele, Robert Forster
Review by Vaughn Drake
Dennis Rader was a respected elder in his church, he was a scout leader, and he was married and held a steady city job. He also brutally bound, tortured and killed ten people in Wichita, Kansas over the course of fifteen years beginning in 1974. Rader was the local boogeyman, a ghost—he just could not get caught. Had it not been for his ego finally getting the better of him in 2004, he may never have been caught.
Told in a series of flashbacks, you can see the police stymied at every turn and the community reacting in terror to the constant threat of BTK, all the while, Rader just went about his life. The lead detective in the movie, Detective Jason Magida, played by Robert Forster, did a fantastic job in his role. Dennis Rader, an unassuming regular guy, was played perfectly by Gregg Henry—there’s barely a physical resemblance between the two in real life, but the make-up used was exceptional.
I know a little about the case, and the movie seems to have been fairly factual in their accounts of it. Regrettably, this was a made for TV movie and there’s nothing here except a watered down thriller, almost a drama. There’s no violence, no terror or horror, no nudity, or anything you’d expect from a movie based on a sadistic serial killer. Unless you’re a fan of serial killers, or of the BTK case, you should probably not choose to buy it, but merely rent it.
For all its faults, this film is at least one hundred times better than the trash that is Ulli Lommel’s The BTK Killer—simply one of the worst movies ever thrust upon humanity.
As long as you know going in that it’s a made for TV movie, you should enjoy it the film itself. The two leads do a great job portraying their characters, so it’s really a shame the DVD offers absolutely nothing to enhance your viewing experience. Once again, just know going in: this was a made for TV movie, so there’s going to be no gore, no violence, no cussing and no nudity.
