The Hillside Strangler

2004 "They lived to watch you die."
5.3| 1h37m| R| en| More Info
Released: 12 November 2004 Released
Producted By: Tartan
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Kenneth Bianchi is a security guard whose attempts to become a police officer are repeatedly thwarted. He moves to California to live with his cousin Angelo and dates a string of women, becoming increasingly preoccupied with sex. Eventually the cousins decide to start an escort agency. After violently killing a prostitute they thought had betrayed them, Kenneth and Angelo begin committing a series of crimes that become a media sensation.

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Director

Chuck Parello

Production Companies

Tartan

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The Hillside Strangler Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
punishmentpark At first, 'The Hillside Strangler' seemed like a campy black comedy, but as it progressed it became more and more a simple b-film with too many 'artistic' pretensions; for instance, when a woman fights for her LIFE, dog VITO comes into the picture, barking. Or when Christina Chavez lies on the couch, telling of hér artistic intentions, why does it feel so out of place? Could it be she is really representative of Parello's?Actors Howell and Turturro try really hard I suppose, but every attempt seems to get more ridiculous than the one before, be it in the dramatic scenes or the horror scenes - but you'll have to consider the terrible dialogues they have to work with, also. All of the other actors come across the same way, from a supposed to be dead but still breathing murder victim, to the aforementioned crazy woman; just terrible.The ('70s) atmosphere looks and feels... 'clunky'. Now, I've never used that word since I heard it first in 'Things to Do...'(1995, Gary Fleder), but this seems just about the appropriate time. Had it been a (good) black comedy, it would certainly have gotten away with it, though!Somewhere in all of this, it does somehow feel like some sincere effort did go into it, but it just doesn't come out right. And it's 'funny' that I saw this one years before (intoxicated though) and gave it 6 out of 10. This time around: 2 out of 10.
Claudio Carvalho In the end of the 70's, the dysfunctional Kenneth Bianchi (C. Thomas Howell) lives with his mother and is obsessed to join the police force. When his application is refused, his mother suggests him to go to Los Angeles to live with his sadistic and perverted cousin Angelo Buono (Nicholas Turturro). Kenneth unsuccessfully tries to join LAPD, and Angelo convinces him to start a prostitution business with him. They force two girls from Tucson to work for them, but their competitors destroy their business and steals their money. The frustrated Kenneth and Angelo decide to revenge against a whore, and Kenneth strangles her, feeling a great pleasure with the act of killing. The two cousins become addicted in death, initially killing whores and then attacking single women, dumping their bodies on the hills of LA."The Hillside Strangler' is a low budget movie based on a true event that happened in 1977 in Los Angeles, with the police chasing one serial killer when actually they were two. The disturbing and violent story has many strong moments with the explicit sadism of the two cousins, and sex exploitation with many nudism, but it is well acted and attractive. This movie is not recommended for sensitive persons due to the psychopathic violence, but for those that like a cruel and credible story, it is a good choice. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Estrangulador" ("The Strangler")
thatsweetbird Well, I have NOT seen this film. Reading about it and seeing the trailer, WHY would I want to? Did you see this Brit guy's comments on it? "Mint"? Who is this made for? The sexual sadist murderer in all of us? While it is open to argument whether the "depiction of real-life events" is ever helpful in preventing the behavior in the future(ala Schindler's List), this is obviously pure exploitation. Indeed, I agree with one comment that the people involved with this production should be ashamed. To put out a 100% stupid comedy or melodrama is one thing. So it makes money and entertains someone somewhere. But this? To make money off those murders? To "entertain" vicariously through murderers? THE goofiest comedy ever might give someone a laugh. HOW does THIS enliven anyone's life in the least? There is no place for this kind of production to hide behind, no artistic or business justification. Only for it to return to the rock from which it crawled out from under(no offense intended to small crawling things that live under rocks), just like the scum murderers it depicts.
paulnewman2001 Much like Matthew Bright's Bundy, Chuck Parello's take on serial killer cousins Ken Bianchi (The Hitcher's C Thomas Howell) and Angelo Buono (Nicholas Turturro) is content to recreate the milieu, throw in a period soundtrack and recreate their crimes.There's no attempt to ask how or why they came to be thrill-killing scumbags, leaving the unappetising spectacle of sadistic, ugly people doing sadistic, ugly things to attractive, often-naked and terrorised women.It's hard to avoid titillating misogyny in these kind of films but it can be done (Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, Summer Of Sam).The Hillside Strangler falls woefully, and often offensively, short of the mark.