The GAINESVILLE RIPPER is a horror film about the 9 month or year leading up to the murders of 5 college students in Gainesville Florida. The movie premiered in Gainesville and some people thought it was bad taste to not only make a horror movie based on real events but also premiere it in town the murders took place nearly two decades ago.
Being a film fan and student living in Gainesville I heard about the 'controversy' and decided to check it out. After seeing it I can now say that anybody who thinks this movie is glorifying serial killer Danny Rolling needs to have their head examined. I'm not a horror fan by any means, I prefer classic European and Asian cinema but it was refreshing to see an American horror film that is not only original but disturbing and scary. It's been a few weeks since I saw it but some of the images are still burned in my brain.
What made me really respect the movie was the way it portrayed the killings. The director used every cinematic trick he learned in film school. It probably was overkill but it ended up working in the end. I'm sucker films that play by their own rules and at least make an effort to be different. It is graphic and bloody but a lot is left for the viewer to fill in the blanks themselves. This is much more effective than SAW type films where the blood and gore are 'fun' and everyone cheers at the perfectly shot and lit KILL.
I'm sure a lot of 'normal' moviegoers might be turned off by the hyper-stylization but for me it totally worked for the subject matter. Think REQUIEM FOR A DREAM times 10 with a knife instead of drugs.
The print they played that night in Gainesville was obviously rushed together and I'm not sure about the choice the premiere the film in the town where the murders happened was a wise choice so it's hard to rate the film. In some ways it was way to ambitious for it's budget and there are the usual quibbles that go along with that. Objectively though I'm giving it 7 stars because the film actually achieved what it set out to be (something a lot of indie films especially fail at): a scary, disturbing horror film based on an actual events.
If your looking for mainstream horror stay away. This is pure indie cinema that is both disturbing and scary and will stay with you after you leave the theater.
