The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

I am a fan of made-for-television movies that feature true crime cases. This movie is about the true case of the Hillside Strangles, two psychopathic cousins who terrorized Los Angeles back in the 70s.

Richard Crenna plays the part of LA detective Sgt. Bob Grogan, a role that he was perfectly suited for, as Crenna has starred in several true crime films and he totally nails it. I've always admired his low key style and he seems to be completely at ease in this role.

Billy Zane and Richard Farina play the roles of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono and both are great in their parts, as they come off as very creepy characters who abduct and murder multiple women.

The film stays pretty much focused on the crimes and does not meander too far with side plots, something that can really put me off on these kinds of movies. There are indeed a few side stories within, where the focus is on the fact that the lead detective is overworked and neglecting his children, and scenes where he romances a local woman. But even those distractions are mixed in quite well with the central plot and add to the overall story quite well.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie and it brought back all of the horror and terror of those times when two vicious killers were at large.

Caught it on Amazon Prime and it stinks of low rent made for TV cheese.

I'll keep it short, it has a recognizable cast doing phone-in performances and direction that does a very good job of making a film about serial killers anything but titillating, ominous, or entertaining.

There should be at least a little fascination of the morbid kind that goes with films like this. Instead it's a bore.

Firstly, remember this is a made-for-TV film of 1989 - meaning it's mildly graphic and only hints at the horror the women faced before their deaths.

Secondly, stellar casting! The story was well written - we know basically what really happened from this film (though it's not 100% accurate). Cinematography and directing done well!

Third, My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

Fourth, Angelo Buono died in prison -- he's finally gone. Kenneth Bianchi is still alive today (2023) and I hope he meets Death soon. Neither deserved life for their sadistic murders, in my opinion.

A film worth watching if you are interested in real life serial killer stories.

8/10.

A made for TV stinker with some good actors wasted by poor writing and directing. Even the musical score stinks. The story is compelling, but the treatment isn't. There aren't any spoilers in here. The odor comes directly from the movie.

A pretty faithful account of The Hillside Stranglers starring Dennis Farina as Angelo Buono and Billy Zane as Kenneth Bianchi. Richard Crenna is cop Bob Grogan who is hunting them. This made for TV movie is based on the book Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers By Darcy O'Brien.

I love TV movies based on true crime cases especially those made in the 80's ever after I saw The Deliberate Stranger starring Mark Harmon as Ted Bundy.

This movie has chilling reverberations to the recent Sarah Everard case as it depicts the killers using a police badge to get their potential female victims attention so that they would go with them.

The film also has it's fair share of tense moments such as Grogan's girlfriend going to see Buono just to see what he's like after she had discussed him with her cop boyfriend for so long. Obviously, this was a really foolhardy thing to do!

A solid TV movie.