The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

The true chilling story of the "two of a kind", killin' cousins Angelo Buono (Dennis Farina) and Kenneth Bianchi (Billy Zane), better known as the Hillside Stranglers, is told in this TV drama. The movie concentrates on the killers story, as well as on the life of Officer Bob Grogan (Richard Crenna), who investigated their case.

I appreciated how well this followed the true story. Obviously a fair number of things were changed because it was television and had to fit a full narrative in 90 minutes. But still pretty great. I wonder about the German psychic who claimed the killers were "two Italian brothers" -- was that real??

This film has a quirky Billy Zane, early in his career. Zane has had his highs and lows, and I would put this among his better parts. This film could possibly be released to DVD and do okay.

And then we have Farina with a big mustache; to many viewers, he might seem perhaps a bit old to be Zane's cousin. However, in real life the stranglers were about twenty years apart, so this is quite accurate. I love how easily a former police officer can play a cold-blooded crook.

Amazing how dated these productions and formats look now.

I would be shocked if the director wasn't the same Director who did Colombo, Ironside and Police Squad

However, having said that, I love this format as a nostalgia trip from my childhood, with respect to the aforementioned TV shows.

This story is worth documenting as a treatise on how sick humans can be, and in fairness, its dealt with with dignity to the victims families and I agree with that decision, re: to focus on the murderers and police rather than the murders per se.

Some great actors in this show, and in many ways, the subject matter is equal in interest with the way the US produced TV films in the 80's

Mustaches prevail and very big hair of the female variety is at its USA 80's biggest.

Enjoy!

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.

This is yet another film about monsters Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, not the best to be sure, but not a bad effort for all its faults. Unlike the much later (2004) film "The Hillside Strangler", this one is centred mostly on the lead officer in the case, who has appeared in documentaries about it.

The story begins halfway through the murders, so we do not see and are not told the "inspiration" for them, namely, the murder of a teenage prostitute who had ripped off Buono, after which the two men had developed a liking for murdering prostitutes, graduating to ordinary young women and underage girls while their sadism and torture grew with every killing.

The names of the victims have been changed, and there are some cameos, like the German psychic who supposedly gave the police a lead which they ignored.

Bianchi is portrayed very much as the junior partner, albeit an extremely enthusiastic apprentice. Apart from that, the film passes muster, and it certainly contains nothing that will offend true crime buffs.

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.