The Gray Man

A solid thriller about Albert Fish (a very fine performance by Patrick Bauchau), the real life serial killer of children in 1930's America. Fish seemed a harmless old man, but in 1934 he was arrested as the murderer of several missing children he somehow duped their families into leaving him with (using an assumed name throughout). Part character study and part detective procedural, The Gray Man wisely avoids graphic horror and sensationalism (Fish's murders, for instance, are never shown on camera), and while it is rather conventional, it is nevertheless quite chilling nonetheless and it shows a director with a very keen sense of storytelling.

Considering that this film was supposed to tell the story about one of the most bizarre serial killers in history, it's absolutely amazing that the end result we get served is this tedious muck. Something is definitely wrong when you realize that the film you are watching easily can be labeled " a film for the whole family", a film the Hallmark channel would "proudly present." Instead of a thoroughly deep-dive into Mr. Fish's murky psyche, a proper probing into the mechanizations that drove this deranged specimen of a man, a both tell and show with the slaughter and cannibalizing of Grace Budd, what you get is a badly acted detective-story ( with film-noiresque monologue ), a lead that don't remotely look like Albert Fish, and a misplaced focus on the detective in charge. The gore is of course non-existent, and while this "tell, don't show" approach work excellently in films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dahmer, here it is sorely missed. Inexcusable. Not to mention that certain liberties is being taken in regards to what really happened.

Bottom line; if you want a scary film for the kiddies ( age 3-12 ), go for this one!! On the other hand, if you want a properly nasty horror-film about good old Albert, you better keep your fingers crossed for a director that truly have the courage to handle this dark material the way it deserves! Hopefully soon one will come along......

I'm not sure what angle they were going for here, sometimes film noir, sometimes doco style but never thriller or horror movie. The fil plays it too nice for that.

The film never really makes you feel as creepy as the character should make you feel.

The actor (forgot his name) who plays the detective was the stand out actor for me.

Its ok but lacks drama :)

Period detective movie with outstanding craft and style. Albert Fish was one of the first serial killers to live and die in America in the early part of the last century. Although he committed crimes beyond comprehension, his tale was relatively unknown, until now.

The story is based on a solid script with emphasis on plot and character rather than gore and violence. This is not to say that this is a family movie. It just avoids the temptation of gratuitous violence and instead focuses on the human dimensions of the protagonists. The story follows Detective King on his obsessive manhunt as he assembles the clues to establish the killer's identity. At the same time, it attempts to read into the mind of the killer, even portraying a bit of his human side.

There are great performances by Patrick Bauchau (Fish) and Jack Conley (Detective King). In addition, the stars of the movie was the stellar photography by Dave Rudd, and the production design by Jennifer Gentile. Given the modest budget, the film convincingly captures the feel of New York in the 1920s and 1930s. The art department went to great lengths to recreate the slightest period details. And yes, it was shot on actual 35 mm film, in unsurpassed color. A visual feast.

This is a very well made biography of the 1920-30's serial killer Albert Fish. I thought the set designers did a fabulous job with the period rooming houses, abandoned farms, and even the detectives police station. This is not a glossy MGM or Warner Brothers expensive film production about a fictionalized serial killer. Instead the director, Scott L. Flynn, developed the story line to provide us his film's audience with what it must have been like to live in the 1920-30's with a deranged child molester and serial killer on the loose.

The film maintains a historical value to it by outlining the known crimes and murders committed by Albert Fish without glorifying his crimes with any sexual deviancy nor with much violence and/or excessive blood letting since Albert Fish was known to be a cannibal.

It is easy to focus on the cat and mouse game between the serial killer Albert Fish (Patrick Bauchau) and the lead Detective Will King (Jack Conley) as Albert Fish seems to be unaware that he is being investigated by lead Detective Will King.

As stated earlier this is not a costly production as with (1991) The Silence of the Lambs, or (2007) Zodiac, but what the film The Gray Man does deliver is a first rate biography of the 1920-30's pedophile and serial killer Albert Fish.

I give the film a well deserved 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.