The Zodiac is a 2006 mystery/psychological thriller, Horror film based on the true events associated with the Zodiac: a serial killer who was active in and around northern California in the 1960s and who has never been captured. The Zodiac was directed by Alexander Bulkley and written by him and his brother, Kelley Bulkley.
The film was released on March 17, 2006 into just 10 theaters on limited release[2] (with an R-rating by the MPAA)[3] and later released on DVD in North America on August 29, 2006.[4] The DVD hit the UK market on September 18.[5]
Plot
When two teenagers are gunned down on Lake Helena Road[6] on December 20th 1968, the small town is thrown into a state of terror. Assigned to the case is Police Detective Matt Parish (Justin Chambers)[7] of the Vallejo Police Department. With few leads, the case goes unsolved and the emotional attachment causes heartache for Parish's family; wife Laura (Robin Tunney)[7] and twelve-year-old son (Rory Culkin)[7].
Six months later on July 4 - as Det. Parish begins to lose hope - the Zodiac strikes again. This time he's gunned down a couple in a deserted parking lot. He's inches away as he pulls the trigger, but he never reveals his true identity. Just an hour after the shooting, the Vallejo Police Department receives an anonymous call, confessing to the murders that have just taken place. Days after the second murder. a letter is sent to Bay Area newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner, threatening that 12 more people will die unless the the three papers print the encoded letter they've just received. The killer reveals that if they can decipher the note, his true identity will be revealed.
It becomes an obsession for Det. Parish to solve the case. He spends all his time with the coded sheet, sketches composed of the killer and various psychological reports, putting a greater strain on his family. The ever increasing publicity pushes him to the edge. When Parish receives more anonymous calls and ciphered letters (some suggesting the threatening chance that his next victim could be one of Parish's family), he thinks he's got his suspect. Disobeying orders by Chief Frank Perkins (Philip Baker Hall)[7] he goes in search for the killer. When he storms into the suspect's house, his allegations are shattered because the man has no relation to the murders.
The Police later hear of more killings, but the case doesn't get anywhere close to being resolved. On April 24th 1978, ten years after the first reported murder, the Chronicle receives another letter asking:
The film ends with the statement that the killer has never been captured.
Cast and characters
- Justin Chambers - Det. Matt Parish
Matt Parish is the main character of the story, and his emotions play a large role in the development of the story and his character. He's well respected, confident, and has a good mind when it comes to 'catching the criminal'. He tends to do things how he wants, and doesn't take much notice of his Chief.
- Robin Tunney - Laura Parish
Laura Parish (wife to Matt Parish) is seen throughout the film comforting her husband. It is in these situations that we see the affects of the case on the family, and Matt's true emotions are revealed. She makes every attempt to stop her son reading into the case.
- Rory Culkin - Johnny Parish
Johnny Parish (son of Matt and Laura Parish) has a marginally small role to play in the film, but he's very interested in the case, and at many times, hassles his dad for an insight into how the case is progressing.
- Philip Baker Hall - Chief Frank Perkins
Frank Perkins is the Police Department's chief and is the head of the operations, at times he tries to stop Matt doing certain things, but evidently, Matt does what he wants.
- Brian Bloom - Zodiac Killer (voice)
We hear his voice many times throughout the film in phone calls and letters.
- Brad Henke - Bill Gregory
- Marty Lindsey - Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer is a very mysterious character. Throughout the whole movie, the viewer will never catch a glimpse of his face, but his sense and presences is always there. He kills just over four people in the film, and threatens to kill a further twelve.
- Rex Linn - Jim Martinez
- William Mapother - Dale Coverling
Dale Coverling is the news reporter who is seen throughout the film with Matt Parish when he makes statements on the cases progress. (He can be seen in the above picture: "The media publicity grows...receive the ciphered letter.")
Production
Research
The two Bulkley brothers, and producer Corey Campodonico all grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. When they wanted to make their debut onto the filmmakers scene, and all figured it was a great story to adapt due to their history and knowledge of the location.[8]
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes Alexander Bulkley said:
With their idea in mind, Alexander and Kelly set about researching reports and documents related to the Zodiac story. They managed to find their main source of information from newspapers and media articles from around the time to fuel the project.[8] They finally decided upon telling the story of the Detective involved on the case, and how it affected himself and family. They felt that it would be more emotional to the viewers, helping with their interaction in the story, than following the psychological path of the Killer.[9]
They chose very distinct routes in the film, avoiding areas like the impact of the killings on the family. They say it was due to the killer's interest in the murders he committed, because he was never really interested in who his victims were.[9]
The filmmakers main challenge was to keep the originality of the film, and to keep it authentic to the story. When questioned about this by Emanuel Levy (an online movie review site) they responded with:
Once the screenplay was written by the Bulkley brothers, and Corey Campodonico, they gathered investors to finance the project and made it ShadowMachine Films first ever film production, which the three of them founded.[8]
Filming
The filming began and lasted just 23 days. The Zodiac was filmed on location in Vallejo, San Francisco, where a large majority of the murders were committed. The film was finally released on March 17, 2006 in just 10 movie cinemas.
Problems
With the low budget they had, the film crew found it increasingly hard to make what they had written. Being set in the 60's caused a great deal of problems due to fancy cars and street settings. The problem was ultimately solved by their production designer and costume designer who helped to recreate the sets.[7][9]
Soundtrack
The film contained various different musical compositions that accompanied different scenes from the movie. Some of the music had already been used in films such as; Terminator 2: Judgment Day.[6]
The soundtrack contains some of the following pieces by Andy Williams, The Chambers Brothers, William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan:
Critical Reaction
The film was widely panned by critics. The Rotten Tomatoes website, which compiles mostly North American reviews, showed that just seven out of 28 reviews were positive, with the average critic's grade being four out of ten.[14]
The website classed the film as just 25% fresh,[14] with users giving it a fresher rating of 48%.[15]
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Flat !
True that the Zodiac's case is bigger, but this one handled it, or
ahmed elshikh (ahmed_abd_elreheem@yahoo.com) from Egypt - 4 January 2009rather handled its beginning, well as a small thriller, yet sorrowfully
it looked more like the movie of the week (yet with higher directing),
or a pilot for a next never-seen mini-series ! And with the lack of
some points it looked, at its worst, as a Docu-drama.The movie cared much about the crimes' exact dates so the Zodiac more
than caring about the police officer who's after him so his family. It
could've been better and deeper if this script gave more concern for
the characters. For instance why this officer is so confused and
obsessed; is he a work-addict?, feeling a certain threat to his
manhood?, just wants to assure his intelligent?,.. to the end of
answers for the question that this movie never asked. The character's
development was vague since originally the character itself was flat.
So when I felt the overacting at one point I blamed the script firstly
more than the young cast.Speaking of which the child actor who played the officer's son seemed
too eccentric as if he plays an autistic ! This inanimate look and
performance weren't for the sake of the character as simply a bright
kid who wants to end his fear and also communicate with his father
through the only subject he interested in, though this
he-swallowed-too-much-starch kind of status made that kid just a weirdo
who looks like someone would turn into a Zodiac himself !, not to
mention so many boring scenes for him at his father's office that led
eventually to nothing!. Remember the scene in which his mom finds the
astronomy's papers under his bed; the funny acting and the non-writing
managed to deliver a real overdone scene to a laughable extent, like
the mom found a homosexual magazines under her teen son's bed or
something !? To ask tearful in great agitation : "Do you wanna talk
about it ??!!".The consecutive flashy stock footages didn't show but the usual clichés
in any movie deals with the late-1960s' America, besides the natural
chronicling for the movie's era, they wouldn't even try to generalize
something deep out of that to refer to respectable conclusions else
hollow common ones such as "this society became madly violent" without
pinpointing to reasons or roots or anything.This movie seems to succeed in 2 points; firstly that touch of the
political satire near the end when the police is after the black people
asking the killer himself about that "Negro" they chase. It's a clever
moment that could refer to how the American police was all along after
the wrong, or the wronged, people. But as a matter of fact racism
wasn't the main reason of how that murder psycho who killed 37 persons
during a whole decade got away with it!. Yes, it was some bitter irony
that may explain the Zodiac's prosperity at the late 1960s, though in
rethinking, it could've been better if that was built correctly as a
commentary from the start.The other possible good point of this movie is when it presents the
police officer chasing the criminal on his own like a lone ranger, so
this one-hero sort of dealing wasn't right, which drove him lastly to
fail (it nearly drove him nuts !). I consider that some satire against
the cow-boy's style or method. It could be the movie's suggestion to
answer the most disgraceful question in the history of the American
police : why the Zodiac is never been caught ? At least at this early
period.So as a thriller it's another average one, and disappointing as well
considering sad end where the mad killer wins !. And as a documentary
it's watchable yet still its main problem is that it shows only and not
trying seriously to explore. Therefore it's nothing but the movie of
the week, which means that you wouldn't need it, nor lose catching
anything important in it, if you already read its events before !
embarrassed by some comments
The film was nothing short of fantastic. In reading several comments on
taybaca from United States - 6 February 2008this site, there was an overwhelming feeling of disappointment. The
disappointment was not in reference to the film, but to those who so
fool-heartedly badmouthed the film. I was not expecting that much from
Zodiac for a couple of reasons. First, serial killer movies are almost
always terrible. Second, movies that are supposedly based on actual
events are almost always terrible. This film dodges both of these
generalizations and is, in my opinion, possibly the best film of 2007.
Not only is the direction and photography fantastic, the script is more
concise than almost any I have come across. If you are interested in
the Zodiac killer and wanted a film that would stick closely to the
actual events of the case, then this film will not disappoint. It is
extremely accurate and attentive to detail for a Hollywood film. All of
the 'flaws' that were pointed out were almost laughably stupid. "It was
too long." "The ending is bad." I actually read a comment that said
that this film lacked emotion by the actors and should look to Brad
Pitt as an example. Of course the film was long! It was an
investigation that ruined lives for a decade! Of course there was no
climactic ending! The case remains open. It is the subtle details that
make the film special. The fact that you just sat through 160 minutes
(wow. thats almost an eternity!) and did not get to find out who the
killer was says something. If you are frustrated and annoyed, then the
film just showed its strength. The frustration and obsession to get
some closure parallels that of the story. Imagine Graysmith and Toschi;
30 years have gone by and they never got closure.
Cheap Rip-Off of Fincher's movie
'Straight to DVD' is a phrase which can arouse unfair prejudice towards
wolverinerage from United Kingdom - 3 February 2008a film. Not in this case. A truly awful film, created only to steal
profits from the real movie. Honestly, I think films deliberately
setting out to be confused with other films should be banned. That
said, if someone is stupid enough to buy one of these DVDs, they're
probably going to enjoy the film more than the masterpiece it imitates.
Like Forrest Gump*.If you agree with me, in disapproval of imitations like this of Zodiac,
and those of films like 300 as well, please click 'helpful'. We must
raise awareness. Where better to start than at the IMDb pages for a
ripoff of a masterpiece.* You do not have to agree with me on Forrest Gump to click 'helpful'.
The Hanks flick aside, we should make sure the vast majority know of
these cheap rip-offs. Then they might not need be made illegal.
Better as an episode of Criminal Minds
THE ZODIAC takes a different look at the famous Zodiac Killer case from
Kupotek from United States - 28 January 2008other screen treatments of the murders. More than a simple crime story,
the film is an emotional thriller focusing on the murders' impact on
victims, their families and the wider community. The film follows a
police detective (Chambers) from "Grey's Anatomy", and his son (Culkin)
who become obsessed with the murders and endanger their family in the
process.This movie also stars other TV show stars of current drama, such as
Robin Tunney from "Prison Break", William Mapother from "Lost", Rex
Linn from "CSI: Miami", and Philip Baker Hall from "The Loop".What touches me most perhaps is that it took place in the town I grew
up, The Bay Area of California. Sure, it happened long before I was
born, but the fact he was never caught is haunting to a child, whose
imagination reinvents in timeless fashion the monsters of yesterday's
endless mysteries.Chambers plays a detective who is in over his head. Perhaps if the FBI
were more involved early on he might have been caught… I guess we'll
never know.A film with decent acting, pacing, music, overall feel is like those
suspenseful thrillers I used to see as a kid on TV, and I always
enjoyed that personable feeling, almost like no one is in character but
just feeling out the story that stays true to the real life mystery we
were all left with in the reality of The Zodiac.My rating: 6.5 because it failed to draw the characters in, sadly so
little was ever discovered about the Zodiac that there wasn't a lot to
go on going into the picture and that hole is painfully clear in the
end result. Every subplot to the film is a dead end, mirroring the
investigation. We see several times how easily the Zodiac eluded
capture due to the ignorance and incompetence of the police.
If properly edited, 22 minutes max
A clip-art movie. The only scenes with any motion to speak of are
pburrisk from Northampton, Massachusetts, USA - 28 December 2007newsreel shots of the Viet Nam war. A cast of excellent veteran actors,
but all scenes appeared to be first takes or even rehearsals. The
editor must have gone loopy for lack of footage to tell the story. Sort
of as if Ed Wood had been given a budget based on the the cast, payed
the actors (maybe), skipped the story board, wrote the script himself,
went with one-take "emoting heads" and stock footage and pocketed the
savings for partying. I imagine that the cast had to bring their own
lunches. In short, I think the production was out of balance. But, I guess it
sometimes takes a name-brand cast to get any investors at all.Perhaps it's a prank homage to "Manos, Hands of Fate" from the producer
of "Robot Chicken" and "Moral Orel".Kudos to the antique car wranglers.
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