The Clovehitch Killer
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Clovehitch Killer |
| Original title | The Clovehitch Killer |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Duncan Skiles |
| script | Christopher Ford |
| production | Christopher Ford, Andrew Korschak , Walter Korschak , Cody Ryder , Duncan Skiles |
| music | Matt Veligdan |
| camera | Luke McCoubrey |
| cut |
Megan Brooks , Andrew Hasse |
| occupation | |
| |
The Clovehitch Killer is an American crime film from 2018 , directed by Duncan Skiles . The film is about a teenager who suspects his father to be a serial killer.
action
The setting is a small town in Kentucky . Every year the ten women who were murdered ten years ago by the so-called Clovehitch killer are publicly commemorated there. The murderer was given this name because he always left a rope at the scene, tied to a rollercoaster loop (Engl. Clove hitch ). The identity of the murderer is so far unknown. The teenage boy scout Tyler Burnside lives with a Christian family in town. His father is Don Burnside, who is also involved in the community. One day a girl who is being driven by Tyler in Don's car discovers a photo in the car with a woman during a bondage scene. After the mood among his friends has turned against him, Tyler starts to look into his personal belongings, assuming that his father might be the murderer. In his father's shed, which is often locked, Tyler finds several porn magazines and a photo of a beaten and tied up woman. To further research, Tyler turns to Kassi, a girl who often looms near the school, to help. In the shed they discover the plan of a BDSM dungeon, which is obviously in the basement of the Burnsides house. Tyler goes unauthorized into the dungeon and finds the driver's licenses of the ten murdered women there.
Don, suspicious of Tyler's conduct and research, claims while on a camping vacation the killer is likely Tyler's uncle Rudy, who has been in nursing care since attempting suicide ten years ago on charges of guilt a vegetative state is -like condition. Tyler accepts his father's statement and together they burn driver's licenses and other incriminating documents. Tyler ends his investigation, though Kassi is unhappy with Don's explanation.
Don allows Tyler to attend a leadership training camp for Boy Scouts, despite previously claiming the family had no money to do so. Don then sends his wife and daughter to visit his mother-in-law so he can be alone at home. There he photographs himself disguised as a woman in bondage positions, but fearfully throws the photos away again. He then persecutes a single woman and overpowers her in her home. He ties her up and starts strangling her. At that moment Tyler appears in the house at gunpoint. In a flashback it becomes clear that Tyler never drove to the camp, but secretly observed his father together with Kassi, and that Kassi's mother was a previously unknown victim of the Clovehitch killer.
After the flashback ends, Don Kassi knocks out and convinces Tyler to hand over his rifle. Don then tries to shoot him with it, but it is not loaded. They wrestle with each other, with Don almost strangling his son until Kassi wakes up and knocks Don out. She starts calling the police, but Tyler stops her.
Tyler's family is later informed that the police have found Don's body and that his death is considered a suicide. In the parish church, Tyler gives a speech for his father, while in flashbacks, Tyler and Kassi drag his unconscious father into a forest. The scene in the forest ends with Don slowly waking up and Tyler pointing a gun at his head.
publication
The US theatrical release was on November 16, 2018. The film had previously been shown at various film festivals, for the first time on September 22, 2018 at the Los Angeles Film Festival . No theatrical release has been confirmed for the German-language version; in Germany, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 1, 2019 .
criticism
The film service rated the film with three out of five possible stars and rated the production appreciatively as "restrained". “Even if the film is gradually retreating to more conventional ground”, it is “captivating because of its excellent actors and the lack of clumsy shock effects”.
The Variety critic also praised the film. The flashback towards the middle of the film initially lets the tension evaporate, but soon turns out to be “clever and believable” and creates the conditions for a satisfactory resolution.
Web links
- The Clovehitch killer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release Certificate for The Clovehitch killer . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 189194 / V).
- ↑ cf. IMDb
- ↑ a b The Clovehitch Killer. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Dennis Harvey: Film Review: 'The Clovehitch Killer' , in: Variety , Sep. 27. 2018, accessed on March 12, 2020, original quote: "clever, credible"