All-American Murder seems to be your average college slasher/thriller, but it actually is quite entertaining. Sure, the plot is maze like, but that is what mysteries are. This managed to be dark without being suffocated, and sinister without being nasty. As I first watched this, the questions started. Why was the poor girl burned, instead of a quieter, less attention attracting death? Who hated the kid enough to frame him? How did all the blackmail, adultery, and depravity occur at a "good" college? All these were answered if not amazingly, at least well. Rather than leave us hanging, the suspense actually ramps to the climax. Which leads to my final point. The motivation of the killer actually makes sense, in a twisted way. Too many films like this seem to have someone kill for the thrill of it, and since this one doesn't, I give it serious applause. Also, the protagonist actually has some heart, always a plus. See this if you want a good, modern whodunit with a eighties- early nineties feel.

I saw this one because I am a big fan of Josie Bissett(Jane from Melrose Place) and I wanted to see her in a movie role so I went to the video store and was suprised that they had this. All-American Murder is pretty good. It's not fantastic but worth a look if your in the mood for a thriller.

All American Murder(1992) is an interesting murder mystery not because its a very good film but because it is one of the rare American film that uses many ideas from the Italian Giallo. The writer, Barry Sandler seemed to have a touch of Argentoitis when he did the screenplay. Reminds me in many ways of Four Flies on Grey Velvet(1971) in the sense that someone is playing a game of cat and mouse with the main hero. Combines the giallo with the slasher film, the rebel picture, the detective story, and the love story. Christopher Walken lifts the film from being lousy to being entertaining. Uses elements from Agatha Christie and Ed McBain novels. Its obvious that All American Murder was influenced by the films of Dario Argento and Mario Bava especially in the use of a well deguised murderer as well as the motif of the deception of human nature that Bava showed in his films. The scene where Artie thinks he witnesses the murder of Tally reminds me of similar scenes from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage(1969) and Deep Red(1975). Josie Bissett was good in the role of Tally Fuller but I wished that he played in a duel role similar to that of Marisa Mell in One on Top of the Other(1969). Another film that seems to influenced this is Brian De Palma's Body Double(1984). Has small portions of the sleeze, sex, and violence that the Italian Giallo is known for. Unfortunately, the film does not have any of the flamboyant camera movement, the explosive soundtrack, the surreal images nor the artful and stylize violence that makes Dario Argento a genius of horror pictures.

This movie is your typical, cheesey, college murder flick, but it's not THAT bad. It is a little predictable, still it was fun to watch in a humorous way. As an huge fan of Charlie Schlatter, it was great to see his early work and to see how he has grown as an actor. I give the movie as a whole a "C," but if you watch it for a laugh, or to see Schlatter, it could easily rate a "B+."