The top review wants explanation on every little thing on the actual events linking to the texas killing fields and its horrors. Probably expecting some gore on how women are getting killed and tortured etc. If you are looking for the cheesy horror films with violence porn, this is not it, but if you want to watch a well played intense drama, and by itself its a great movie, with some excellent performances. Characters well built that one feels connected to, and thats why you keep watching the movie, until the very end. And YES ZERO VIOLENCE PORN OR GORE, so you can watch it with your wife and 14 year old AND maybe even educate them on the horrors of society. It feels real and you can learn something from it.

A film about the hunt for a serial killer might well be implausible, but to be both implausible and boring is a tall order; "Texas Killing Fields" succeeds magnificently on both counts, even though there is a chase with a shoot out, a climax of sorts, and a couple of other worthy scenes.This is said to be based on a true story; it isn't, except in a very, very general sense. Is there one serial killer or two, or maybe more? We never really find out, although we know who is the main man.This is a modern film noir although with subdued colours rather than in black and white. Its implausibilities include a team of basically two detectives being used to track down a man who obviously has more than the blood of one victim on his hands. Yes, there are other officers and technicians involved, but major murder investigations have never been run like this, certainly not in the lifetime of anyone reading this review.

Based on true events, this crime drama relates the story of two cops (Dean Morgan and Worthington) down in the Texan bayous who are investigating a series of grim murders of young women that tie back to the titular area. Shambolic and often incomprehensible, producer Michael Mann's daughter, director Ami Canaan Mann, clearly proves talent isn't genetic. A real shame as despite decent performances from four capable actors, poor camera work and muddled writing completely sink it. The film attempts to go for a gritty, down to earth, often grungy look, befitting the subject, but it instead comes off as on par with a student film, with plenty of lazy, near continuous hand-held cam, bland video quality and tacky lighting. Honestly, it felt more like a cheap reconstruction for 'interchangeable crime documentary show #2383845', and strips a lot of mood and tension out of a film that so badly wants to have style and a sinister ambiance. Having a poor sound mix doesn't help out either.However, Dom Ferrarone's script is the even bigger offender here; it literally has no idea what it wants to be. By turns, it's a drama, a psychological suspense flick, a social indictment on poverty in the area, a family story, a biopic, a morality tale and even a faux- documentary. Its focus is so all over the map that not only can it be frustrating to follow as the investigation always seems to be interrupted by other aspects, leading to an erratic flow of time and poor pacing, but the characters suffer. None of them are interesting, well fleshed out or even that relateable, which should be a 'no-duh' for this sort of film. Biopics/historical films live and die by the humanization of the figures presented, and sadly, this is more like 'Wyatt Earp' or 'For Great Glory' in this regard, where every one is flat. Only difference is those films at least felt coherent and not chopped up like this one.Frankly, I'm going to just wrap this up and just say that 'T.K.F' may be one of the worst biopics and crime films I have ever seen, and considering I'm a period junkie, that's saying a lot. This is one pony Daddy Mann shouldn't have bought for his little angel, and instead, shipped to the glue factory.

Texas Killing Fields is directed by Ami Canaan Mann and written by Don Ferrarone. It stars Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jessica Chastain, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Clarke, Annabeth Gish and Stephen Graham. Music is by Dickon Hinchliffe and cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh. Film is based around real events involving the many murders of women whose bodies have been found in a desolate area of road and wasteland between Houston and Galveston.Ami Canaan Mann is the daughter of Michael Mann, one of the masters of modern day crime story movies, so it's not very surprising to see Ami, for her sophomore production, venture into murky waters. Texas Killing Fields is a bayou noir, where although the title hints at human devastation unbound, it's actually a slow burning skin itcher more concerned with the people investigating crime than that of the perpetrators. How the sorry events affect all who come in to contact with the crimes at the film's core, is what drives Texas Killing Fields on. Sadly the screenplay takes on board too much and nearly derails an otherwise very good movie.If it comes down to atmosphere and technical smarts in achieving such? Then this is one of the finest of recent times. There's a constant sense of broody foreboding throughout, the haunting landscapes are all gnarly and spectre like, the whole area literally stinks of death and misery. Even when the story is away from the fields of the title, there's a mood of despair filtering out from Mann and Dryburgh's lenses, the hot Texas weather draining every ounce of sweat from the emotionally troubled detectives. All of the atmosphere is helped considerably by Hinchliffe's music, which piggybacks the misery with ominous bluesy tones.Unfortunately all this deft atmospheric craft can't stop the screenplay from being annoying. A sub-plot involving Worthington and Chastain as ex husband and wife is as pointless as it gets, which simultaneously wastes Chastain in the process. The makers have chosen to actually have suspects front and centre for the crimes on screen (unlike the real life cases, most of which remain unsolved), well they intend to keep it mysterious, but anyone paying attention will catch on quickly enough. There's also problems with the sound mix, which at times is appalling, rendering some crucial dialogue exchanges as inaudible.Cast are good, especially Morgan and Moretz, and Mann shows a good hand at action sequences to compliment her astute mood setting skills. But this still feels like a misfire, and subsequent critical appraisals and internet rating systems have it as just above average. That's a little unfair, there's much for the neo-noir/crime movie crowd to get enthralled by here, but Mann may need to sharpen up her story telling whiles to fully bloom her undoubted potential. 6.5/10