THE BOSTON STRANGLER.What a great film.I only watched this movie because it is based on a true story about a serial killer in America. I am fascinated with serial killers anyway, i am interested in what makes them kill, what makes them not care about human life.This film was really well made. The effects were not great... when Tony Curtis was driving his car, you could see so easily that he was not actually driving the car... but then this film was made in 1968... they didn't have the special effects that we have now.The story was good... it is about Albert DeSalvo. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. He also confessed to the murder of 13 women...Tony Curtis did a fantastic job playing DeSalvo. He was believable. The movie also starred Henry Fonda and George Kennedy who also did a great job.The film had some really nice shots in it... a lot of the film was split screen with 2 or more pictures on the screen playing at the same time. It was really well done, but I did find that if there were about 4 or more pictures at once, it was difficult to see everything that was happening.Obviously, this is a movie based on a true story... so I don;t know hoe much of it is true and how much is made up... but it was a very entertaining movie and really well made.I will give this film 8 out of 10.I really liked it, and would watch it again.To read more of my reviews, please like my Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl

My background is not typical of the average viewer. Years ago, I used to be a psychotherapist and I worked with some very, very sick people. In addition, I taught psychology. So I have some idea what I am talking about when I say this film is probably a lot of psychological mumbo-jumbo. Let me explain. Back in the 1950s, the book and movie "The Three Faces of Eve" created a sensation. Suddenly this new diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Dissociative Identity Disorder) was identified and the number of cases was very large for a newly named mental illness. And, when the TV mini-series "Sybil" came out, the number of cases increased dramatically. Then came the bombshell--the lady who identified herself as 'Eve' admitted that her illness was a hoax--and there was good reason to doubt the account in "Sybil" as well. And, each time a movie or book came out on the subject, the number of cases increased! Something was clearly amiss. Today many counselors and psychologists doubt that the disorder actually exists. I am not sure I'd go that far, but do know that many folks who claim to have it do so in order to avoid prison--as there is clearly a gain for them to be 'sick'. So, in light of this (and so much more I haven't the space for here), it's very doubtful that the killer in "The Boston Strangler" actually had the Multiple Personality you see in the film. He more likely used this as an excuse for his sick behaviors. Instead, sex offenders often 'compartmentalize'--in other words, while they KNOW what they did, they often deny it to themselves and others--treating their sick behaviors like it happened 'to another part of them'. Despite the distinct possibility that MPD does not exist, it does NOT make "The Boston Strangler" a bad film. First, at the time, MPD was seen as a very real thing by most therapists. Second, the film is very well constructed, finely acted and interesting throughout.The film is about a real series of rape/murders in the Boston area and the man who is assumed to have been the perpetrator, Albert DeSalvo. The entire first hour is about the investigation and furor over the killings and you don't even see DeSalvo (Tony Curtis) until this hour is complete! This makes this movie perhaps the only one I know of where you wait this long to see the star! I liked the investigation portion the most, as it was NOT glamorized but seemed rather realistic. As for Curtis, soon after he enters the film, you see him committing one attack---and you can clearly see it's him for the first time. This attack doesn't go as he planned, however, and for the first time he's left a living witness. Soon after, he's caught while trying to break into another home. The problem is not whether or not he did the crimes but whether or not he's even competent to stand trial for them. Overall, a fascinating portrait of the investigation and the killer. Well worth seeing and a quality production despite the strong possibility DeSalvo was NOT a Multiple Personality.By the way, the first portion of the film consists of a bizarre multi-paned screen--with several scenes occurring in little windows. The only other film of the time that I can think of that did this is "The Thomas Crown Affair".

Apparently, Desalvo, told people in the Bridgewater Asylum, that he faked the hallucinations, since he knew, if he was declared insane he would not be convicted and avoid prison. He had confessed to his attorney F. Lee Bailey, that he had murdered twelve women and he could not remember the name of the 13th victim, except to say that she had died of heart attack in his arms. There was also a scheme concocted by himself, that his family lawyer would collect the reward money and give the bulk of the money to Desalvo's wife and children, since he knew he would never get out of jail facing multiple rape charges. The movie is based on the book which is complex, since there were four other suspects, who were either mentally ill, lying and or evidence circumstantial. The only surviving victim and witnesses could not identify Desalvo, as the strangler and the positive identify was an inmate at the same asylum, by the name of George Nasser, and he was the only one who fit the profile of the strangler as determined by a panel of experts, but he was never charged. As far as the acting, Tony Curtis's acting was over rated. Any actor could have done his role. Someone like Robert Blake would have been the perfect choice. The fact is, he solicited for that role, by gaining weight and perfecting his accent. The split scenes take away lot of the suspense and the superimposed scenes with Fonda and Curtis lack depth. This is a good movie-a safe seven rating.

Just saw this tonight on cable, and although I'm 58, I never had seen it before. Tony Curtis's performance blew me away. The simplicity and reality of his performance scared me to death. I would have to vote him the most terrifying and human movie villain of my experience. At the center of the razor-sharp writing, cinematography and direction of this film, Curtis's performance convinces me that he was the most versatile, brave and underrated actor of the late 20th Century. That the same matinée idol heartthrob who was Marilyn Monroe's paramour in Some Like It Hot played this role so brilliantly (let alone took it on at all) and also supported Lawrence Olivier and Kirk Douglas in Spartacus so well tells me that Hollywood used him well but not well enough. I challenge anyone to play an insane serial killer as well under the kind of tight scrutiny that Fleisher's camera subjected him to today without making us laugh. He made my skin crawl and at the same time I understood and pitied him. See this.