Everything you want in a thriller where the lines between the killer and the documentarian get blurred. Where does morality stop and start and what is permissible? The serial killer actor Borkowski was a revelation. Watch it!

**SPOILERS** Disturbing and scary insight of what make a serial killer tick in that he, like almost all his type, has both a good as well as murderous side to him. Which makes him more dangerous in that he's not that easy to identify by both the police and his unsuspecting victims.In the movie recovering alcoholic and armature film maker Mickey "Mick" Garvatski,Wes Bently, catches on video tape serial killer James Lemac, Mark Borowski, in the act as he brutally murders a young women in a dark alley. Instead of turning the tape over to the police Mick decides to blackmail James in giving him the story behind his actions and later, if James is either caught or killed by the police, releasing the video as a TV documentary. To make sure that James doesn't include him as one of his victims Mick has a number of copies made of the tape by his friend Gino, Albert Lopez-Murtra, just in case James decides not to cooperate with him.Having no choice but in going along with Mick's unusual plan James starts to manipulate him into being an accomplice in a future murder of his that will, if Mick decides to turn James over to the police, make him just as guilty of first degree murder as James is! To get Mick even more under his control James tracks down his somewhat not too mentally stable mother Klara, Maria Haufrecht, and kidnaps her to doubly make sure that Mick doesn't rat him out to the police.As Mick starts to get closer to what's behind James murderous impulses he starts to realizes that it all started when he was six years old. Abused by his mother Emma Lemac, Beth Grant, who not only mistreated him but his kid sister Megan, Joanna Baron, as well had James when he reached adulthood strike out at society. Starting his career as a heartless killer by torturing and killing cats James graduated in doing the same to young women who he, in James sick mind, substituted for his hated and deceased mother! ****SPOILER ALERT**** It's towards the end of the movie that James comes to realize that the person-his mother-that initiated his extreme hatred is in fact alive not dead like he was lead to believe all these years! It's then that the cool clam and collective James Lemac for the first time in the movie loses it. With that shocking revelation a mentally and emotionally destroyed Mick is driven, by circumstances beyond his control, to do what even the cold blooded serial killer James Lumac couldn't! And that leads to the horrific bloodbath that breaks out, in a major Philadelphia hospital no less, at the end of the film!Despite the films many inconsistencies it does make it's point in what's the reasons behind the actions of serial killer James Lemac. The big surprise in the film is how someone like Mick Gravatski could let himself be taken in by the clever and ruthless killer. Not being all there, in him being a recovering alcoholic and drug abuser, to begin with Mick completely underestimated James ability to short-circuit his mindless plan to use him to his advantage. And it was that what lead Mick to end up doing something so bloody and outrageous that even the mindless psycho killer James was incapable of doing!

I thought this movie was outstanding. It explored the mind of a compulsive killer, without holding anything back. It explored his childhood and abuse; the flame which lit his compulsion. I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Wes Bentley was amazing as the desperate, drug addicted film maker who set out to do the documentary on the killer. Also, the supporting cast made it a great ensemble piece. I recognized Kenny Johnson from "The Shield" and Beth Grant from "No Country for Old Men". Mark Borkowski, who played the killer, gave an honest and intense portrayal of Bentley's tortured subject. I can't understand why this film didn't get a theatrical release. I know it toured the festivals this year but, man, it would be great to see this film on the big screen. I highly recommend it.

How do you take a serial killer movie and make it original? It seems every plot, twist and turn has been exhausted already. Not so for this film. Without spoiling the story for anyone, the characters and plot were totally unpredictable and unlike anything I had ever seen. First of all, it was shot very realistically, in a documentary style, which more then added to its suspense. You felt like you were really with these people. The subject matter that it explored, especially the child abuse, was in-depth and helped us understand this horrible killer. Wes Bentley was incredible. I never saw him play a character like this. And his co-star, Mark Borkowski, was riveting as the killer. What made him most terrifying was the duality he created in his character. He was very likable in a role that I, as the viewer, was supposed to hate. It's one of those films you have to watch more then once because it offers more and more each time you view it. It's got layers. On one level, sure, its a "serial killer" movie but on another, its an exploration and even a philosophical analysis of two men and their compulsions.