Boston Strangler

We now go to a real crime story in Boston Strangler. A savvy reader may recall that the infamous crime spree, attributed to one Albert DeSalvo (played here by David Dastmalchian), was also covered in 1968's The Boston Strangler, where DeSalvo was played by Tony Curtis. That film and the Gerold Frank book it was based on were certain that DeSalvo was the genuine article. This film not so much.

The crime spree begins in 1962 with three victims. The Boston PD initially considers them nobodies. It isn't until Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) of the Record-American start investigating that the city realizes there's a serial killer. Their articles highly annoy the Boston PD for calling out their disinterest the case. Their editor, Jack (Chris Cooper), is mostly supportive, but feels the PD's pressure. Someone, perhaps the killer (Pat Fitz), harasses Loretta. That's more than enough pressure for her and Jean to find him out. Whoever he is.

Director/Writer Matt Ruskin actually begins in Ann Arbor during a similar murder in 1965. That's the first of Ann Arbor's similar strangler spree, which actually began in 1967. The killer here drowns out his crime by turning up the TV real loud. The song playing, Nowhere to Run, is a rather on the nose choice. But the film does a good job at building dread. We first see the Strangler's POV when he stalks his first victim. We know right away that he's a boogieman waiting to strike. We're on edge when he uses his handyman act to approach the first victim and all subsequent ones. We're spared from seeing the worst of it, but we certainly hear it.

Now for the story. Loretta instantly notices the Strangler's pattern, gets Jack's reluctant support, joins forces with Jean, gets the PD on edge, and coins the Boston Strangler (initially the Phantom) name within a surprisingly fleet 32 minutes. Where do we go from here? Loretta and Jean uncover the Boston PD's apathy in helping other PDs investigate similar sprees. Loretta's mysterious stalker is a minor nuisance who only pops up in two scenes. There's a tense scene where Loretta walks into the home of strangler suspect Daniel Marsh (Ryan Winkles). That perfectly creepy scene livens up the film's otherwise routine distillation of history. The ending's only bright spot is that DeSalvo was ultimately connected to the 13th and last murder. It's also amusing in hindsight that the epilogue said that third suspect George Nassar (Greg Vrostos) is still in prison: news broke yesterday that he died in 2018.

There's a good cast here. Cooper as Jack isn't always supportive of the investigation, but his reasons are usually sympathetic. Alessandro Nivola is great as Detective Conley, the most supportive member of the force. Bill Camp is good as the obstructive Commissioner McNamara. Dastmalchian and Vrostos are sufficiently creepy as DeSalvo and Nassar. Knightley and Coon are both compelling leads. Knightley gets some of her best scenes with Anne Samans (Patricia Jayne Morgan), the mother of a strangler victim, and the film's most sympathetic character. Coon's best moments are when she meets the friend of another victim.

The Boston Strangler maybe a routine distillation of history, but its presentation got me interested in reading more on the case. I'm even interested in reading Frank's book, even if its thesis is in doubt. Stream it on Hulu now and you might get that interest too. As for me, I'm ready for my 800th review. That's coming very soon.