In all the serial killer films that have been made, why it took a TV movie to define the genre is beyond me. But THIS IS THE ONE!
Serial killer movies hold a strange, special fascination for me which I don't really understand. There's something about these purely evil people. And the best portrayal of a serial killer is right here. Gregg Henry as the BTK killer, a real-life serial killer who got away with his gruesome crimes for over three decades.
Gregg Henry is an actor who stands entirely on his own. There's nobody else like him. Even when he plays nice, straight characters he still seems a little weird. When he plays weird, he plays it to the hilt. I never liked him because of this, until I watched this TV movie. Wow. In fact, I didn't even realize it was him playing the BTK Killer until more than half-way through the movie! That's how completely he disappeared into his character.
And Gregg Henry is such a calm, ordinary citizen on the surface that I can understand how he succeeded in his murderous obsession for so many, many years. He shot way up in my panoply of great actors.
