COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KILLER (UNEARTHED FILMS BLU-RAY)
Horror and Thrillers have always leveraged true crime as a foundation for ideas and inspiration. These genres highlight that despite all the imagined monsters and creatures in the horror genre, nothing is more terrifying than other people. Historically speaking, the slasher has roots in Italian Giallo films, which themselves have roots in German Krimi films based on fictionalized crime stories that derive from true crime. The evolution of these films has given us variations of the formula as decades have passed. The 90s focused more on the procedural side of serial killers, and as we entered the new millennium serial killers and slashers almost became the same thing with the likes of films such as the Saw franchise and The Collector series. One forgotten film that those from the video store era may remember is Confessions of a Serial Killer. Long unavailable on disc in North America, Unearthed Films have given the film a definitive release, but does it still hold up in the face of our current proclivities towards ultra-violence?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
After being arrested, Daniel Ray Hawkins, a Texas man begins confessing to the brutal murder of over 200 women in this grim account of human tragedy.
HOW IS IT?
***TRIGGER WARNING: This film includes scenes of sexual assault ***
As far as serial killer films go, the gap between the great and the abysmal is pretty wide. Some of the best examples of the horror genre tapping into this dark part of our society are based on actual people and the crimes they committed. It isn’t uncommon for horror films to tap into the same story more than once, which has been the case for folks like Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Robert Pickton all of whom have had their life stories represented on-screen in one way or another often with liberties taken to the facts. Another infamous killer who has made cinema history is Henry Lee Lucas, who Michael Rooker portrayed in 1986’s Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. In “Confessions of a Serial Killer” (“Confessions” for short), a film that technically precedes “Henry” we get a slightly different, more procedural, and grounded look into Lucas’ crimes. It’s a mixed bag of a film that is more representative of the facts, even if narratively it doesn’t feel as cohesive.
The setup is quite simple as we are introduced to Daniel Ray Hawkins (Robert Burns), the stand-in for Henry Lee Lucas, who is committing one of his final crimes before being apprehended. Once in the interrogation room, an officer by the name of Gaines begins to question Daniel about him and his accomplice, Moon Lewton (a portrayal of Henry’s partner, Otis Toole), and the supposed murders they have committed. What happens next is a combination of flashback scenes to various murders and pivotal moments alongside scenes in the present where officers are questioning Daniel and taking him around to various crime scenes to see if he can validate if he and Moon committed these murders. What is mentioned, but not harped on here is that both Daniel and the real-life Henry confessed to hundreds of murders falsely. Part of the time we spend going to crime scenes is to see if Daniel is telling the truth or just regurgitating what can be read in the news. It is an interesting angle, and one that should’ve been explored more given that the entirety of the film is more focused on the shocking violence and sexual assault than exploring the mind and potential workings of a killer falsely taking credit for crimes they didn’t commit. If anything holds “Confessions” back, it is that the jumping from present to past doesn’t lead to much in the end and feels more like a showreel than an actual story. In contrast to “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer”, “Confessions” is likely a more accurate portrayal, but the delivery isn’t as effective or as visceral as it is in “Henry”.
It should be mentioned that while “Confessions” may not be as shocking by today’s standards, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a rough watch in parts. It isn’t the violence that is shocking, however, it’s the sexual assault and rape that provides the most hard-to-watch moments. How both Daniel and Moon treat women is reprehensible and at times veers into pure exploitation which can be hard to watch for some viewers. In contrast to the sexual violence, the actual violence in the film doesn’t feel as intimidating. Most of the gruesome violence happens off-screen or is simply talked about rather than shown on the screen. It’s unclear why this choice was made, especially considering that Robert Burns was originally brought on just to do production design before taking on the lead role of Daniel. This is not to say that there is no violence in the film, on the contrary, there certainly is, but it somehow feels tamer than everything else you’re shown. What drags down “Confessions” though is a lackluster ending that just happens. Similar to more modern versions of this like August Underground (read our review here) the movie just ends after the last murder without any sense of closure. This could be fitting for some, but for us it left us feeling a little disappointed, especially considering the 107-minute runtime.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
This is the first time that “Confessions” has ever received a release on disc in North America. The first thing that will stand out is the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, but it doesn’t distract from the film in any way. As far as the quality of the transfer, it is markedly better than any previous VHS release and given it was filmed on 16mm stock it has a natural grain and grittiness intact. Overall, the transfer looks good with the only gripes being that some scenes look a bit washed out or blurry, but that is likely more to do with the source material than anything else. Images from this release are used throughout this review and below.
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Sound wise, there is not a lot to mention here as the only audio options are a mono audio track. This is not a bad thing, as it is perfectly sufficient for the film and sounds great on modern speaker systems. The dialogue is clear and given that most of the film sound originates from on-screen violence and talking, there isn’t much use of a backing soundtrack that stands out.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
When it comes to supplemental features, Unearthed Films is pretty consistent with their releases using archival material while occasionally commissioning new features for their releases. Given the relative obscurity of “Confessions”, a film that only folks from the video store era are likely to remember, it isn’t surprising that the extras included here are a little slimmer. It doesn’t help that Robert Burns passed away in 2004 either, but Unearthed has cobbled together some interesting, albeit odd inclusions for this debut North American release. One of the more curious features is a full-length documentary on Robert Burns and his relationship with legendary character actor, Rondo Hatton. Rondo and Bob is a 104-minute documentary about how Burns and Hatton become friends through admiration and respect for their crafts. We didn’t watch the entirety of this documentary, but we intend to return back to it at a later date after the first 30 minutes. While the adjacency of Burns in the doc to Burns’ role in this movie is apparent, the story about his and Hatton’s friendship doesn’t feel as relevant. Also included is an 8-minute segment, The Henry Lee Lucas Story which is narrated by Author and News Correspondent, James Moore. This is a brief, but dense little feature that gives some more factual insight into the inspiration for “Confessions” and we would actually have liked to see something a bit more robust, but that may not exist. A full list of special features included in this release is below.
Bonus Materials
Commentary with director John 'Mark Blair' Dwyer, director of photography Layton Blaylock and actor Sidney Brammer
The Henry Lee Lucas Story by author and TV news correspondent James Moore
'Rondo and Bob' Full-length documentary on Robert A. Burns and actor Rondo Hatton
Polaroid Gallery
Promotional Gallery
Trailer
LAST RITES
“Confessions of a Serial Killer” is in many ways a more accurate portrayal of the crimes of Henry Lee Lucas in comparison to “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer”. While it is less aggressive with the violence, it does spend more time exploring the procedural elements of Lucas’ case while also highlighting the false claims he gave for murders he didn’t commit. For fans of this film, this is the release to get, and it is apparent how much this influenced other films and filmmakers such as Fred Vogel and others in the extreme horror genre.
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends over at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy for the crypt! Confessions of a Serial Killer is available NOW and can be purchased via MVD DIRECT!
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