Interstate Killer
When two women were raped and shot whilst working as cleaners at an office complex, Dave Kominek (John Corbett - November Christmas) of the Marion County Sheriff's Department in Salem, Oregon finds himself handling the case. And whilst one of the women dies the other, Beth (Sara Canning - Taken in Broad Daylight), survives and is able to give a description of the assailant. As Dave examines her statement and what evidence they have he believes this case is connected to others which have taken place up and down Interstate-5. With evidence from other crimes scenes matching up it leads to the police suspecting they have a serial killer on their hands with Dave being put in charge of co-ordinating the investigation. It leads to even more stress at home for Dave as he becomes more and more distant whilst the surviving victim begins to find herself drawn to him as she feels he is the only one who understands what she went through.
Someone once said to me it must be great to have watched so many movies, truth is that it isn't that great especially when you read some of the overwhelming reviews of a movie which doesn't do it for you. This is of course the case when it comes to the "Hunt for the I-5 Killer", a made for TV true story movie which dramatises the investigation into the serial killer Randall Brent "Randy" Woodfield who because of his killing spree being connected to Interstate-5 became known as the I-5 Killer. For me this ended up simply a solid but routine dramatisation of not only the police investigation but also the way it affected those involved. In fact a big slice of this movie focuses on how Beth, the woman who survived being shot twice in the head, becomes emotionally attached to Dave despite him being married with two sons, which does give this a bit of a different angle.
What also gives "Hunt for the I-5 Killer" a bit of an interesting angle is in the way for the first half of the movie it toys with the audience over who the killer is. In truth a case of knowing actors and the roles they typically play stops this from being as effective as it could have been but again that comes down to the issue with having watched so many movies. But on top of that the case of this killer is brought to the screen with some graphic scenes and also some unsettling descriptions when we learn about some of his victims, which certainly has the desired effect of making you realise what a vile man he was.
What this all boils down to is that "Hunt for the I-5 Killer" is simply a solid dramatisation of a true, serial killer story. It is nicely put together with plenty of drama and some stylish setting up of scenes but none of it is about of the ordinary.