A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

First, this subject isn't really my cup of tea but I have to say a great performance is a great performance. Scott Anthony Leet had me mesmerized. He's off the radar as an actor and that's a shame. In this character he ran the gamut of emotions, from joy to fear to hatred so intense you move back from the screen a little. He draws you in with an earnestness and subtle vulnerability then strikes like a cobra before you can blink. His lust is convincing and his restless insanity is fascinating to observe. You can see the raging volcano is going to explode at any moment.That's not to take anything away from Dusty Sorg's "Vernon Butts" character. He also played a seamless supporting role in the film, as Butts supported Bonin in real life. His languid pseudo-mystical presence made for a great contrast in these two creatures. And Cole Williams as "Kyle Peterson" plays a kid many of us possibly knew. He was bored, simple, alone and willing to follow the intensely dangerous Bill into dark places without the least concern for people or consequences.The fact that this is a character study and not a gore-fest fits fine in its modest budget. The lack of back-story or set detail didn't detract from the film for me. I lived in SoCal during his reign during the hellish '70s on the freeways and remember watching my own back. I already knew as much detail as I wished to: that he kidnapped, tortured, raped, and killed people about my age. But getting near someone in that state without paying dearly for it is what this film's about.

I have watched several serial killer movies, and compared to others, Freeway Killer had more plot, and the characters had more depth. I was pleasantly surprised, and I don't ever remember hearing about this guy. At first glimpse, I though "Oh no, another B movie!" But after watching it, I would classify it more as a B+ movie. The movie actually starts out post-arrest, but then there is a long, detailed accounting of many of the killings. What I also like is that during the credits at the beginning of the movie, they show a victim in a situation that portrays the senselessness of such killings, and the obliviousness of the people. It also capitalizes on the vulnerabilities of the characters, even the main character. I am quite sure you will not be disappointed by watching this movie.

Serial killer movies. They are a dime a dozen and this is low low budget. So low no effort is made to get the background details correct. Set twenty years in the past cue all the modern cars and contemporary food items. But look closely at major offerings like Donnie Brasco for example and even with big budgets they still produce continuity errors.Ican overlook the flaws here as the acting here is spot on. The killer and his assistant are portrayed as simultaneously creepy and seductive. Between acting out their murder fantasies they also attempt to lure in other disenfranchised young men into their world and this is what hastens their downfall. The murder scenes while not overly graphic are disturbing in the way they show the pleasure obtained by the killers and their sociopathic attitude to human life.Ironically Michael (Henry!) Rooker plays the cop who pops up at the end to nail the killers. Based on real events no attempt is made to show the police investigation until the end and the killers real life homosexuality is only alluded to in the movie. For accuracy better off sticking to the many books published on serial killers - for me this is close enough

I live in Romania, we don't get that many movies on DVD, especially movies like this one. I am a big horror fan, so when I looked on my torrents site and I've that this movie it's billed as horror, crime, thriller, I instantly downloaded it.It has a low budget, and you can see that, especially cause this movie is set in the late 70s, but the cars are from nowadays. But it doesn't matter. Scott Lee as William Bonin is great ! I never heard about this guy, but I was really impressed and I will keep an eye on his works.It's a great little movie, with unknown actors, that makes wonder what's gonna happen.8/10