To me, this movie is perfection.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Grim and disturbing portrait of Richard Speck (a creepy and convincing performance by Doug Cole), a remorseless serial killer who raped and murdered eight young nursing students in Chicago, Illinois on July 13, 1966. Director Keith Walley, working from a tight script by Don Adams and Aaron Pope, pulls no punches in his graphic and upsetting depiction of Speck as a monstrous brute: Speck's sadistic thoughts serve as a kind of nihilistic narration, the moments of savage violence pack a ferocious punch, there's a good deal of nerve-wracking tension, the tone is suitably bleak and unsettling, and the stark terror and utter helplessness of the scared victims is vividly rendered in a most unnerving manner. Moreover, this movie doesn't really try to explain why Speck did what he did; instead it merely shows that this guy was a cold-blooded psycho through and through. The actresses who play the victims do credible work in their roles. Kirk Douglas' stylized cinematography gives the picture an appropriately grungy yellowish look. The shuddery score by Walley and Lance Bachelder does the skin-crawling trick. A gut-wrenching film.

Where to start with 'Speck' the true story of Richard Speck, a killer of eight nurses in the 1960s. Director Keith Walley has worked on a few of the extremely low budget Full Moon Releasing movies (such as Birth Rite) and here works from a script by (at the time) Full Moon regular Don Adams. Unfortunaly whilst the film seems like a accurate portrayal of the horrendous crime the script isn't great, perhaps because the real Speck's ramblings were not terribly interesting!? Despite the care that has been taken to make this authentic it wreaks of a cheap cash-in of the acclaimed cinematic serial killer movies of the same period (such as 'Ed Gein'). Filmed in a dirty brown, not quite sepia, for the most part and narrated by star Doug Cole the film fails to present the horror of the crime because the narration is irritating, the colouring distracting from the story and the crime, though gruesome and upsetting to watch, is merely that and no editorial work seems to have occurred on what is pretty much a very poor quality camcorder viewing on the events. There is no examination of the motivation or of Speck's life really, just a cheap shot at a gruesome crime. Released by Full Moon there is little evidence of Full Moon's better output here, Charles Band ignoring his own rule that his films feature fantasy killings (e.g. dolls, monsters and so on) and not quite knowing what to do with this new reality. Incidentally Band introduced a special label for these films called 'Shadow Entertainment'. Band has said that he regrets the period of Full Moon output alongside Tempe Entertainment (whose Creator J.R. Bookwalter and regular Danny Draven also speak very badly of Charles Band). The Tempe era features uniform Apple Mac editing and brutal hand-held camera filming, very much like a home movie. Speck retains these qualities and whereas Witchouse 3, for example, managed to use these well, Speck is merely boring and gross.

My girlfriend and I enjoy the serial killer bio pics that have been coming out recently. We've seen "Dahmer" and "Bundy", both of which were released last year. I found both of those movies to be disturbing and realistic portrayals of the mindset of those men and the events surrounding their crimes."Speck" by contrast was highly stylized and contained absolutely no substance. I only watched the first hour and saw only the suggestion of violence along with a laborious soundtrack. The director wanted it both ways, he wanted you to be disturbed by this man but no *show* you anything disturbing. The acting was mediocre and the plot moved at a snail's pace. I am not a proponent of gratuitous violence, but if you're going to make a movie about a serial killer, especially a REAL one, then at least give us some sense of his rituals and behavior. They made Speck out to be a disgruntled cowboy that flashes his knife and does little else. yawn. If you want to see a real dramatization of a serial killer and his mindset, see either "Dahmer" or "Bundy".

Rented this from my local Blockbuster under the title SPECK - that may be the way to look for it if you still feel the need to see it after this review.It's a movie about the serial killer Richard Speck, who killed several nurses in Chicago in the sixties. Watching the movie, one gets the feeling that it follows the crimes to the letter. Unfortunately, that doesn't make for a good movie.Another problem I had was the near-constant music letting us know that this was a SCARY MOVIE, and some god-awful narration letting us know what's motivating Speck. The acting was average for this type of film; to give credit where credit is due, the movie is very beautifully photographed for my taste. Your mileage may vary.Over all, if you're interested in the subject matter, it may be worth your time.