Baseline Killer (2008)
** (out of 4)
Ulli Lommel's latest "serial killer" flick takes a look at the Baseline Killer, a Phoenix man who killed nine people while raping at least a dozen others. Since this movies release the killer was brought to justice and this movie pretty much tries to wrap the entire case into one. Here there are two killers who have eight friends locked inside a warehouse where they were partying. Soon the killers begin picking them off one by one until they decide to try and fight in order to survive. I've reviewed all of Lommel's current serial killer movies and this one here is certainly miles above the rest due in large part to the director actually trying to tell a story instead of just throwing weird images at us. The first forty-minutes are without question the best stuff I've seen from him since THE BOOGEY MAN, although some might say that's not say too much considering the movies he's made since then. This movie actually has a pretty good set up and I enjoyed the idea of all these women locked up and being stalked by (to them) unseen men. Lommel gets a few effective shots out of this but the low budget and bad acting really makes this 81-minute film drag out. The performances are all rather bland and boring and this is painfully obvious in the scenes where they're suppose to be scared and crying. The reactions on their face, which is suppose to be fear, comes off very campy and had me laughing. The budget was also a problem as I'm going to guess they didn't spend more than a few hundred thousand if that. This digital video look just makes the film look too cheap and it was hard creating any atmosphere. I'd also recommend Ulli find a new group to do the soundtracks to these films. With that said, this film is a minor comeback for the director but unless you're use to his current work I'd say you should still skip this one.
