Review of The Alphabet Killer (2008) by Matt F — 20 Jan 2009

The Alphabet Killer is based on a series of murders that occurred in Rochester, New York in the 1970s. Eliza Dushka plays detective Megan Paige, a women obsessed with a case where a ten year old girl was found brutally murdered in a small town in upstate New York.

While having trouble with the case Megan, starts to have a nervous break down and even experiences the ghost of the young girl telling her not to give up on the case. Megan tries to end her own life, but instead ends up getting some help, and also loses her job on the police force.

Two years later, Megan is all better and is still seeking therapy, and is doing good. But when the murders start up again, Megan now an advisor with the police force begins to focus all of her energy on the case again.

With or without the help the police department she sets off on a quest to solve this crime once and for all. Dushku spends most of the movie being haunted by the spirit of the little girl who was most recently murdered, and it has a deep and powerful effect on her overall psyche, causing her to lose people she loves, attempt suicide, and even end up being commited at one point.

Watching her character go through all of these different ranges of emotions, and have a brush with insanity is a very powerful viewing experience. The film "The Alphabet Killer" uses such a fiend as the foundation but the concentration of the movie is on a young woman with a history of schizophrenia.

It is a taut psychological thriller that succeeds as a source of entertainment. The film does not pander to the usual bloodshed and shocking moments that many films in this genre do. It makes a few missteps along the way but in general holds together.