Diary Of A Serial Killer aka Rough Draft (1998) / Freeway Killer (2010)
I have a rather extensive library on true crime. Forensics and the methodology of criminal science has always fascinated me. Not the violence or the sickness of the criminals, but the way they are eventually always (with very VERY few exceptions) are caught. And trust me, no matter how much CSI you watch or how smart you THINK you are, try to make your mark by committing acts against your fellow humans and you will get caught.
And with perseverance and just plain hard work you will likely be caught a lot faster than in the past, all thanks to increased technology and the increased understanding on how the sick, twisted human mind can work. So why am I putting these two movies together? Well the first is a Hollywood version of how slick and smart serial killers are, and the second is the real life story of William Bonin, who definitely was not.
In the first you get a transvestite bar where a suspiciously familiar deep voiced blonde is fixing 'her' makeup in the mirror as others come in and out. 'She' notices several and is taping the conversations of all of them. When 'she' gets home we learn that it is.... <pfft> Gary Busey. And this is when people still thought he was sane. He plays an investigative reporter who really gets into his work. Unfortunately, he happens upon a murder. This murderer thinks he's pure evil and perfect and from what this movie portrays, he might as well be. He catches Busey and with some quick thinking, Busey's character convinces him to let Busey write his life story like he's a real hot shot. Really?In the second, it is the story of William Bonin who was dubbed the 'Freeway Killer' (there were actually probably several that were responsible for those murders but for the movie, they just show him) and don't let the movie poster throw you off - he's a sorry, pansy ass sucker. Not the actor, the real Bonin. For this movie he's recounting his life of crime to the mother of one of his victims. That most likely didn't happen - at least I couldn't find a reference to it.
They also 'tidied' up his story quite a bit - in this movie he just likes to recruit 'helpers' to get him young boys and strangle them - he seemed to like an audience and did have at different times three different guys helping him (they testified so they wouldn't get the death penalty) but the real story is gritty, ugly and well, not printable on my blog 'cause he doesn't deserve anything more said. The only thing I'll say about the movie is it was sanitized for your protection, tells you nothing about WHY he would do such terrible things, did let you know he died by lethal injection, and the movie starred our good friend Merle (Michael Rooker) from The Walking Dead as Detective St. John. That's about it.
Our transvestite-in-disguise movie shows what little Hollywood knows about real crime - geez, Busey practically puts this guy in the police's hands and they drop the ball, so to speak. In other words, they make this impotent killer of women (as well as transvestites) seem like Hannibal Lector - in other words, smarter than everyone and don't you tell him different. Even when it seems he's finally done the last scene shows Busey, busy signing books about his brush with death and one asks to have his book signed - and how the hell are we supposed to believe that Busey doesn't recognize the guy as the killer? Because it's Hollywood, that's why.Which movie should you watch? Pffft, watch Oprah, you'll learn more and it'll be more real. That was a joke by the way. Is she still even on TV?
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