Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.0

The Zodiac Killer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 27, 2017

The Manson Family Murders that occurred in the sweltering summer months of 1969 will probably forever be the most iconic and disturbing killings of that particular time period, but another set of gruesome murders which actually had begun a year or so before Manson’s rampage and which actually continued for at least a while after it remains one of the most baffling unsolved crime cases in the annals of American jurisprudence. If Manson’s “territory” was the tony environs of Los Angeles, the serial killer who would become known as Zodiac “worked” in the northern part of California, and it’s some indication of the breadth of his (or, frankly, her—no one knows for sure) activities that there’s still some question as to exactly how many people met their fates at his hands. David Fincher, screenwriter James Vanderbilt (adapting Robert Graysmith’s book) and a large creative team dug through a lot of data in preparation for Fincher’s 2007 opus Zodiac, alluding to one particular suspect but clearly stating that all the facts weren’t in yet and that the case officially remained open (it’s actually been closed and re-opened at least a couple of times). Had Fincher simply taken the time to watch 1970’s The Zodiac Killer, he would have realized that writers Ray Cantrell and Manny Cardoza, along with director Tom Hanson, had already solved the case quite handily (the preceding is said with tongue planted firmly in cheek, just in case that’s not clear). The film comes replete with an imprimatur from San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (see screenshot 19) which attempts to give The Zodiac Killer a feeling of “you are there” authenticity, but the film is not exactly a model of true crime sensibilities, instead forging a kind of weirdly melodramatic approach that points the figure squarely at a man who has quite literally and figuratively “gone postal”.

The Zodiac Killer would seem to be a perfect example of what would become known as “guerrilla filmmaking”, only in this case it would appear that the guerrillas had little advance warning of whatever “battles” they were planning to film. The entire presentation here is haphazard at best and completely incompetent at worst. The film boasts minimal production niceties, and to say that its cast of unknowns isn’t exactly ready for prime time is a bit of an understatement as well. But what might chafe a lot of “true crime” aficionados is how lax the film is with facts which were in those days pretty darned recent. The fictionalizations employed by The Zodiac Killer are so ludicrous, and increasingly so detached from what was even then the record, that the film kind of plays like its own Mystery Science 3000 sendup, without the commentary.

The supposed whole reason for the film was ostensibly to set a trap for the real killer (how’d that work out?), but if that is so, why go to the trouble of identifying a fictional suspect? To fool the real killer into confessing? It’s a ridiculous artifice, and one not made any better by the two competing suspects The Zodiac Killer offers, an aging would be lothario named Grover (Bob Jones), and a younger, buttoned down mailman named Jerry (Hal Reed). That “going postal” mention above may offer a salient clue as to who the actual supposed killer turns out to be, but the film isn’t even especially artful at diverting attention away from him for a while, ostensibly with hints that Grover may be a mental case who is unbalanced enough to be shooting and stabbing people at random.

As those acquainted with the real story of the Zodiac Killer and its cinematic treatments will probably already be aware, just a few months after The Zodiac Killer had whatever brief theatrical (probably mostly drive-in) run it managed to have, another fictionalized version of the story appeared in a somewhat higher profile film called Dirty Harry. That film at least pretty much divorced itself from the then recent historical record, but still managed to provide what feels like a more authentic recreation of a mad killer’s rampage.

The Zodiac Killer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Zodiac Killer is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of AGFA and Something Weird Video, in conjunction with MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. AGFA's insert booklet follows the example of another MVD distributed label, Arrow Video, by providing excellent information about the transfers of the two films in this set, to wit:

The Zodiac Killer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics film scanner from the only 35mm theatrical print in existence. The print was made from the original 16mm camera negative, which is now lost.

Another Son of Sam is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution from an original 35mm theatrical print.

Color grading was performed with DaVinci Resolve. Every effort has been made to retain the original theatrical experience of the films. The monaural soundtracks were remastered using Pro Tools HD. The digital transfers were performed by the American Genre Film Archive in Austin, TX.

There are a couple of salient issues to take into account when assessing the image on display in The Zodiac Killer. The first is that the film was shot on 16mm, and the second is that the source element used is a 35mm blow up print, so there needs to be some understanding that detail levels are often pretty minimal, and a fairly heavy grain field keeps things looking pretty gritty a lot of the time. The guys at AGFA mention on the included commentary track that they try to keep things looking as "filmic" as possible, and in terms of grain resolution they've done very well indeed, though the 16mm source and the 35mm blow up keeps things almost crosshatched looking at times. There's arguably a bit more to complain about in terms of damage to the print, which is still very much in evidence and includes expected items like scratches, dirt and even the occasional hair in the gate. While colors are at least relatively more robust than those seen in Another Son of Sam, there's fading on display, with sometime anemic reproductions of primaries. Several dark scenes have extremely low detail levels and noticeable crush.

The Zodiac Killer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Zodiac Killer features a decent sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track, one that doesn't have the same levels of noticeable damage that the video side of things does, but which still lacks really full bodied sound in its lower ranges. Even some of the narration sounds on the boxy and shallow side, though admittedly all dialogue comes through cleanly and clearly enough. Fidelity is fine if not exemplary, with occasional slight clipping in the upper registers.

The Zodiac Killer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary Track features guys from AGFA, who discuss their preservationist philosophy, joined later by director Tom Hanson and producer Manny Nedwick.


• Let's Get This Guy: The Origins of The Zodiac Killer (1080p; 3:35) is a brief but interesting reminiscence of how the film came to be and what its supposed motive was.


• Tabloid Horror Trailers (1080p; 1:54, 00:31, 1:50, 00:31, 2:14) are culled from the AGFA Archive.


• Another Son of Sam (1080p; 1:11:57) is offered here as a "bonus movie", in another piece of exploitation fare supposedly based on real life events. This makes a more or less perfect double feature for The Zodiac Killer, but perhaps not in the way intended, since it features the same lo-fi production elements and less than savvy performance acumen on the part of the performers. The source element is in pretty rough shape, with quite a bit of damage and pretty badly faded color.

AGFA has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet, with writing, archival stills and information about the transfers.

The Zodiac Killer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Zodiac Killer is a curio, but it's one of those Blu-ray releases where the supplementary material may be more alluring than the actual film. If you're looking for a reasonably accurate accounting of the hunt for the Zodiac Killer, Fincher's film is probably the way to go. On the other hand, if you like your tales fictionalized, that aforementioned Clint Eastwood flick may be the appropriate ticket. AGFA is a really fascinating new label and their partnership with Something Weird Video is sure to excite genre aficionados, and for that type of fan, the technical presentation here is generally very good, with an understanding of the source elements utilized.