I Am Not A Serial Killer (2016) | A SXSW Film Review

Before I was a co-host on The Hollywood Outsider podcast, I ran my own podcast called The Dead Robots’ Society. It is a show made by writers for writers, and one thing we tried to do from time to time was review a published novel. The reviews weren’t so much about whether we liked the story or not, but about the mechanics of the writing itself, what we learned, what we’d avoid for our own work, etc. One of the books we read (at the urging of then co-host Eliyanna Kaiser) was Dan Well’s novel “I Am Not A Serial Killer.” Now, years later, I get to review it all over again, but this time as a film. I’ll be honest, it’s sorta strange having another – yet different – pass at it.

I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER is about a young man named John Wayne Cleaver. He is a diagnosed sociopath who also happens to live above a mortuary owned by his mother (what a perfect family business for a potential psychotic). John worries that he will become a serial killer because of the constant violent thoughts that whirl through his head. To stop that from happening he forces himself to live by a concise set of rules meant to keep him from acting on his urges. That’s all well and good for John, but when a real serial killer arrives in the small town he calls home and starts tearing people apart, he instantly becomes curious and works to discover who the killer is and why. The answers he eventually finds are not what he was expecting, and soon he finds himself working against the clock to stop the murderer before he can strike even closer to John and his family.

Defying all the odds, not only is I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER a good book, but it’s also a very good movie. Directed by Billy O’Brien and staring Max Records (wow do I love that name), the style and tone of the film starts out bleak and stays that way, which is perfect given the decrepit state of the unnamed Midwestern town the story takes place in, the constant oppression of snow, and the macabre spirit of the story itself. Just as Max’s John feels alone and out of place, so do we the audience. All this becomes even bleaker when the murderer is revealed and the nature of his evil comes to light.

Along with Max the movie stars Christopher Lloyd as John’s neighbor Crowley, Laura Fraser as John’s mother April, and Karl Geary as the therapist treating John, Dr. Neblin. All of them do a good job bringing what life they can to the dour landscape, especially Mr. Lloyd who brings a heavy presence to the screen I’ve never seen him display before.

Filmed in Minnesota, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER has a harsh look to it, the occasional sprays of blood made all the more shocking due to the otherwise heavy palette of blues, grays, and whites that Minnesota in winter comes cloaked in. It was also shot on 16mm film, which adds the perfect level of grittiness. O’Brien has a gift for using shadow and light to great effect, for finding ways of making the mundane seem menacing.

I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER is a very interesting horror film, and sadly those are in short supply these days. I saw it at SXSW, and the entire audience applauded when the credits rolled. Afterward O’Brien, Max Records, and the book’s author Dan Wells came out to discuss it. The Q&A session was brief, but all of them appeared happy with the film they’d created and overjoyed at its reception. When the movie gets distribution (“if” isn’t an option for a film this good), make sure you go see it too.

I Am Not A Serial Killer does not yet have a release date
Starring Max Records, Christopher Lloyd, Laura Fraser, and Karl Geary
Written by Billy O’Brien and Christopher Hyde, based on the novel written by Dan Wells
Directed by Billy O’Brien