THE ALPHABET KILLER is an effective horror film masquerading as a police thriller, based on a series of unsolved serial killer murders that occurred in Rochester, New York, between 1970 and 1973. The film is currently receiving a limited theatrical release from Anchor Bay before going to DVD. Director Rob Schmidt and star Eliza Dushku previously collaborated on the backwoods cannibal film WRONG TURN. They've set their sites considerably higher here, and have succeeded for the most part.

The victims of the real "Double Initial Killings" were three young girls who were raped and strangled, their killer never brought to justice. Each victim's initials matched the first letter of the township where her body was discovered. In the film, Dushku plays a fictional homicide detective who gets so wrapped up in the case that she experiences visions of her victims as rotting corpses that shadow her every move. These images turn out to be not the visions of a psychic, but hallucinations brought on by latent schizophrenia, making Dushku an underdog with a real handicap, ala James Stewart in VERTIGO or REAR WINDOW. The concept also enables the filmmakers to employ all manner of cheap shocks that would have been inappropriate in David Fincher's ZODIAC, which this film seems to emulate. In a neat twist, Dushku must stop taking her medication to keep her wits sharp, which causes even more hallucinations, in order to solve the mystery--which may or may not be real.

Best known for her roles in TV's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and TRU CALLING (and Joss Whedon's upcoming DOLLHOUSE), Dushku delivers a powerful and vulnerable performance that might have catapulted her to the "A" list in a bigger, more mainstream production; it's easy to see why she served as the associate producer to help get this made, and her fans will not be disappointed. Cary Elwes and Tom Noonan are convincing as WNY detectives, and the bit players bring a lot of small city authenticity to their roles. Bill Moseley is allowed to show a different aspect of his talent in an extended cameo as a somewhat sympathetic suspect. Only Michael Ironside, as a hard assed police official, is an example of stereotyping.

Aside from the film's star, I was most impressed by Tom Malloy's naturalistic turn as Dushku's detective partner. Watching him onscreen, I kept thinking, "Who is this guy and where did he come from?" It turns out he wrote and produced the film, which makes him a genuine triple threat talent. His scenes with Dushku--especially a heartbreaking one with Melissa Leo and Martin Donovan as the grieving parents of one of the murdered girls--are indicative of the superior material squeezed into this B thriller.

THE ALPHABET KILLER kept me in suspense and wowed me with its craftsmanship (especially Joe DiSalvo's striking cinematography), but left me wondering why the filmmakers went through the trouble of shooting in Rochester when they were creating a complete work of fiction. Anyone who fails to guess the villain's identity has never watched a TV whodunit, and the climax is straight out of the 1980s slasher film SPLATTER UNIVERSITY. Part of me applauds the audacity of the creators to end the film on a note that evokes both Japanese and Italian horror films, but this emotionally involving chiller is as schizophrenic as its heroine. The denoument angered me at first, but really got under my skin and has stayed with me, leaving me to recommend it to viewers looking for something different. In the end, horror fans will likely be much more satisfied than the true crime audience the marketing team has targeted.

NOTE: A shorter version of this review first appeared in Buffalo's Artvoice.