Everytime I get admin access to a website, I tend to tweak things here & there. So, with that said, let me apologize in advance if I totally fuck up the site. I'm starting to learn to back up things before messing with them, but I often forget...so...consider yourselves warned.
I first heard about this documentary being made not long after Dennis Rader was arrested, and have looked forward to seeing it ever since. So now, finally, after 3 or so years I got my hands on a finished copy.
Was it worth the wait? Definitely. Was it everything I expected? Not really. Is that bad? Not at all. I must say, going in, I didn't realize the film was going to focus on Charlie Otero. I was expecting more of a BTK film. But, I think that's what makes this documentary unique from other true crime films. I can't remember ever seeing a show based on the victims of a crime, rather than the perpetrator.
The director, Marc Levitz, couldn't have picked a better time to start his film. It starts out with Charlie Otero still in prison, and still wondering who killed his family. Shortly after being released, BTK comes back into national attention after nearly 30 years of silence. The film follows Charlie and his family through the arrest, trial, and conviction of Rader, all the while showing how Charlie's life changes as he goes through the emotions of each event.
There are a lot of emotional moments in the film. Seeing the surviving Otero children pray and embrace each other while returning to the home their brother, sister, and parents were murdered in was one. Knowing that the last time they were in that house, their lives changed forever. Another is Charlie meeting his son for the first time.
One thing I really like about this film is that it shows what can happen to the family members of the victims of serial killers. You usually don't get to see that side of the story. Occasionally you'll see a news story or read a book, but actually seeing how family members have coped with the loss of loved ones seems to grab you a bit more.
All in all, this is a great documentary. The pace is excellent, it don't drag on and on like some shows. The soundtrack is great too...there's a few songs by Dax Riggs, the singer for the old band Acid Bath that used to use serial killer artwork for their album covers. There's even a Wesley Willis song thrown in there, and you don't get to hear that very often anywhere! And a little bonus, filmmaker John Borowski of HH Holmes & Albert Fish fame is credited as an assistant editor!
So, see this documentary. It's well worth it. For more information, visit the homepage for the show here:
www.feastdocumentary.com
Tags: Charlie Otero Btk Dennis Rader
