During the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.During the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.During the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.
- Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 10 wins & 11 nominations total
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- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe characters of Fetisov and Burakov were both real people who investigated the actual Chikatilo killings, yet their ranks and positions were changed in the movie. Historically, Major Mikhail Fetisov was sent from Moscow in order to investigate the killings (in the film he is already in Rostov as a Colonel heading the militia) while Victor Burakov was a civilian forensic expert (in the film he is a Police Lieutenant) assigned by Fetisov to head the investigation. There was no Central Committee comprised of Communist Party and KGB men above the two (this was a plot device created for the film to show Soviet bureaucratic methods) and the main reason why the case took so long was that the investigators interviewed over 150,000 people trying to narrow down who the killer could be. The mistaken release of Chikatilo, and the botched blood-semen test, was accurate as it occurred in the investigation.
- GoofsThe film spans 12 years, yet Lt. Viktor Burakov's children don't age.
- Quotes
Bukhanovsky: [to Burakov and Fetisov] Together you make a wonderful person.
- Crazy creditsEpilogue: "The mistake in blood and semen analysis that allowed Andrei Chikatilo to be released in 1984 has never been adequately explained. Soviet Russia's head forensics expert has since asserted that she had discovered a rare new phenomenon--a man with a blood type of one kind, and a semen type of another. Her colleagues around the world scoff at the idea. Chikatilo led detectives to the graves of three undiscovered victims, proving conclusively that he was their murderer, and bringing the final body count to 52 dead. Thirty-five of the victims were children under the age of 17. Andrei Chikatilo was convicted of all 52 murders."
- Alternate versionsThe 1995 UK video release was cut by 37 secs by the BBFC to reduce stabbings during the murder scenes.
Featured review
Almost great
This is very hooking movie,but you can immediately tell that it is straight to DVD or made-for-TV. If you are not familiar with the story of Andrey Chikatillo,you better read a few articles about this event.For unfamiliar minds this movie might get choppy,because there is not enough explanation or motives and also to define dramatization from reality. In reality,citizen X actually was more brutal then depicted in the movie,dramatization again maybe,but you must know the truth. Also movie needs to be focused on Chikatillo a little bit more,because we don't really understand his motives.He has them,except then sexual,his origins are also pretty important. Also,if you live outside former USSR (i was born here),you shouldn't take the depiction of USSR as real.Because this more looks like Hungara,where it was shot.In real 80s,we already had culture,hippies,disco and other stuff.No grannies and mustached farmers like there. I am not very old,but i remember those times,and documentaries made about it.It was far more dirtier,then in the movie. But overall,it is VERY enjoyable movie.I recommend it as one of the few dramatic movies about USSSR without matreshkas,vodkas,balalaikas,snow and bears.In fact,i never seen any of those.
helpful•141
- carth2
- Feb 5, 2010
Details
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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