B.T.K. (2008 Video) User Reviews

Nothing really memorable

[lastliberal · 4/10 · 11 July 2010]

I am really not sure what writer and director Michael Feifer was trying to do here. I hate to think he was just capitalizing on the publicity surrounding the B.T.K killer, but it seems obvious that he didn't do more than that.

Kane Hodder as Dennis Rader was scary. Even when he was doing his day job, he came across as someone you really didn't want to mess with. Pity those that did, as they often wound up as his victims in the evening. When he talked to one young girl about her dog, or another that was lost, you could just see the predator oozing out his pores.

Hodder was the only good thing about this movie. He played the evil Rader better than anyone I could imagine. He was the essence of evil.

Unfortunately the rest of the move was definitely lacking in the sleaze one would expect of a film about a serial killer. If you are going to do a story about serial killers, a whole lot more realism would be nice.

Any discussion of Rader's past or motivations, or anything about the police work that led to his arrest was seriously an afterthought.

Mild version of grisly story.

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 27 June 2009]

Writer/director Michael Feifer offers us a fictional story based on the very real B.T.K. serial killer Dennis Rader. A seemingly mild mannered member of the Lutheran church, Boy Scout master, husband and father of two, Rader(Kane Hodder)is an ordinance enforcement officer of Wichita, Kansas. He relished his job and it helped his ego greatly. I guess every man needs a hobby. This story is supposition of the grisly and horrid murders committed by Rader between 1974 and 1991. B.T.K. meaning bind, torture and kill. The actual killings were graphic and nightmarish...but none of that in this film. Rader thought he was so intelligent, he teased the Wichita Police Department with letters in 2004 that led to his murder conviction in 2005. According to who you talk to, Rader was responsible for 7 to 10 or more slayings.

Also starring are: Amy Lyndon, Daniel Bonjour, Caia Coley, Dru Ashcroft and John Burke.

The lead actor is pretty scary

[crazyzubr · 5/10 · 20 December 2008]

Yeah, it's a semi-pro attempt @ the story, but just seeing all the bad facelifts on the nobody actresses and the way the tension of the story keeps you going (even though you know the ending) is worth it. The lead actor playing Dennis is pretty good, and a decent set of guns on him as well. The way his scars in real life were not covered up was a good idea. Makes you wonder if that was part of the story until you read the bio on the actor. Bad acting is everywhere, but how many people want to be in a movie about a serial killer. Not a date movie that's for sure. I'll never leave my car parked 1/2 way in my driveway blocking the sidewalk after seeing this movie...lol

Terrible Production

[GatorGR8 · 2/10 · 19 April 2010]

I almost NEVER give movies a 1 rating; but this movie definitely tempted me and is pretty bad. Frankly, I'm tired of film makers destroying stories that have so much potential. This could have been a great movie if only the makers had chosen to depict the story accurately. But, they decided to use wide-ranging license, even when unnecessary, and completely ruined it. This is one of those stories, like most serial killers' stories, where adding or changing the circumstances or facts really isn't needed to make a truly horrific movie. The REAL story is far more terrifying than this lame version they served up. They even chose to give Rader 2 daughters, when it's common knowledge that he has a daughter and a son... why change that? It even would have made more sense when the time came for him to go on the Boy Scout camping trip as a Scout leader, since his real son really was a Boy Scout, and Rader really was a Scout leader. Changing that was just plain stupid. Then, none of the murders is portrayed correctly; and were in reality far more gruesome and terrible than what they turned them into for the movie. He murdered 4 members of a single family, and that wasn't even in the movie. He also never killed anyone's husband, but did shoot a girl's brother. Again, why change such an insignificant detail? It's better just keeping it accurate.

How do these lousy movie makers keep getting the rights to the best true horror stories, and then completely and utterly ruining them on film? It seems like all the tragic stories with the most potential for making a good movie get snapped up by the people least likely to make something powerful and entertaining out of it.

Beyond Bad. Wrong.

[jennifer-zacc · 1/10 · 26 February 2011]

Having grown up in Kansas, living in Wichita for the years preceding BTK's final capture, I am fairly aware of the true story. The true story is horrific and gruesome, this was pretty lame. Not as dramatic, and the murders were in the wrong time frame, done incorrectly, with different types of victims. It was just weird to name it BTK. It had so little resemblance to the actual story. The guy who played BTK was fairly decent, but his physical appearance, body language and voice were all way off the actual person.

I ended up having to stop it before the end because it was putting me to sleep and annoying me.

A Pointless Movie

[TheDragonfly44 · 2/10 · 19 August 2019]

The only good thing about the movie is the main actor is semi-decent. Otherwise the color pallet is off-putting, the death scenes are lame, most of the movie is boring, there's no character development and the movie just ends without much of a resolution at all. Not worth your time even for someone who likes watching bad movies. It's not so much bad as it is pointless. Not to mention the title makes little sense as it has very little in correlation to the real life B. T. K. killer

Rating - 15/100

I want my dollar back including taxes!!

[prophetess_mar · 1/10 · 19 September 2009]

It's frustrating to see a real life story wasted this way. Director-producer? He seems like an amateur and struggling filmmaker. Explicit violence is sometimes necessary but with no connection with the general narrative it's ridiculous. The actor interpreting Dennis Rader is good, but does not shine. Neither do the policemen. The family is plain bad.

In regards to the script, when it comes to serial killers biography is better. No imagination. No argument. If they tell you the movie is bad, believe it. It may be possible to find a worse movie, but I wouldn't expect that to be an easy task.

Amateur attempt to recreate B.T.K.

[redcup · 1/10 · 4 December 2008]

I try not to go off on rants when commenting. After seeing this I can't help but rant. This was such an amateurish attempt to put a spin on the story B.T.K. The real life story of this serial killer is fascinating in a macabre sense. B.T.K. was a media sensation known world wide. Now why would a director try to make a movie based on their half cocked interpretation of what made B.T.K tick? All they had to do was stick with what happened. Once in a while people that make movies get to clever for themselves. I got caught up reading about B.T.K and watching docs on what this killer did. As Rachel Maddow would say try to talk me down. B.T.K. is a movie. In movies it's expected that a director will take a little creative license with facts. B.T.K. went beyond that. What could have been a engrossing movie about a serial killer turned out to be a director playing Freud. This director needs to watch Son of Sam by Spike Lee before making one more movie.

Creepy

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 17 May 2009]

Kane Hodder stars in a film version of the story of the BTK killer. He was a loving family man by day and a serial killer by night. His rampage went on for decades. the film is a twisted descent into the mind of the killer as we watch him do horrible things one minute and the be kind and loving the next. As these sort of "based on a true story" films go the film is pretty good and disturbing enough to make you wonder why any one would want to be locked in the mind of a killer for even 90 minutes. The film works because of Hodder who is great both a family man and psychopath, making it difficult to watch the scenes with his family because we know whats lurking underneath. If you like this sort of thing I'd say give it a try, me I'm going to take a bath.

A step below good

[Dave-953-619430 · 2/10 · 17 January 2011]

This flick was pretty terrible. It was tolerable though until the very end when the wife began to have lines. Bad move, she is atrocious. Terrible writing too; this piece of poop should burn in hell. The only high points come from lead Hodder. You could feel the psychosis seething below the surface while he dealt with the miscreants under his thumb. The arrogance that Rader reportedly had was very evident in Hodder's portrayal. The rest of the actors were terrible. It was like watching reenactment actors from bad A&E mystery shows. The movie ended on the lowest note possible and they should have just stuck with the truth instead of embellishing the story.

A very creepy and nasty serial killer flick

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 25 June 2009]

Kane Hodder gives an excellent and convincing performance as Dennis L. Rader, the infamous sadistic serial killer who tied up and tortured his victims prior to savagely murdering them. Writer/director Michael Feifer presents Rader as a complex and fascinating bundle of contradictions: he's a dedicated, but overzealous compliance officer, a loving family man with a wife and two daughters, a boy scout leader, and even the president at a local church, but also suffered from sexual problems and an irresistible urge which compelled him to commit these atrocious and inhumane acts of calculated murder (the scenes with Rader manhandling his hapless victims are extremely harsh, brutal and disturbing). Moreover, Feifer admirably refuses to explain Rader; instead he presents in a stark and unflinching manner Rader as the ruthless and vicious murderous beast that he was. Hodder really holds the film together with his first-rate portrayal of this horrifying human monster; it's without a doubt the best acting he's ever done to date. The rest of the cast is equally sound, with especially stand-out work from Amy Lyndon as Rader's proud, loyal wife Susan and John Burke as no-nonsense Detective Lutz. The last third which shows the severe impact Rader's heinous actions had on his family is positively devastating. Matt Steinauer's polished cinematography and the shuddery score by Andres Boulton and Jermaine Stegall are both up to speed. Really strong and upsetting stuff.

Based on the true story of Dennis Rader the BTK serial killer

[snarkyone1965 · 6/10 · 11 November 2008]

First off people should at least use a Google search to find out what the BTK serial killer did and that he did actually exist as our friend from New Zealand failed to do. Yes, the BTK serial killer did exist this is not one of a series of films of made up serial killers from some company named BTK. Dennis Rader avoided detection and held people in fear for many years before being apprehended. He called himself BTK because he would Bind, Torture, and then Kill his victims. He operated in the Wichita, KS area United States. This film is not a blow by blow account of his misdeeds but rather an assumption of many of them blending truths with suppositions. While this film is not going to win awards it is a look into the twisted mind of a serial killer that seems to fascinate while also disgusting the observers. If serial killers are a subject of interest to you then you will find this film worthwhile, if not then you might want to pass.

Boring

[freeestyler · 1/10 · 27 July 2008]

Some months ago I have read bout the BTK KIller, have watched some documetals bout him, and I know the story from its beginning. After have seen that this year there will be a new film made for him, I was waiting with big interest to see what will the director make this time, because the old films were very bad. After have watched the new one, I can sure tell you, that this is the worst from all the BTK films. I have not seen any clear idea in all the 90 minutes of this boring film. The director has tried to do something different from the real story of BTK, but everything is made so stupid that he has not won my interest more than 10 second for all the 90 mins. I don't wanna post spoilers and so on.. My suggestion is to stay away from this crappy thing. The title of the film must be "The Stupid Way to Show the Emotions of a Serial Killer". The real story is so interesting, I can't realize why the directors must make such self-interpretations of the story. Are they so unable to make 1-1 story-film. Neither Horror, nor Drama, nor Biography. Btw I think some child, knowing the whole story, can make a better film than this one.

1/10

Routine at best.

[RatedVforVinny · 5/10 · 11 December 2019]

A missed opportunity to make a seriously good picture, on the horrific crimes of the most notorious 'B.T.K' Serial Killer. 'B.T.K' (the film) is not just inaccurate but for most times, pretty dull. Any documentary on this most terrible, horrific case, would have been far more compelling.

Why??

[viiibalamb · 1/10 · 4 June 2019]

Absolute gash. Beyond bad, there are no words to describe how awful the acting and directing is in this farce of a movie. Insulting to the real life victims.

"Sure it is"

[Clintborari · 3/10 · 5 July 2020]

This wasn't one of the worst films I've seen however, I haven't much positive to say about it either, except that it was a real stinker.

When you watch a horror film you want to see certain elements that make the story thrilling and scary.

What makes a bad film is when you already know the plot, the serial killer, and his motives, the film is predictable and you can already have a solid guess of how it will end. BTK doesn't move you, it doesn't shock, or scare you, and is very dull and uninspiring.

BTK is a film about a well know American serial killer. I, however, didn't know anything about him before watching this film.

To start with it felt as if it were shot in the '80s or '90s with some close-up camera angles, and gritty shots of our killer's face, and the victims, I was flabbergasted to find out was filmed in 2008.

There were very few moments where I was intrigued as the story was quite slow-paced. The positive moments included Kane Hodder's performance as Dennis Rader going about his day-to-day life. He was a strict security officer that seemed to thrive, and get enjoyment being the authority. It almost seemed as if he believed in his mind that he was upholding the law and being such a great role model to society.

That was semi-interesting. Now for the dreary parts of the film, and believe me there were many. The writing and overall plot were lackluster. The performances and casting minus Hodder were sluggish and lacked passion. It was as if the casting directors just grabbed regular people off the street and offered them a few hundred dollars to play a minor part in the story. And finally, the overall execution of the film was just poor. You don't feel satisfied by the end of the film, and quite obviously shouldn't have any positive feelings towards Rader being a sadistic psychopath.

This is one of these watch it once and then forget type films. Although I highly recommend skipping it altogether.

3/10.

no relation at all to the real BTK

[trashgang · 4/10 · 29 June 2010]

Kane Hodder, what e really nice person he is. I have met him in the flesh and he agreed to stand together with me on a picture. That picture is now here hanging on the walls. I will meet him again in October 2010 on another convention. What a movie list he has, being all kind of weirdo's. Here he's in the movie made by Michael Feifer. A director who is obsessed with making movies about serial killers. Kane gives a great performance but as with so many flicks about serial killers they are a let down. So far they are almost based on the person but don't reflect his life. I can only say that To Catch A Killer (oop in all ways) is so far the only flick that keeps up with the facts. Maybe Zodiac too but hey, I'm loosing track now myself. This movie is more into the mind of the killer and his family than about the victims. No dates are given, no nothing so I can say that it could be any killer in particular. Okay, they uses his name and the fact about the church and Park City is true...The good thing is that when something is happening it is gory. But you will have to wait 35 minutes before that and than another 30 minutes. Sad but true. A bit weak but Kane keeps the movie together. And don't get me wrong, you don't have to make it explicit because it all happened and we have to think to the survivors or families involved but again, no info is given about BTK at the end of the movie. The man said it himself, nobody is talking me, nobody notice BTK and that's why I could kill for 30 years. So I can state, ,that's why nobody will notice this movie...

A terrible movie.

[sbk93036 · 1/10 · 23 May 2009]

I actually joined this site to warn you not to rent or buy this movie. I usually don't do this, but I love horror movies and enjoy true stories about serial killers. This untalented and amateur director/writer/producer made a terrible movie. This is a true story as we all know. This idiot put in fake stuff, citing reasons such as, "this is what people want to see." What? I wanted to see a true story. Not a story where you made stuff up. There are actually murder scenes in the movie that never happened. I will always look at a movie box before renting, if I see this guys name I will not rent. This was a waste of my time and the $1.00 rental fee. Yes, $1.00 I want back. On the positive side, which is not much. The main actor may be OK in another movie, not this one, which of course is the writer/director's fault. There are also a couple hot looking ladies in this, but I truly had to force myself to finish this movie. It is that bad. Save your money please.

This is a guilty pleasure type of film

[jaybob · 6/10 · 16 July 2009]

B.T.K.(Bind,Torture, Kill) is supposedly based on a real serial Killer,I never heard of this guy.

The movie was written, Directed & Produced by Micheal Fiefer,He has made other serial killer films,I saw part of one of them.I did not like what I saw, so I shut if off..

This one however, is not a good film from the very first frame. It is shoddily made, badly acted & written, BUT it had a good deal of humour, which I enjoyed. The killer,is an overweight middle aged family man,with a pretty but hefty wife & 2 daughters, He is also a devout church member, He just has a problem & solves it by killing innocent people (some of who have irked him in doing his job as a compliance officer in this small town). Now to me that was humorous.

There are a few gory scenes, but they do go fast. The entire movie goes fast, Running time a quick 85 minutes. I have no way of knowing how true this tale is nor do I care.

As I said its a guilty pleasure type of film.

Its not a good film by any standard, but I enjoyed it & I think you may as well.

Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 66 points+ (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10_

+ 66 points is very bottom of point,rating & IMDb range

could it have been any worse? nope.

[willist1 · 1/10 · 2 February 2011]

Grossly inaccurate and made for shock value, it could not have been any worse.

I have several books on this case, including:

(1) one by (former profiler) John Douglas, "Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer." Douglas was involved in the case from the 70s, and he knows his subject. His book is the most objective one I have read yet on Dennis Radar.

(2) "Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door" by Roy Wenzl, Tim Potter, Hurst Laviana, and L. Kelly (they were in Wichita, or most of the 4 were, during BTK's reign of terror). It is an odd book, for, imho, the authors seek to "remedy" the opportunities the Wichita PD missed catching the Dog Catcher, Dennis Radar, and they do so by lavishing praise on homicide chief Ken Lendwehr. The truth is BTK would probably still be at large if not for the FBI, imho.

"The Hunt for the BTK Killer" (2005) is, by far, the most accurate movie on Dennis Radar.

Not great, but not bad either...

[jimmynz · 10/10 · 17 October 2008]

Okay first up, I have never heard of the "BTK Killer" or "BTK films". Must be some sort of American folklore serial killer thing, that I haven't heard of since I'm not American. So my judging of this film is based on THE FILM rather than certain people's expectations of what the film should be.

It's an okay movie. It's one of those (rent) and 'watch it once on DVD late at night when there's nothing else to do'. It's NOT a movie you'll want to watch again and again... like an action blockbuster, because there's not a whole lot that's fun or interesting about it.

BTK, THE MOVIE... is about a serial killer. He ties women up, and generally chokes them to death. Sometimes he uses a gun. There's basically nothing here you haven't already seen in any other serial killer movie, like Ed Gein, Copycat, Henry, etc. In this sense it's fairly straightforward and predictable.

The pace is slow and remains slow the entire duration, but considering this is a low budget straight to DVD exploitation film, the acting is actually surprisingly good from an ensemble of no-name actors, and the star attraction is seeing Kane Hodder as Dennis, burns and all, in a role that's not under a white hockey mask.

I could go on a bit more about the good points and the bad points, but ultimately it's a case of you get what you pay for. This is a cheap, rent and watch once serial killer movie, with Kane Hodder. It's no movie of the week, no blockbuster, and really the only reason to watch it at all... is if you are a Kane Hodder fan.

Mediocre serial killer thriller.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 22 January 2010]

B.T.K is set in Wichita in Kansas where a serial killer is at large, by day Dennis Rader (Kane Hodder) is a respectable figure of authority as a local compliance officer & has just been voted in as President of a local Church & with a wife & two daughters Dennis seems the model citizen. However Dennis hides a dark secret, he is the notorious B.T.K. killer who taunts police with his notes & terrifies the city with his horrendous crimes. Dennis becomes sloppy though & as the net closes in on him maybe his reign of terror can be ended once & for all...

Produced, written & directed by Michael Feifer this opens with some on-screen text that admits B.T.K. is a fictional story featuring a real character so don't expect some in depth true life biography of Dennis Rader the infamous serial killer who killed ten people between 1974 & 1991 in Sedgwick County & went uncaught until 2005 after he had resumed sending letters in 2004 & was sentenced to life with him being eligible for parole after 175 years by which time he will be long dead. This film focuses on Rader's later years & the build-up to his capture which here is because he was traced by one of his letters but what else is actually accurate here is open to debate, there's something about a prostitute ripping him off & lots of bland scenes of Rader living his everyday life between his murderous activities as he is a local compliance officer who measures peoples grass to check whether it's to long & there's a few scenes of hi at home with his wife & kids who talk about the B.T.K. killer while Rader is quick to reassure them. Every so often there's a kill scene which are quite grim I suppose but are never scary & the film never gets into the mind of Rader or gives him any real motivation & his interaction with people in his normal life just comes across as bland as much as anything else & the interaction between Rader, the police & the media goes all but untouched upon. At 90 odd minutes it feels like quite a long film & despite trying to retain an air authenticity throughout there's a cheap 'it was all a dream' style ending you would expect from a teen slasher rather than a serious serial killer biography.

There's a bit of gore here, there's a couple of gory gunshot wounds as he shoots a couple of people, a cop gets hit by a car & we see his mangled body & a woman has a spade shoved into her stomach along with an unpleasant scene in which he suffocates a woman with a plastic bag around her head. Kane Hodder also appeared in director Feifer's biography Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007) as Gein so he has now played two of America's most notorious serial killers on film while also appearing in Feifer's serial killer biography (how many has this guy made?) Bundy: An American Icon (2008) which chronicles the deeds undertook by Ted Bundy I assume. B.T.K. has a made for telly feel about it, it's competent but underwhelming & forgettable.

The budget for this was probably fairly low but it does have decent production values & doesn't look that cheap. The acting is mixed, the three who play Rader's wife & kids are terrible but Hodder in the lead is alright.

B.T.K. is another one of those biopics that try to live off the name of a notorious serial killer, while not the worst example out there it's not the best either. For die hard serial killer enthusiasts only. B.T.K. Killer (2005) & The Hunt for the BTK Killer (2005) also deal with Rader & his crimes.

Bad movie, B-Movie, Bad doggy

[jackgammon · 1/10 · 29 March 2020]

After careful viewing I rate this move ''s**t". It says it's 'fiction based on a real character'. Ergo. it's all fiction. All made up. No real crimes are portrayed, no police investigation. Not even a character study. Rubbish and garbage.

Guess what -- it's all a dream/nightmare

[littlezero · 27 December 2012]

As many reviewers here have noted, the events in this film are substantially different from Dennis Rader's BTK crimes. It's poorly acted and just plain gruesome. But I do think I understand what this production was attempting to do.

This film picks up in 2004 when the BTK crimes had become a cold case to the police, who are surprised to start getting letters from BTK again. We enter the deranged mind of Dennis Rader as he sleeps -- and DREAMS -- about the other crimes he has been considering committing, and how it might play out if he were caught. Yes, folks, this whole thing is a BTK dream (but the audience's nightmare). Rader admitted freely that he had been stalking and planning other murders when he was finally arrested in 2005, and several of the women he harasses/kills in this film fit the known details of his intended targets. In reality, a couple of women had restraining orders on him and one even moved away because of his harassment -- and two of the women he stalks in this film are clearly based on them.

At first, while watching this, I didn't understand why they would include so much factual information (actual poetry and drawings) but then depict murders that never happened. But the similarity to his intended future victims is what made me see what they were up to: the cliché old dream sequence technique.

However, even understanding that doesn't redeem this voyeuristic and gratuitously violent film. The lead actor physically resembles Rader in many ways and does his best to appear menacing. The women mostly overact (his wife "Susan" and one of the daughters, for example) or underact (the other daughter).

Wish I had never watched this. Made me feel like I had been dragged through scum and needed to take a shower.

Horrible audio!

[pikachuflorida · 2/10 · 10 March 2024]

So often the background music/sound effects were so loud, I couldn't hear the dialogue. I don't know if that was intentional or just terrible audio editing. It ruined long stretches of the show being unable to make out whar was being said. I usually keep my tv volume at about 20 to avoid bothering my neighbors. Even at 60, I could hear the background noise but could only barely make out some of the dialogue. It's hard to evaluate the acting when you feel like you're missing out on the story. I've read about BTK but if I wasn't very familiar with the case and this movie was my first exposure to it, I would be totally lost.