diddleysquat-1 Reviews

The Eleven (2017)

Awesome! I am hooked!

[10/10 · 3 November 2017]

I've seen four episodes so far (and eagerly await the final two). As of November 2nd, they are:

"Paradise Lost" "Russian Roulette" "Motel Murder" "No One Could Hear Her Scream"

This story is complex but extremely well told so that viewers can follow all the loose ends. The series focuses on each incident where a young woman or two women (in pairs) vanished and turned up murdered. You get background on the victims and the era, witness statements, existing evidence, and absolutely wonderful original film footage from the 70s, including clips from actual news broadcasts.

Real detectives (some retired) and a newspaper writer appear as they actual work to solve the crimes. The most likely suspect, who confessed in detail and then recanted, is interviewed and his puzzling and sometimes chilling comments are inserted at relevant times. A complicated story, yes, but so well organized that one can easily follow it and be completely drawn in as the mystery unfolds.

This is the real thing. So many crime documentaries lately have become poorly acted soap opera with ghastly made-up dialogue. So it's delightful to see a program like The Eleven! It is mysterious, fascinating, addictive and, most importantly, honest.

Cyberstalker (V) (2012)

A budget of $1.8 million? Please tell me nooooooo.

[1/10 · 2 December 2012]

(I'm not sure this is a spoiler but don't want to take chances.)

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Nothing in this movie makes sense. The stalker breaks in by decoding the burglar alarm, lies down in the girl's bed, drops a cell phone that somehow clues the parents (with a few numbers) that the alarm system has been breached. He then emerges to kill the girl's parents and in a flash he's gone.

Next we go to a scene 13 years later where a detective is still struggling to solve what would have been a very cold case. And the home invader, well, he's still at it.

Did the script writer expect us to believe that a cell phone app could turn a series of deadbolt locks at the apartment of a tech-phobe who wouldn't get near anything related to electronics? Yes, we're talking plain old brass deadbolt locks. Step right up suckers. See him turn them from the outside using a cell phone!

And, yes, he manages murder the woman's only friend (her therapist) by messing with the walk light at a busy intersection. Another cell phone app, it seems. You'd think the lead character would have reacted with some sadness. Well, don't expect logic here.

It took at least a month to film this piece of pure rubbish. How do I know? The lead actress's hair is blonde to the roots in some scenes and has a one-centimeter outgrowth of untreated hair in others. That takes a month.

A budget of under $2 million is low for movies, I know. But it should be enough for an $8 bottle of hair dye. Never mind. Not worth it.

Worst TV movie I've seen outside the intentionally-bad SciFi channel stuff. Ghastly awful.