Murder One Reviews

Based on a true crime spree that began in Maryland and ended in Georgia in 1973, MURDER ONE is a bleak look at the group of killers who murdered six members of the Alday family. The story is told through the eyes of 15-year-old Billy Isaacs (Henry Thomas). Billy's brother, Carl (James Wilder); his half-brother, Wayne Coleman (Stephen Shellen); and Wayne's cellmate, George Dungee (Errol Slue), a 36-year-old retarded black man, have escaped from a minimum-security prison. When the fugitives flee, Billy goes with them, thinking he'll just go for a joy ride. After destroying a hated uncle's home and stealing a few shotguns, the group heads south and begin a series of cold-blooded killings. MURDER ONE is a methodical and detailed account of their 13-day rampage presented in a chilling, matter-of-fact manner by director Graeme Campbell. With its passionless surface and its almost pathological fetish for unblinking detail, the film is deeply disturbing.