Heebies, Meet Jeebies

Rating: Null/10 (18 March 2009)

David Fincher's "Zodiac" is the scariest movie I have ever seen. Slasher flicks leave me dry and psycho killers put me to sleep, but somehow, somewhere, this movie crosses the line.
While Fincher's earlier "Se7en" was more dark than frightening, "Zodiac" tells the TRUE story of the San Francisco serial killer from the 70's who has never been caught. You are left with the knowledge that there is a violent maniac on the loose who can still be anywhere... at anytime...
The film shows us police officers and newspaper reporters- who back then knew less about homicide investigation than an average TV viewer does today- blindly and naively corrupt crime scenes, destroy evidence, and inadvertently promote the mystery murderer by agreeing to print his demented manifesto in the newspaper for the terrorized city to read! It might in fact be argued that it was the SFPD's complete bungling of the case that led to the strict set of procedures police follow today. "Did we have the actual killer in here for questioning and let him go? Are we even close to breaking the case? Is this corpse another victim of the Zodiac killer or was this an unrelated slaying?"
Nobody knows, and that's why I won't sleep tonight. Instead of most "horror" movies that focus on the killer as a deranged superhero or crazed genius, Zodiac is the scariest boogeyman of them all- the one we never meet.
I wouldn't suggest following too closely the characters played by Gyllenhaal, Ruffalo or Downey- none of them have an answer. Keep your eyes wide open and try to spot the killer yourself. I literally got goosebumps from watching this real-life nightmare, and as God is my witness I walked around my house making loud noises while checking every room and making sure I had locked the door. This is deep creepiness that gets under your skin and stays there... don't miss it.
GRADE: A-