Feels surprisingly like Lustig's "Maniac" at times

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2007)

"Zodiac", though an $80 million studio pic, feels a lot like Lustig's "Maniac" at times. Even the score echoes Jay Chataway's from that film. The Zodiac Killer is loose in San Francisco and he's boasting about his exploits in the media. A cartoonist, played by Jake Gylenhaal, finds a way to decipher some of the coded communications the killer sends to the media and begins his own investigation into the fiend's identity. There is a suspect, but there's nothing conclusive connecting him to the crimes. Mostly a police procedural, it is also a chilling thriller that manages to build a great deal of suspense and unease. Two stand-out sequences where Zodiac stalks and kills romantic couples are pretty amazing and violent. Almost three hours long and twenty minutes overlong, the director of "Seven" and "Fight Club" has crafted a solid, unconventional thriller that brilliantly recreates the two decades the Zodiac Killer remained anonymous (to most) and incognito. Well worth catching.