taut, driven and surprisingly accurate

Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2007)

I was one of the kids on the school bus followed by the cops - back in the day. Zodiac scared the entire Bay Area for years. To now see what was behind the childhood fear is quite satisfying. Too young to know exactly why Zodiac was so evil- but old enough to fear.
The film nails the mood and details of turn of the decade 1970's San Francisco with cunning accuracy. Right down to the ads on the radio, TV personalities, Herb Caen. Granted many of the inside jokes will go by many viewers. The Melvin Belli character, as with so much of the film's recreation, is spot on. But the story quickly usurps the novelty.
Yeah at nearly 3 hours it runs long - but that too is faithful to the true story. The obsessive second half really has some chilling moments and I didn't feel it dragged. But then again I have a personal interest in the story. If you arrive with a blank slate you might feel differently.
We will never know exactly who the Zodiac was/is. This is one true psycho that beat the system and never got caught. To experience what feels like a first hand display of what went down makes Zodiac all the creepier.