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I managed to quickly view The Clovehitch Killer just before it was removed from Netflix streaming. This is another offering that has been sitting in my Netflix queue for a long, long time where it just never seemed like it deserved my attention. How long, you might ask? There is a good chance I added it after I watched The Fall, back in 2019.

The reason that might be, if true, is this is another piece (a movie this time) incorporating aspects of the BTK Killer and his crimes into a fictional story. It is not a docudrama – the story does not match that of the actual serial killings. Unlike The Fall, though, this one heavily incorporates certain details of that case in a way that is unmistakable, once you’re aware of the similarities.

One reason I delayed watching is it looked like something of an independent, budget piece. Because of that, I was a little surprised when I noticed that the lead role was acted by Dylan McDermott. Other faces became familiar* as I gave it more thought. So, while this production was a bit off the beaten path, it was by no means a work of unknowns.

Stephen King tweeted about the film, calling it an “excellent small movie.” His intent, stumping it three years after release, was to push for us to view it on Netflix. Whether he fully intended to or not, the descriptive “small” fits this film to a T.

Fitting in with the theme which places the “action” in a small, very religious community**, The Clovehitch Killer eschews nudity, violence, profanity, and overt sexual activity – at least insofar as that is possible in a film about a sex killer. Instead, the tension is focused on the characters themselves as they wonder what they know and what they don’t know and we wonder what the consequences of that knowledge might bring.

I’m on board with Mr. King on this one. I’m glad that, although I did not take his advice promptly, I managed to catch this one before it met it’s Netflix “end.”

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

*While I forgive myself for not remembering a number of faces, it seems I’ve seen a lot of Madisen Beaty in reason years. At 13, she played the 10-year-old love interest of old-man Benjamin Button. She played Manson groupie “Katie” opposite David Duchovny in Aquarius and again opposite Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

**Truth be told, it was a little overdone, the religiosity. The fictional story takes place in small town Kentucky (versus the real-life Kansas) and centers everything around church life. I pick up a hint of coastal screenwriters disdain for those bible-thumping rubes living in flyover country. It is hard, for example, for me to imagine a group of teenaged boys flying into a tizzy over one page of porn torn from a bondage mag. I don’t care how much they love Jesus.