The true story of the hunt for Russia's most prolific serial killer. Unlike other serial killer movies this is not a thriller. Rather it is more concerned with the frustration and despair of trying to find a serial killer who covers his tracks. The basic facts of the story are told faithfully enough. There is a heavy anti-communist tone, as the detective-hero has to wrestle with bureaucracy and communist incompetence. Interestingly the film shows how it got easier for him when Glasnost and Perestroika came into effect. In fact in one sense it got harder because when the papers were finally allowed to write about the story, there was huge public pressure to solve it. The fake Russian accents are a bit annoying and unnecessary but the script and screenplay are good and there is real attention to detail.
