Karla (2006)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Joel Bender

Writers:

Joel Bender (writer)
Manette Rosen (co-writer)

Release Date:

20 January 2006 (Canada)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Barbie and Ken of serial killers.

Plot:

Based on real events, Paul Bernardo (Collins) and his wife, Karla Homolka (Prepon), kidnap, sexually abuse, and murder three young girls.

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Naivety | Female Criminal | Party | Implied Nudity

Cast

Laura Prepon	...	Karla Homolka
Misha Collins	...	Paul Bernardo
Patrick Bauchau	...	Dr. Arnold
Emilie Jacobs	...	Debbie
Alex Boyd	...	Nick
Carole Ita White	...	Waitress
Fiona Manners	...	Rape Victim #1
Shawn Hoffman	...	Detective Steve Kirby
Adam Lieberman	...	Detective Morgan
Cherilyn Hayres	...	Tammy Homolka
William Duffy	...	Detective Porter
Tanya Lemelle	...	Rape Victim #2
Tony Shawkat	...	Border Guard #1
Kristen Honey	...	Tina McCarthy (as Kristen Swieconek)
Cole James	...	Tina's Friend

Also Known As:

Deadly (Canada: English title) (pre-release title) (USA) (working title)
Karla (Canada: English title) (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for brutal psychotic violence including murder, rape and spousal abuse, disturbing sexual content and strong language.

Runtime:

USA:99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | USA:R | Canada:(Banned) (in cities not permitted by the parents of victims including Guelph)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Quantum Entertainment

Trivia:

Despite the true crime events having occurred in Canada, nobody in the Canadian industry wanted to be involved with this project. So it was filmed entirely in the United States with an all American cast and crew.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The 'Toronto Sun' newspaper depicted in the movie is in broadsheet format. The actual 'Toronto Sun' is published in tabloid format. The movie version of the 'Sun' actually more closely resembles the real 'Toronto Star', its competitor, which is published in broadsheet format.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dr. Arnold: Dear Karla, this is to inform you that after serving 8 years of your 12 year term, you're now eligible for parole. In connection with this eligibility, you are to be transferred to this facility for extended evaluation. After the end of which, it will be my responsibility to recommend for or against parole.

Movie Connections:

References Criminal Law (1988)

Disturbed

I was very disturbed to see some of the comments made about this movie. It was said that "the murder and gratuitous violence scenes were not explicit or even realistic"! They were plenty explicit and realistic, enough that I almost stopped the movie. Also, it has to be understood why Canadians did not support this movie. The victims in this movie were children victims, of a smallish, "quiet calm" community, and they were the children of this community. Imagine if this happened to your next door neighbours child, or YOUR child, and then someone wants to make a movie about it! You would be infuriated! I lived in Welland, Ontario when these people were on the loose. I was 12 years old, and my parents were paranoid nervous wrecks until these people were arrested. The day they were arrested, we did not have any classes, they parked us in front of the TV's to watch the news, and so we would have peace of mind that these evil sickos were off the street, and we were safe from them. They terrorized the communities, even the ones that we have no knowledge of them being in, they were close enough to us, that it was very possible that one of the victims could have been one of my friends, they were just too close to us. So, when you complain that this movie was not real enough, or explicit enough, just remember, it not JUST a movie, it was real life! And what you see in the movie is not even the half of all the horrible things they REALLY did.