Texas Killing Fields

2011 • 104 minutes

About this movie

Inspired by true events, this tense and haunting thriller follows Detective Souder (Sam Worthington of AVATAR, CLASH OF THE TITANS), a homicide detective in a small Texan town, and transplanted New York City Detective Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan of WATCHMEN) as they track a sadistic serial killer who dumps his victims' mutilated bodies in a nearby marsh locals call "The Killing Fields." Before long, the killer changes the game and begins hunting the detectives, teasing them with possible clues at the crime scenes, but always remaining one step ahead. When a local girl (Chloë Grace Moretz of LET ME IN, KICK-ASS) goes missing, the detectives find themselves racing against time to catch the killer and save the young girl's life.

Ratings and reviews

If one knew nothing about the real cases and nothing about the area, it stands up as a fairly decent thriller. I'll give it three stars for that as it's sometimes better and sometimes worse than other films of the like. There is almost nothing factual in this film which is fair as says in the beginning that it's 'inspired' by true events. That may be... but it's really, really loosely inspired. I suppose I keep hammering on that point because it calls itself Texas Killing Fields which means something much different to locals (myself included) than what this film presents. Anyway, worth a rental just for entertainment.

I happen to know the dectective that Sam Worthington portrays in this movie. He was very pleased with the outcome of the finished product. He was also a consultant for the filming of the movie. He has told me alot about the case and as hard as film makers try they cannot capture every nuance and get it on film. Personally I think they did an excellent job!

I love mysteries, but I cannot stand gore or gratuitous violence. If you're like me, don't let the title scare you away. This movie has an excellent plot, the writing is superb, and the acting is great. The subject matter is scary, and the opening scene is disturbing. However, the director is female and handles the killing with respect for the female victim, never showing the grizzly act itself. The ending is fantastic It was difficult to hear some of the Caucasian cop's dialogue. Other than that: 4 stars