CYRUS: MIND OF A SERIAL KILLER

Cyrus: Mind Of A Serial Killer is a rather unique horror film about a serial killer named--you guessed it!---Cyrus who's known as "The County Line Cannibal." A Geraldo Rivera-esque reporter--played by noted horror film actress Danielle Harris (who actually resembles actress Jennifer Love Hewitt who herself is an alumnus of horror flicks)--wants to do a story on Cyrus, so she along with her cameraman travel to the small town where Cyrus lived to talk to his rather weird friend--played by Lance Henriksen (of Aliens fame)--where he agrees to talk with her on the condition that she not air any of the footage. Of course, she agrees to his terms--even though she, of course, plans to air the footage anyway--and he starts recounting the life & gruesome times of Cyrus The Country Line Cannibal. As he's talking, it shows a series of flashbacks of how Cyrus came to be a serial killer--he had an abusive mother as well as a non-supportive, cheating wife--as well as his brutal killing spree. The first time Cyrus kills is when he comes home to find his wife having sex with another man and he not only kills both of them but he kills their infant son as well. From there, he goes on to kill several women and men. Even more disturbing he grinds up their innards into meat patties and sausages and stuff and sells them as "roadkill" to the unsuspecting townsfolk (ala the "classic" horror flick Motel Hell). Interspersed with the flashbacks are a number of "interviews" with serial killer/mass murderer "experts" on what makes these psychos tick. Anyway, the movie at times plays out like a typical episode of the TV show Criminal Minds, only gorier. Plus the fact that one can pretty much see the ending coming from a mile away in that one can tell early on that Lance's character is either Cyrus himself or he is somehow in cahoots with Cyrus (I'll just let you watch the movie for yourself to see which one he actually is, all right?), especially when Danielle's character tells him something like, "I'll bet my life on it!" Anyway, in spite of its obvious flaws (like, for instance, law enforcement doesn't seem to be looking too hard for Cyrus), it's still a pretty interesting little film and is not like your "standard" serial killer/horror flick fare (if you can stomach watching it, that is). A sidenote: This film was reportedly "inspired" by serial killers such as Henry Lee Lucas who is considered to be America's most prolific serial killer who had confessed to committing over 200 killings and Fritz Haarman who was known as "The Butcher Of Hanover" and "The Vampire Of Hanover" who was a German serial killer believed to have been responsible for the brutal murders of over 20 young boys and men. Ain't humanity grand!