The Zodiac Killer (1971) on Netflix
R19711h 27mCrimeHorrorThriller
Random murders with no motive or pattern strike the San Francisco area, and taunting calls and letters reach the police. Grover is a drunk, divorced truck driver with money trouble.
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- Netflix2.2/5
- IMDb4.4/101,121 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
Random killings with no apparent pattern unsettle the San Francisco area, and taunting calls and letters reach the police. Grover is a truck driver who drinks, wears a toupee, and is divorced, with money problems left by the split. He and a friend meet and spend an ordinary day together. The story is fictional and gives the Zodiac Killer a name and a past of his own. Investigators weigh whether the man responsible could be an aggressive truck driver, a mild mailman, or a police officer. When Grover makes a surprise visit to his former wife, he is refused permission to see their daughter.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Zodiac Killer (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Tom Hanson said in interviews in 2012 and 2017 that making the film was part of an elaborate plot to catch the Zodiac Killer, because he reasoned the killer would not be able to resist attending the premiere.
- At the film's opening, moviegoers were handed cards printed with "I think the Zodiac kills because," and asked to finish the phrase; a volunteer inside the box compared each entry's handwriting to Zodiac samples and had plainclothes police alerted to anyone suspicious.
- The Zodiac Killer was the first film restored by the American Genre Film Archive, which released it on Blu-ray on July 25, 2017.
- The plot is drawn from the murders committed by the Zodiac Killer in the San Francisco area, but the film takes many liberties with the real investigation and gives the killer a name and a back story.
