BLACKWATER TRAIL
Easier to follow than breadcrumbs

  Judd Nelson - the only Breakfast Clubber to come close to falling as far and fast as the sad, chasm-like drop of Anthony Michael Hall - stars as an American writer who goes to Australia to attend the funeral of his best friend.  By all appearances, it appears to have been a suicide, but a former lover contends that it was murder - and she has the sinister tape to prove it.  (they don't take it to the police because the local cop was made a hero for "catching" their local serial killer and probably doesn't want his hero status revoked by the suggestion that he caught the wrong guy.  I dunno, seems like a tape like that would be hard to ignore)

This killer leaves a little Bible verse (just the book and verse number, he doesn't write the whole damn thing down himself) as his calling card each time, and the two of them see this as a good place to start.  It leads them (without the aid of the police, of course) on a lengthy scavenger hunt for clues left by the killer.

It all starts out well, but gets repetitive pretty quickly.  They find a body part, and a booby trap, and a little red card with a bible verse on it...which takes them to another body part, another booby trap, etc etc etc.  This killer obviously does not have a whole lot invested in remaining at large.

The clues that are followed are pretty obvious - it's with a pretty substantial suspension of disbelief that  any viewer might accept that they trace our killer to the local hospital when, given the facts, the police did not.  (two of the three previous victims were nurses, the third, a patient.  Duh.)  There's even one of those scenes where our hero figures out somebody else's computer password (not even knowing how long it is) in three guesses or less.

The biggest thing this movie has going for it is Dee Smart as the ex-lover along for the ride.  I don't know what it is about all these Australian and New Zealander thrillers, but they always seem to cast these enormously appealing women in their second-to-lead roles.  Skrybe, whatupwitdat?

I wouldn't recommend it, and I'm perilously close to actually asking you to stay away.  But I dunno, Smart has something really special happening here.  This is about the "lowest" yellow-zone movie I'll put on my web page, a hair's breadth away from being red.  In other words, give it a look if you find that it's on TV while you have nothing else to do, and don't feel bad for tuning in halfway through.

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