A very good script, fine direction and top-notch actors make Texas Killing Fields, now on Blu-ray/DVD, a suspenseful thriller.  The film, based on a true happening, winds its way through crime scenes, suspects and chases leading up to a final exciting confrontation.  If you like movies that are intriguing with a lot of action, then check out this title now available.

The film centers on Detective Souder (Sam Worthington) who heads up the homicide division in Texas City a small Texas town.  He has just acquired a new partner, Detective Heigh (Jeffery Dean Morgan) a top cop from New York City.  When we meet them they are tracking a killer who has dumped a body by a roadside.  At the same time, an abandoned car is discovered in an adjacent town’s swamp nicknamed “The Killing Fields” due to four bodies being found there. But, that town’s detective, Pam Stall (Jessica Chastain) is very protective about that crime scene and it makes it difficult for the outsiders to investigate the murder in their vicinity.  When Anne (Chloe Grace Moritz) a popular middle school girl in Souder’s precinct goes missing, all three detectives know that they are on the clock.

Director Ami Canaan Mann makes here film exciting from the opening scene body discovery, a tough town of impoverished people resisting the investigation and suspects turning up all over the place.  Using Worthington (Avatar) and Morgan (The Losers) as a pair of tough cops who stop at nothing, she creates a lot of intrigue and action.  Chastain (The Help) does a good job of playing the feisty neighboring detective who doesn’t want the two outsiders tromping on her crime field, especially since one of them happens to be her ex-husband.

Adding a bit of urgency, Moritz (Kick-Ass, Hugo) turns on the charm as the young poverty-stricken girl who has to deal with an alcoholic mother who takes on men for extra cash.  As Anne we find her trying to cope with her situation and stave off advances by her mother’s boyfriends.  She’s the catalyst that leads to the exciting ending.

 Texas Killing Fields Chloe Grace Moritz

After you have watched the movie than go to the set up feature and turn on the audio commentary featuring Director Ami Canaan Man and writer Donald F. Ferrarone.  The two go into more depth how the film came about, the choosing of the actors, and details that may have been missed while you were watching it the first time through.

The film has been rated R by the MPAA for violence and language including some sexual references.

Editor’s Note: Texas Killing Fields got its inspiration from the true events that took place in League City, Texas where bodies started turning up leading to an investigation of a possible serial killer in 1986.  According to the Houston Chronicle newspaper the case has never been solved and two women have yet to be identified connected with the crimes.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good intriguing crime flick. Feature (B), Bonus Commentary (B), overall experience (B)

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

Cast: Sam Worthington, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Chloe Grace Moritz, Jason Clarke and Jessica Chastain

Director: Ami Canaan Mann

MPAA Rating: R (for violence and language including some sexual references)

Genre: Thriller, Crime, and Drama

Running Time: 1 hr 45 min

Format: 2.40:1/16×9 Full Screen 1080p

Sound: Blu-ray – Dolby TrueHD 7.1

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Street Date: January 31, 2012

Distributed by: Anchor Bay Films

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