Letters from a Killer (1998)

A man is wrongfully convicted of killing his wife. After he is let out of prison, he is framed again.

Director:

David Carson

Writers:

Nicholas Hicks-Beach (screenplay), Shelley Miller (screenplay)

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, Kim Myers, Gia Carides

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Swayze	...	Race Darnell
Gia Carides	...	Lita
Kim Myers	...	Gloria Stevens
Olivia Birkelund	...	Stephanie
Tina Lifford	...	Elizabeth
Elizabeth Ruscio	...	Judith Sutton
Roger E. Mosley	...	Horton
Bruce McGill	...	Brinker
Mark Rolston	...	O'Dell
Don Stark	...	Geary
Katy Selverstone	...	Singleton
Michael Bowen	...	Parker
Kevin Chamberlin	...	Cutler
Sam Atkinson	...	Morgan
Armand Reiser	...	Singing Inmate

Storyline

A man is falsely convicted of the murder of his wife. During his time in jail, he finds comfort from four women with whom he corresponds. After his second court appearance, he is finally freed from prison, only to be framed for two more murders which he did not commit. With the help of his former prison guard, he once again sets out to clear his name.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi federal bureau of investigation | murder | prison | wrongful conviction | flashback | 

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Taglines:

Don't Open The Mail.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming on May 9, 1997, Patrick Swayze broke both legs and tore four tendons in his shoulder when his horse threw him into a tree. He said he grabbed the horse's mane and flipped himself around so that he wouldn't hit the tree with his head.

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Quotes

Race Darnell: Hearing your voice soothes me like waves softly lapping on the shore.

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Soundtracks

Everything Bitter Tastes Sweet
Written by Angelo Petraglia
Published by 2 Kids Music/Innerman Music/BMG Songs, Inc.
All rights administered by BMG Songs, Inc. (ASCAP)

User Reviews

A lot of been there done that, some plot holes, but otherwise pretty good

I know, everyone considering watching this movie thinks the same thing...it's probably going to suck, but there's nothing else on, or you watch it for Swayze in his post 80's straight to video film career. Either way you look at it, this is actually a pretty entertaining film, if you can suspend any rational thoughts for about 90 minutes.

The first hour of this film is the best. We see Swayze wrongfully put in prison, on death row and about to be executed within a few weeks. He has written a best selling novel in prison and has acquired 4 very lonely fans that he communicates with via cassette tapes. The problem is, he leads every one of them to believe that they are the only ones keeping him alive, so when two of the tapes get switched, one of them sends him a death threat out of pure jealousy. After about 15 min into the film, his eviction is overturned, and he is released from jail with the ubiquitous fear of a killer stalking him. He then visits each one of the girls to find out who is sending him the threats.

Honestly, I liked the plot of this movie. Not an original theme with the jealous psycho slasher, but it is an original storyline nonetheless. Swayze does act kind of stupid in some scenes, and unconvincing in others (when he is released from jail, we all know he had the first death threat, but come on, to show NO HAPPINESS at all for escaping death row and having your name cleared?? Bad acting, Patrick), but overall it is a good movie. It does kind of wander in the middle, and becomes a routine slasher where most of the killings are done off screen, but it does serve as a fairly capable who-dunnit. Oh, and there is a pretty lame 'buddy' part in the middle which you can basically ignore.

I was able to guess who the killer was before the first murder, but honestly, they played it out so it could be anyone (also, one character is written as a little too conveniently psycho to allow anyone to possibly get any clues as to who did it). I thought the best part though was the fact that only 2 of the 4 tapes were switched in the beginning, so we can surmise of course, that 2 of them found out about the other girls, and we have to guess which 2 they were (though one is very obvious, complete with broken picture frame of Swayze during the montage of him calling all of them). The ending shot is pretty cheesy, but hey, what do you expect? Overall, an entertaining movie. Not thought provoking, but worth a look. 7/10 stars.

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1998 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Cartas de Um Assassino

Filming Locations:

Echo, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

J&M Entertainment, LFAK Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1