'Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer' DVD Review

A been-there-done-that exploration into the "mind of a serial killer."

When reporter Maria Sanchez (Danielle Harris), the ambitious host of investigative TV show Last Steps, learns of the disappearance of over 200 students from a Midwestern college (somehow this was not already national news), she jumps on the case. She's ecstatic to receive a call from a man named Emmett (Lance Henriksen) who says he knows what happened to them all -- they're dead -- and who killed them.

Apparently, Emmett's friend, a man named Cyrus Danser (Brian Krause), was responsible for the disappearances, which stopped five years ago. (He says Cyrus is "gone.") In order to stop her meddling in locals' business, Emmett offers to reveal the details of Cyrus' exploits. Did someone say flashbacks?

Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer benefits from solid production value and a solid cast featuring familiar faces Harris, Henriksen, Krause and modern-day scream queen Tiffany Shepis (in a surprisingly un-sexy role), but otherwise it's a cliché-ridden affair that plays out like almost every other serial killer-profiling horror movie out there. Guess what? He's a loner! He was abused as a child! He had bad relationships with women!

Adding insult to injury, scenes from Cyrus' life are interspersed with documentary-style interviews with criminal "experts" who disseminate their expertise with a thick layer of "duh," regurgitating what we already know about serial killers and going so far as to explain that yes, there is a difference between mass murderers and serial killers. There's also a clip of an interview with a totally separate serial killer and escapee (Rae Dawn Chong in a throwaway role) that further fragments the story.

Cyrus eventually degrades into tiresome "torture porn" that's not as edgy as it seems to think it is and relies on presenting annoying victims to make the titular character more sympathetic. Still, thanks to a likable cast (including Henriksen in one of the better roles he's had of late) and a frame story that helps to freshen the core plot, Cyrus remains fairly engaging if not original.

The DVD

Special features include a featurette.

Movie: C
DVD/Blu-ray: D

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the distributor. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.