How to Be a Serial Killer

Here's a movie whose title matches up perfectly with its subject. Mike Wilson (Dameon Clarke) really is a serial killer, and for him crime does pay—he holds seminars instructing would-be murderers to “listen to the voices in your head” and stop repressing sociopathic urges. In disaffected video-store attendant Bart (Matthew Gray Gubler), Mike sees a kindred spirit, taking the younger man under his wing and showing him the serial-killer ropes in filmmaker Luke Ricci's darkly comic indie. Shot in faux-documentary style, How to Be a Serial Killer offers a study in manipulation and psychosis with plentiful laughs—especially early on—although the true extent of Mike's mental disturbance manifests itself more frighteningly during the second half's genuinely shocking gory moments. Anyone who has an arrogant boss, shrewish in-law, or nasty neighbor will recognize the broadly sketched principal characters, but the film's best performance belongs to Clarke, who skillfully transitions Mike from a seemingly happy-go-lucky pitchman to a severely unbalanced miscreant. Offbeat, smartly written, and devilishly amusing, this little gem is one of the year's real sleepers. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include deleted scenes (19 min.) and a “Body Count” featurette with statistics on the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning indie film.] (E. Hulse)