Editor Reviews:

Description:
Based on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation’s history, "Zodiac" is a thriller from David Fincher, director of "Se7en" and "Panic Room." As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the murderer. The case will become an obsession for four men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.

Amazon.com:
Closer in spirit to a police procedural than a gory serial-killer flick, David Fincher's Zodiac provides a sleek, armrest-gripping re-invention of the crime film. It surveys the investigation of the Zodiac killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late -60-early -70s; Zodiac not only killed people, but cultivated a Jack the Ripper aura by sending icky letters to the newspapers and daring readers to solve coded messages. But the film's focus isn't on the killer. We follow the reporters and detectives whose lives are taken over by the case, notably an addictive crime writer (a sartorially splendid Robert Downey Jr.), an awkward editorial cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), and a hard-working cop (Mark Ruffalo). Fincher and his brilliant cinematographer Harris Savides are deft at capturing the period feel of the city, without laying on the seventies kitsch, and James Vanderbilt's script doles out its big moments to major and minor characters alike. Fincher's confidence is infectious; the movie glides through its myriad details with such dexterity that even the blind alleys and red herrings seem essential. The well-chosen cast includes unexpected people popping up all over: Anthony Edwards as a lunch-bucket homicide cop; Charles Fleischer as a mysterious suspect; Elias Koteas and Donal Logue as small-town policemen whose districts are hit by Zodiac; Chloe Sevigny as Gyllenhaal's sweet-natured wife; Brian Cox as the media-friendly lawyer Melvin Belli, so famous he once appeared on Star Trek; and the mighty John Carroll Lynch, as a supremely creepy suspect. The film is based on non-fiction books by Robert Graysmith (he's portrayed by Gyllenhaal), although Fincher and co. did extensive research on their own. The result is a propulsive whodunit without (thus far) an ending, but the uncertainty makes the film even more intriguing. --Robert Horton

Beyond Zodiac

The Zodiac (2005)

Curse of the Zodiac (2007)

The Novel

Rating : - "Titwillo, Titwillo"
As a person who was mesmerized by Robert Greysmith's book, I did not think any movie production based on the same events could compare. I was wrong. This is a wonderful movie, if you like true crime productions, and mind boggling even if you don't. As a young Army wife who took a two week TDY to SF, I found myself staying in an el cheapo motel right next to The Presidio where Zodiac, who was still active, had done some of his most heineous handiwork. I was frightened and always looking over my shoulder. As a true crime buff, I had stayed aprised of his activities. I have even visited the Zodiac website many times since, where you can hear a recording of a Zodiac suspect's actual voice. Chilling. Who was the Zodiac? Their best canditate has been cleared by DNA lab results of sealing one of the envelopes with his own saliva. He was a clever guy, however and possibly tricked another person into sealing it for him before he put the address to the SF Police dept on it. Police science will most probably give us the answer some day. Jake Gyllenhaal as Greysmith is superb, as are the scenes that try to help us get inside the mind of the killer and the man obsessed with catching him.