He Drives at Night (2019) by Chuck Chapman

Director: Chuck Chapman
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Psycho/Thriller

Plot:
After receiving a series of mysterious calls and messages, the writer of a flop crime novel soon finds himself forced to document the crimes of a notorious serial killer terrorizing the community against his will and drives to preserve his sanity the longer they work together as he tries to stop his rampage.

Review:

This one ended being rather enjoyable overall. One of the strongest aspects here is the fact that there's a truly engaging storyline here involving the build-up of their relationship. The way the two work here, featuring the fantastic early scenes of the clips and messages on the phone shown to be having quite an impact on his psyche as the writer is clearly at odds with the situation while the taunting killer is relishing the work. This dynamic continues throughout the film with the speed clearly taking a toll on him while we get to set gradually more impressive work from the killer during these scenes generating some solid stalking at points in the rampage. As this psychological interplay is done in conjunction with a great mystery involving the killer's identity which is genuinely tough to guess and some fine low-budget gore, the film's entertaining for the most part.

There are some flaws to the film. Among the films' biggest problems is the shortchanging that occurs on the various kills here which are somewhat maddening in how they're accomplished. Not only is this one continuously cutting away before the moment of impact, but it also montages a whole host of kills in rapid fashion without even offering a chance to get these on-screen, which is quite distracting and utterly disappointing where that occurs for too many kills in the rampage. The low-budget nature is also a big issue here, with the format of its shooting origin giving this some rather clumsy scenes here, most notably the teen's death with the power drill or the woman in the woods which is wholly cheesy in construction and execution causing this a wholly unintentional laugh. Along with a somewhat rushed ending, these are what really good this one back.

Overview: ***/5
There's a lot to like with this one as the engrossing mystery and build-up in the film are more than enough to overcome the minor flaws that aren't really detrimental all that much. Give this a shot of you're a fan of these low-budget serial killer efforts or intrigued by the investigation angle more than slashing, while those turned off by the flaws of looking for more of a straight-up slasher should heed caution.