Texas Killing Fields (film)

Texas Killing Fields (also known as The Fields) is a 2011 American crime film directed by Ami Canaan Mann and starring Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jessica Chastain and Chloë Grace Moretz. It competed in the 68th Venice International Film Festival.[1]

For the area, see Texas Killing Fields.

Texas Killing Fields
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAmi Canaan Mann
Written byDon Ferrarone
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyStuart Dryburgh
Edited byCindy Mollo
Music byDickon Hinchliffe
Production
companies
  • Forward Pass
  • Gideon Productions
  • Infinity Media
  • QED International
  • Watley Entertainment
Distributed byAnchor Bay Films
Release date
  • October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.69 million

The film's screenplay was loosely inspired by the history of killings along 30-plus miles of the Interstate 45 (I-45) corridor between Houston and Galveston, in and around an area known as "the Killing Fields". The true events include the murders of women kidnapped from cities spread along the I-45 corridor and dumped in many areas, including various bayous surrounding the oil fields of Texas City, Texas. While in real life there have been several itinerant serial killers involved over the years, the film focuses on specific local Texas City suspects.

Plot

Souder, a homicide detective in a small Texan town, and his partner, transplanted New York City cop Detective Heigh, track a sadistic serial killer dumping his victims' mutilated bodies in a nearby marsh locals call 'The Killing Fields'. Though the swampland crime scenes are outside their jurisdiction, Detective Heigh is unable to turn his back on solving the gruesome murders. Despite his partner's warnings, he sets out to investigate the crimes. Before long, the killer changes the game and begins hunting the detectives, teasing them with possible clues at the crime scenes while always remaining one step ahead. When local girl Ann goes missing, the detectives find themselves racing against time to catch the killer and save the young girl's life.

Cast

Production

The film was originally going to be directed by Danny Boyle before he left the project and was replaced by Ami Canaan Mann, daughter of director Michael Mann, who produced the film.[2] Boyle said that the film was "so dark it would never get made".[3]

The film was distributed overseas by Entertainment Film Distributors, a British company.[4] Filming began on May 3, 2010, in Louisiana, United States.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was scored by Dickon Hinchliffe (formerly of Tindersticks) except for three tracks credited to The Americans.[5]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Texas Killing Fields is a competent boilerplate crime thriller, brewing up characters and plots used in better films."[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[7]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film two out of four stars and said, "Texas Killing Fields begins along the lines of a police procedural and might have been perfectly absorbing if it had played by the rules: strict logic, attention to detail, reference to technical police work. Unfortunately, the movie often seems to stray from such discipline."[8] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times commented that "like the Texas City killer's plans, something's gone terribly wrong" with the film.[9] On a more lenient note, James Mottram of GamesRadar wrote: "Mann Jr. shows plenty of promise in a film that doesn’t tarnish the family name. But hindered by niggling flaws, it hardly revolutionises an over-saturated genre."[10]

Box office

Texas Killing Fields received a limited theatrical release domestically, in just 10 theatres, grossing $0.05 million, and $1.64 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.69 million.[11]

References
  1. "Venezia 68: International competition of feature films". Venice. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  2. "Sam Worthington Confirmed as Lead of The Fields, Formerly Called The Texas Killing Fields | /Film". Slashfilm.com. February 8, 2010. Archived from the original on October 31, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  3. "Danny Boyle Probably Not Entering The 'Texas Killing Fields' Or 'Ponte Tower'". MTV.com. February 27, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  4. "Sam Worthington joins 'Fields' film". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  5. "'Texas Killing Fields' Soundtrack Released". Film Music Reporter. April 6, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  6. "Texas Killing Fields". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  7. "Texas Killing Fields". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  8. Ebert, Roger (October 19, 2011). "An unwholesome landscape". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2014 – via RogerEbert.com.
  9. Sharkey, Betsy (October 14, 2011). "Movie review: 'Texas Killing Fields'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  10. Mottram, James (October 26, 2011). "Texas Killing Fields review". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  11. "Texas Killing Fields". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
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