Plot
Horrific murders which once lived only in a young man's nightmares suddenly begin occurring in chilling reality in his hometown.

Release Year: 2010

Rating: 3.1/10 (105 voted)

Director: Douglas S. Younglove

Stars: Zachary Ray Sherman, Ron Perlman, Armand Assante

Storyline
The troubled teenager Owen Whitmore has a sleep disorder and occasionally sleepwalks. Owen is having therapy sessions with Dr. Katherine Ramos. Having just joined the medical school, he has to move to another town, but he is divided between the college and his sweetheart, Maggie. His parents Leona and Walter Whitmore are very worried about him. When Owen has violent dreams, Dr. Ramos decides to consult with Dr. Jonas Julian, a specialist in dream analysis and sleep disorders. Meanwhile, people are protesting in front of the Townsend State Prison where the infamous serial killer Dr. Eugene "Mean Gene" Branch will be executed. Dr. Eugene is the son of another serial-killer and had performed sadistic medical experiments on his victims. Out of the blue, Marcia Freeman who went missing, is found dead in precisely the way that Owen saw in his dreams - the murder set up as if carried out by Dr. Branch.

Cast:
Zachary Ray Sherman - Owen
Ron Perlman - Dr. Julian
Armand Assante - Eugene Branch
Lin Shaye - Leona
Haley Hudson - Maggie
Richard Riehle - Warden Upton
Richard Portnow - Walter
Svetlana Efremova - Dr. Ramos
Jason Hildebrandt - Detective Marc Houlihan
Ron McCoy - Harvey
Lee de Broux - Medical Examiner
Michael Adam Hamilton - Mystery Boy (as Michael A. Hamilton)
Joe Taylor - Medical Examiner
Corey Browne - Insane Death Row Inmate #1
Bill Cook - Network News Anchor

Release Date: 3 Jan 2010

Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA

User Review

Absurd, Predictable and Flawed Thriller

Rating: 3/10

The troubled teenager Owen Whitmore (Zachary Ray Sherman) has sleep disorder and occasionally sleepwalks, and is under therapy with Dr. Katherine Ramos (Svetlana Efremova). Owen has just joined the medical school and has to move to another town, but he is divided between the college and his sweetheart, Maggie (Haley Hudson). His parents Leona (Lin Shaye) and Walter Whitmore (Richard Portnow) are very worried about the situation. When Owen has violent dreams with Maggie, Dr. Ramos decides to consult Dr. Jonas Julian (Ron Perlman), who is a specialist in dream analysis and sleep disorder and is researching the genetic mutation of evil. Meanwhile, people are protesting in front of the Townsend State Prison where the infamous serial killer Dr. Eugene "Mean Gene" Branch will be executed. Dr. Eugene is the son of another serial-killer and has performed sadistic medical experiments in his victims and after many postponements, will have his death penalty finally executed. Out of the blue, the missing Marcia Freeman that works at the Wydress Medical Clinic, the psychiatric facility where Dr. Ramos and Dr. Julian also work, is found dead the way Owen had dreamt and with the "modus operandi" of Dr. Branch. Dr. Julian reports to Detective Marc Houlihan (Jason Hildebrandt) his suspects about Owen, but the detective does not give credit to his words. When Dr. Ramos and Walter Whitman are found dead, Owen becomes the prime suspect of the police.

"Killer by Nature" is an absurd, predictable and flawed thriller that has a terrible screenplay and acting. The story would be interesting with a better direction, cast and the most important, a higher budget. There are only a few characters; therefore it is not difficult to guess who might be the real killer. In times where forensic investigations have accurate perception of the crime scene, inclusive using DNA, it is ridiculous that Owen is not submitted to blood and DNA tests to know whether he is responsible or not for the deaths. The state prison looks like a mall or supermarket, where anyone can access and talk to a criminal in the death row. How could a famous psychotherapist be known by two different names The position of Leona, who does not believe in her son, seems to be a soap-opera instead of a deep family drama. Ron Perlman is a good actor for action movies, but never convinces as a psychotherapist. The unknown Haley Hudson is a promising actress, with her sweet face and I found her character fascinating. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Vocação Assassina" ("Assassin Vocation")

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