Today, Anchor Bay Films will be releasing a new crime drama inspired by true events and a real location in Texas called Texas Killing Fields. The film stars Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen, The Losers) as two cops who are tracking down a serial killer known for killing young women. Like many killers in the area, the killer dumps the bodies in the Texas Killing Fields which is right outside the jurisdiction of Detectives Souder (Worthington) and Heigh (Morgan). At the request of Detective Pam (Jessica Chastain), Souder’s ex wife and the one responsible for monitoring the killing fields, Heigh decides to look into the murders and ignores Souder’s warnings, especially since they have their own homicide to solve. The film also stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) as Anne, a girl who Detective Heigh looks after since her white trash mom doesn’t want her around the house.
When I sat down to watch this movie I had absolutely no expectations. I was hoping for an intelligent and suspenseful crime drama after reading the synopsis, but what I ended up getting was a bland and very frustrating tale of annoying relationships and stupid decision making. I realize it may sound like I’m talking about a horror movie but I promise this is just a crime drama about a serial killer. Oh, I guess I should mention that this movie utilizes the textbook good cop/bad cop routine to the point that you’ll want to hit somebody the next time you see it used again (Sounder is the aggressive bad cop from Texas and Morgan is the gospel preaching good cop from NY).
Since I’ve already stated my displeasure for the film, I’ll finish off the negatives before I get to the positives. First off, the movie wasn’t very suspenseful or thrilling. There were moments of excitement but they usually pissed me off because of the brutal methods the cops used in order to get their answers. In any other state or film these officers would have been reprimanded for their hostile actions, but I guess with small town America come small town rules.
One other thing that pissed me off a lot was that Sam Worthington used a joke from the film Dumb and Dumber and just butchered the crap out of it. As a big fan of the Carrey/Daniels film I saw this as an insult and a terrible attempt to provide some comic relief to the interrogation they were currently conducting (this is obviously a personal thing).
Lastly, I was also really annoyed by Detective Pam because instead of calling for backup like a normal detective, she would call the two detectives who had no jurisdiction and would then flip out on them if they didn’t respond. This 
resulted in evidence being washed away. It was completely idiotic and poor judgment for someone in her position and simply added to my level of frustration. If you are going to make a mystery film at least make it feel somewhat authentic.
There wasn’t much that I really enjoyed about the movie but I will say the mythology and real life story behind the Texas Killing Fields fascinated me. The fields were a mystery and represented calm chaos in my eyes. From the eyes of an out of towner, the area is just an open field that could be potentially creepy at night. To those that know the field, it is a place you should avoid unless you are willing to risk stumbling upon a body of a potential murder victim. It’s like a real local legend that is constantly being utilized. Talk about some good campfire stories.
In the end, Texas Killing Fields was a failure across the board. Excluding the decent acting, I became too frustrated and annoyed with the thought processes of the lead characters and the way the investigation went down. The second homicides were completely ignored and you could have guessed who the serial killer was within the first 30 minutes. It was lacking in suspense and found no way to truly distinguish itself from other modern day mystery films.
Rating: A forgetful crime drama that will frustrate you to the very end (3/10)
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