Teenage Psycho Killer

source: Recommendation for Mercy

Don't let the film format (16mm) fool you. This is a gritty and somewhat graphic story based on actual events which took place in Canada some 30 years ago. John Robinson is a nice 14 year old kid. He's good looking, a natural athlete and the prime suspect in a rape and murder case. The shoddy police and forensic investigation seals the boy's fate. Child witnesses also sabotage John's hope of being found innocent. The movie follows John's harrowing experience in court but also explores the complexities of teen sexuality. The star is Andrew Skidd whose stand out performance is quite moving. The editing and sound is not up to par but watching it for Skidd alone is worth it. This is a rare film to find but one you won't want to overlook.

First I saw this movie as a teenager in the early 80s. I was so impressed by actor Andrew Skidd and his sensitive kind of playing his difficult part. It took me a long time to find this movie on video tape. Now after about 25 years I watched it again - the movie was worth such a long search. Hard to understand what happened to a boy, a teenager, whose only fault it was to be in love with a young girl and to be the last to see her alive. Well, not really the last, this must have been the real murderer...The accused maintains his innocence. Was it not a crime, what the law did to him? There are so many questions the movie tells us. And there are no answers. That's why this movie has been in my memory for all those years and will be further on. A special movie, always realistically made and played. A jewel! I wonder what happened to actor Andrew Skidd. Was this his only part in a movie? By the way, the song "Surrender to the sun" of Scott Fagan is also remarkable.

I saw this movie in the 80s and was intrigued/shocked by it. these comments could be a spoiler in the sense that the real events are discussed, however the movie deviates quite a bit from reality - you'll have to watch to compare - eerily close until the outcome. Assuming the events are based on the Steven Truscott/Lynne Harper case of 1959: the events are now more loose - Truscott was acquitted of the crime after 48 years (Aug 28, 2007). *His legal time-line: He was sentenced to hang in Dec 1959, reprieved to Feb 1960 and then commuted to a life sentence in Jan 1960. His appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1967 but he was paroled in 1969. Incarcerated for 10 years and then lived with the stigmatism for another 38. New evidence was brought to light in 2000 which led to the acquittal 7 years later.* The gap between truth and fiction in this one has widened, although the premise may still be accurate - the individual who actually committed the crime is/has been at large and could be another classmate or someone in the same age group as Truscott. Tragic is the loss of time/damage to his life - even more tragic is that the disintegration of closure for the victim's family. The acting/cinematography of this may give it the profile of a made for TV film, but it was a good film nonetheless, and may see some play in light of the recent news. Worth a look for a dramatic recount of those events - one of Canada's most *"controversial legal dramas."* *Phrase and time-line above borrowed from Jane Sims - Sun Media

source: Recommendation for Mercy

I saw this movie in the 80s and was intrigued/shocked by it. these comments could be a spoiler in the sense that the real events are discussed, however the movie deviates quite a bit from reality - you'll have to watch to compare - eerily close until the outcome. Assuming the events are based on the Steven Truscott/Lynne Harper case of 1959: the events are now more loose - Truscott was acquitted of the crime after 48 years (Aug 28, 2007). *His legal time-line: He was sentenced to hang in Dec 1959, reprieved to Feb 1960 and then commuted to a life sentence in Jan 1960. His appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1967 but he was paroled in 1969. Incarcerated for 10 years and then lived with the stigmatism for another 38. New evidence was brought to light in 2000 which led to the acquittal 7 years later.* The gap between truth and fiction in this one has widened, although the premise may still be accurate - the individual who actually committed the crime is/has been at large and could be another classmate or someone in the same age group as Truscott. Tragic is the loss of time/damage to his life - even more tragic is that the disintegration of closure for the victim's family. The acting/cinematography of this may give it the profile of a made for TV film, but it was a good film nonetheless, and may see some play in light of the recent news. Worth a look for a dramatic recount of those events - one of Canada's most *"controversial legal dramas."* *Phrase and time-line above borrowed from Jane Sims - Sun Media

First I saw this movie as a teenager in the early 80s. I was so impressed by actor Andrew Skidd and his sensitive kind of playing his difficult part. It took me a long time to find this movie on video tape. Now after about 25 years I watched it again - the movie was worth such a long search. Hard to understand what happened to a boy, a teenager, whose only fault it was to be in love with a young girl and to be the last to see her alive. Well, not really the last, this must have been the real murderer...The accused maintains his innocence. Was it not a crime, what the law did to him? There are so many questions the movie tells us. And there are no answers. That's why this movie has been in my memory for all those years and will be further on. A special movie, always realistically made and played. A jewel! I wonder what happened to actor Andrew Skidd. Was this his only part in a movie? By the way, the song "Surrender to the sun" of Scott Fagan is also remarkable.

Don't let the film format (16mm) fool you. This is a gritty and somewhat graphic story based on actual events which took place in Canada some 30 years ago. John Robinson is a nice 14 year old kid. He's good looking, a natural athlete and the prime suspect in a rape and murder case. The shoddy police and forensic investigation seals the boy's fate. Child witnesses also sabotage John's hope of being found innocent. The movie follows John's harrowing experience in court but also explores the complexities of teen sexuality. The star is Andrew Skidd whose stand out performance is quite moving. The editing and sound is not up to par but watching it for Skidd alone is worth it. This is a rare film to find but one you won't want to overlook.