Watch Kemper For Free

People are voting emotionally.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Kemper is set in Santa Cruz in California where two female murder victims are found within the space of a few hours, detective Tom Harris (Christopher Stapleton) is on the case & because of the different kill pattern he feels that two separate killers are on the loose. Harris seeks the help of his gifted friend Ed Kemper (Robert Sisko) who has helped catch serial killers in the past by creating a profile, sure enough Kemper's clues lead Harris to one of the killers but in a ironic twist it turns out that Kemper the man helping to catch serial killers is actually one himself & after he murders his abusive mother (Patricia Place) detective Harris has to hunt down & bring his one time friend to justice. Kemper regularly phones Harris & plays a cat & mouse game with him as he tries to make Harris understand why he became a serial killer...Also known as Kemper: The Co-Ed Killer this was directed by Rick Bitzelberger & according to the opening credits is supposedly 'Based on True Events' although while there was indeed a serial killer called Ed Kemper (Edmund Kemper in reality & not Edward Kemper as he is called here) who killed several hitchhiking teenage girls in the late 60's & early 70's almost everything about this film & it's script is fabricated & a work of pure fiction. To be frank Kemper isn't even a reworking of the facts, there is nothing here in Kemper that relates to reality other than a guy whose last name is Kemper & kills a few people. The script invents this relationship between Kemper & a detective named Harris, while the twist that the man helping Harris to catch serial killers is in fact a serial killer himself we know that from the outset, we know Kemper is a killer so when the twist is revealed about a third of the way in it comes as absolutely no surprise whatsoever. While the cat & mouse relationship between Harris the hunter & Kemper the hunted as he teases & taunts Harris is a slightly different take on the usual serial killer thriller it only carries the film so far, eventually it just becomes a little boring as nothing else really happens. The pace is alright, at just under 90 minutes Kemper is watchable & alright for what it is but it's nothing to write home about & ultimately forgettable.While the real Kemper was active in the late 60's & early 70's the makers probably couldn't afford a period piece & as such features mobile phones, new cars & is contemporary. The retro diner was probably a little reference to the actual period Kemper killed during but otherwise even the backdrop isn't right. There's a bit of gore, there are a couple of gory slit throats with a cop having his throat sliced open with some wire, a couple of decapitated heads including one in an oven (at least Kemper had the decency not to turn the oven on...) & a few dead bloody bodies. Reasonably well made Kemper looks decent enough, it looks like a polished television film rather than a full blown theatrical release though.The production values are alright, it's quite well made without being anything special. The acting is alright, but again without being anything special.Kemper is a decent enough time waster, a serial killer thriller based on true events that don't resemble those events in the slightest. Not the worse serial killer thriller out there but far from the best either.

I saw KEMPER THE COED KILLER on Showtime the other night. I found it to be a good "true-crime" drama.Yes, the acting could have been better... For example, I kept seeing an aged Dustin Hoffman as Kemper; and, a corny Steven Weber as detective Harris. What a hoot that would have been! Even with the look-alike actors, I think KEMPER THE COED KILLER was fine for what it was. I think the acting was right on, the character development, though thin, was sufficient. The back-story filled in many of the missing pieces; and, the plot moved at a good pace.I don't know how accurate it is as to the facts, as I never research Ed Kemper, like I did Ed Geins. However, the plot points about the over-bearing, invalid mother are too similar to that story, to assume that the "real" story was anything like the movie. I doubt that it was.Still, Ed Kemper was a strange killer. He helps the police, he kills co-eds; and, hitchhikers, he kills his mother... those are not typical plot points in serial killer movies. I like that it was set in a contemporary time period, instead of a more historically-accurate time. It makes you wonder, "could this happen today?"

Not only is the use of cell phones and laptops incredible for the early 70s, but the character playing Edmund Kemper is unbelievable--He appears to be in his early 40s. Kemper was only 24 years old when he was caught. In addition, they show scenes of heads in kitchens...one of a girl whose head is in the oven and the other of his mother whose head is attached to his kitchen wall after her death. I don't understand...his mother's head was actually stuffed in a closet and they don't even mention how he killed his mother's friend.As for Harris, he has a very limited vocabulary and rather boring dialog. He puts some emotion into his character, but along with the cheap feeling the camera shots give, there is little to elevate the movie except for the character of Kemper and even that is lacking.It seems as if they wanted to portray Kemper as a sad sort of Norman Bates type person...from what I understand, he was openly friends with several officers due to his gregarious personality. If the writers had made him more multidimensional and younger, more attractive, instead of just pathetic, they could have developed a much more intriguing plot. His mother was actually an attractive person (physically) and his murder of his grandparents is much more complex and interesting than his just having killed them while they were sleeping.In other words, this plot has been so oversimplified as to just be about some sicko who sheds blood. Gone is the intellectual stimulation that the personality of a genius like Kemper's could have given the audience. His mother as well is pathetic and unidimensional. These people are so unlikable that the audience has no way to empathize with them and connect with the characters. Too bad it had to be all in black and white--the real life story has shades of gray and is much more provocative.

Maybe it was my mood, maybe I was drawn in by the "based on a true story" lure, but I found this film peculiarly entertaining. I don't know how accurate it is as to the facts, but we do know there was this strange killer. The problem with the facts has to do with the description of Ed Kemper being a serial killer of the sixties and seventies, yet we're seeing newer cars and cell phones. Maybe I'm just obtuse, but when TV shows like the new "Life On Mars" are more accurately portraying a time period I have to wonder. Still, I was sucked in by the presentation and the story enough to watch it until the end. It's not that gory and it does rely heavily on character, it might be too mild for those seeking a real creep-out.