Chicago Massacre is a low budget outing that makes the most of what it has. Corin Nemec delivers a menacing performance as Speck. Odd casting, bringing in the guy best known for Parker Lewis Can't Lose into the role of an insane sociopath, but it works. All of the women who are either victims or simply have run-ins with Speck all sell really well, they buy into the role, and the deliver a realistic terror to the film. On the technical side of the coin, there are a lot of nice looking shots and angles, much better than you would expect for a low budget film. There is a very noir-ish look to it that works to its advantage.

On the bad side, and this is not without its badside, there are plenty of aspects that just don't work. Technically, there is a lot of darkness in this movie, and some of it just gets too dark, to the point of obscuring detail and hurting the overall image. Second, some of the dialogue is low and mumbled, making it hard to understand, and the disk does not have English subtitles. Performance-wise, Todd and Divoff are both wasted. Both actors can bring such great presence to a role, but if the material doesn't work for them it shows. It seems like they were trying to play up the noir/hard-boiled aspect with the dialogue, and just sounded flat and unconvincing. There are other moments of dialogue that don't ring true.

The movie ends with Speck behind bars, living like a king, sort of. You may also notice something odd about his physical appearance; supposedly, Speck had female hormones smuggled in that he would take, which resulted in a change to his appearance. The guy truly was the trash of society. He died in 1991 of a heart attack.

Audio/Video. Not too bad, but not too good either. The audio is clear of noise, but it is low and hard to make out at times without turning up your volume. Video, anamorphic 16:9 widescreen, is free of artifacts and halos, but it's dark and hard to make out detail in a number of shots, which may be more due to the source.

Extras. There are two deleted scenes, neither of which add much to the movie, a couple of stills, and a trailer gallery (no trailers for this movie). There is a pretty good commentary track with Corin Nemec and writer/director Michael Feifer.

Bottom line. Not a good movie, but not a bad one either. There are some decent performances, some nice cinematography, and an overall creepy atmosphere. It is let down by some poor technical aspects, dialogue, and a couple of wasted performances. This is a movie that is really only for those who love true crime films, or want to see another side to Nemec. Worth a rental but nothing more.

Mildly Recommended.