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★ 5.920041h 31m

The Riverman

BiographyCrimeDrama

A series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.

Title overview

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BiographyCrimeDrama

Year

2004

Duration

1h 31m

IMDb

5.9

Playback

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Release2004

Runtime1h 31m

IMDb★ 5.9

Cast

Bruce Greenwood

Robert Keppel

Sam Jaeger

Dave Reichert

Sarah Manninen

Georgia Hawkins

Kathleen Quinlan

Sande Keppel

Cary Elwes

Ted Bundy

David Lawrence Brown

Gary Ridgway

Jeremy Akerman

LT. Downing

Cindy Sampson

Marisol

RB

Richard Blackburn

Warden Owens

MG

Mark Graham

Roger

John Dunsworth

Haney

SS

Sherry Smith

Hazel

LJ

Lee J. Campbell

Arthur

Leah Ostry

Ally Keppel

CR

Colin Rogers

John Keppel

GR

Grant Rogers

David Keppel

VB

Venessa Brooks

Hinds

TM

Tara McCalla

Chapman

Trailer

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Comments

9 Comments

Aphie HarmonyMar 20, 2026

Fakhar AbbasFeb 20, 2023

This is a decent film for anyone interested in Ted Bundy and his crimes and psyche. A few reviewers here and I imagine some viewers seem to be disappointed that the film doesn't focus more on The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, but he's not meant to be the focal point of this movie or indeed of the investigation carried out in this film. Robert Keppel, FBI profiler and former Washington police detective sees an opportunity to enlist Bundy's help in profiling Ridgway so he can eventually get Bundy to confess to 8 unsolved murders that took place in Seattle during his time there as a detective. The good - When the film concentrates on the conversations between Keppel and Bundy it's engrossing. Bruce Greenwood is excellent here, but is outshone by Cary Elwes as Bundy. His Bundy covers the whole range of Ted's personality, or at least what we know of it. He's charming, intelligent, polite, arrogant, provocative and sinister. Elwes covers all of these traits effortlessly. It really is a fantastic performance. All the scenes with these two interacting are fascinating. The bad - The rest of the film, sadly. There's an unnecessary story-line that is better suited to a soap opera, with Keppel's wife fretting that her husband will lose himself (rolls eyes) by involving himself in serial murder crimes again. Each time these scenes appear you're just willing them to finish and for her to go away so her husband can get on with his job. Why they feel they always have to include these soapy elements to serial killer films is beyond me. There's also an annoying sidekick character who works with Keppel, and although he's a seasoned officer of the law who by his own admission took 8 years to get his "gold badge" keeps making rash and stupid decisions and reactions purely for the sake of the plot. For example upon meeting Bundy for the first time instead of allowing Ted his hubris so they can slowly drip information from him instead he reacts to Bundy's mild ribbing and loses it totally, even rising to physically attack Bundy. This is nonsense and unnecessary, there's already enough drama going on in the scene without this hokum. Thankfully he disappears from the midway point and is only seen briefly at the end. 7/10

AyabatalFeb 20, 2023

'The Riverman' tells the story of the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy (played here by Cary Elwes), on death row for his crimes. He reaches out to criminal profiler Bob Keppel (Bruce Greenwood) to tell him that he may have insight into the series of "Green River" killings that were plaguing Seattle. Sometimes working the case with a stressed-out detective (Sam Jaeger), Keppel sits down with Bundy for a series of interviews. Stories like 'The Riverman' (based on a non-fiction book co-authored by Keppel) aren't for everybody, since they make us get to know sick minds better than most of us would really want to. But, on that level, it can be fascinating, as we learn from both Keppel and Bundy some ideas about those deviants walking among us: how they select victims, their ways of justifying their actions, etc. This being a made-for-TV movie, it refrains from showing much of the graphic violence that turns off some viewers. But, as directed by Bill Eagles, this solid film is a good case study in both pervasive atmosphere and subtlety. Characters like the real-life Keppel are now familiar to any viewer who's watched their fair share of yarns about serial killers: they become haunted individuals. Indeed, we get a sense of the toll that Keppels' line of work has taken on his home life. The wonderful Kathleen Quinlan is typically great in support, even if she's obliged to play a kind of standard-issue "concerned spouse / partner" type of character. Jaeger is okay, but he's outshone by the more interesting Greenwood and especially the riveting Elwes, who's rarely been as good as he is here. The face-offs / conversations between Bundy and Keppel provide an effective foundation on which to build this picture. Also good in a supporting role is David Lawrence Brown; he plays the off-putting Gary Ridgway, the man who would be identified as the Green River killer decades later (thanks to improved forensic technology). This is definitely the kind of movie that stays with you after it's over. Filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Eight out of 10.

Chelsey AngwiFeb 20, 2023

Subpar directing and writing limit good actors, interesting stories and complex characters. Thats whats happened here. No much more to say about it. Picture; Red Dragon, based on real events, but worse.

Betelhem EyobFeb 20, 2023

This film is based upon the 1989 non-fiction book The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer by Robert D. Keppel and William J. Birnes. Many have claimed this book actually inspired the Harris novel The Silence of the Lambs. However this is not true. This book was actually released after Harris's Silence novel. So unless Harris had a time machine, yeah, no. Harris may have indeed been influenced by this real life story from seeing or hearing about it in the press or elsewhere, or perhaps from reading about the FBI who did very similar interviews in the 1970's and 80's as is shown in the TV series Mindhunter. Nonetheless, contrary to popular rumor, SilenceOTL is not based on the book that this is based on. This film is actually pretty good if you're interested in Bundy or The Green River Killer. The film essentially becomes more about Bundy than the GRK, but nonetheless we do learn a good bit about both. This film, like The Deliberate Stranger has a good bit of very real Bundy-esque truths within it. To some degree, we definitely are able to get inside his head if we dare, and into Ridgeway's to some degree as well. Keppel after all was a Homicide Detective who worked both cases, and he became known as quite an educated profiler in understanding serial killers. Much of this is shown here. Overall the film is quite grim and fairly brutal, especially for a TV movie. It's more psychologically grim and brutal than visually, though it has some grim visuals as well. If you're interested and you can stomach this kind of fare, it's well worth a look. 7/10.

i_am_lawsFeb 20, 2023

This was decent, though not all that great. I thought some of the acting was good, by Greenwood and Elwes. The cinematography was well done. Conceptually the story was decent, but not all that intense. You learn some new things about Bundy, if you're interested in the serial killer (which seems to be primarily an American phenomenon). I thought the story was a bit disjointed though. You go from the introduction of the kilings, to Greenwood, the ex-detective/ cop, to Bundy; but there's this Green River Killer, whom, to me, was sort of left in the background, with Bundy apparently attempting to assist in the investigation. I thought the story was more telling of how many additional people Bundy killed, or what his thoughts and background was, rather than concentrating on the Green River Killer. Yes, they reveal, briefly, in the end, who The Green River Killer is, and how many he killed, etc., but it didn't do all that much for me. I thought there'd be some real connection there other than people or serial killers and 'going inside the mind of a killer'. I'd almost have rather they left the entire Bundy thing out of it, or at least not concentrated on it so much. It's an interesting point of view, but I believe they relied too heavily on it. I'd have rather seen more about the actual serial killer and his story, perhaps with an additional half hour of material (but this is a TV movie, hard to do with all those commercials). I'm fascinated by serial killers in general, not sure why exactly. Just find the American thing interesting (not that they don't exist elsewhere, but the fact that our media covers them so widely, it's like they become movie-stars, and famous for 15 minutes, just as Warhol predicted; how our pop society seems to want fame over anything else). I find that sickening personally. Therein I guess lies the fascination, odd as it may seem. I only partially enjoyed this film. Some good talent, reasonably well done, but a bit lacking in intensity I think. I didn't really feel all that creeped out by it, as others may have suggested. Intriguing but not intense. I gave it a 5/10. Almost deserves a 6/10, which seems to be the average so far.

Kekeli19Feb 20, 2023

I've seen a couple of Ted Bundy movies and they were more of a slasher horror fest based on real events. Although The Riverman is also based on real events, and in particular the book authored by Robert "Bob" Keppel (played by Bruce Greenwood in the movie), this made-for-TV movie to me felt a lot creepier than the other two Bundy films I had mentioned. Now before you go running off to the DVD store, you have to know that this is no slasher flick. This movie is scary for its psychological insights into the mind of a monster, particularly that of Ted Bundy. What's even scarier is how well Cary Elwes plays the role of Bundy, from his gestures, his voice, and most especially his eyes. It is perhaps one, or could be Elwes's best performance yet, albeit not quite recognized. Though a made for TV movie, it felt more like a silver screen feature. The acting never feels forced, the pacing satisfactory, and the script very intense especially towards the film's conclusion. There may be an amateurish feel towards the cinematography, but over all, a very good, chilling film.

paulallan_juniorFeb 20, 2023

Riverman is a pretty good made for TV movie. Many movies based on books are of a better quality, because the screenplay has a lot more to work with. Riverman was written by Robert Keppel, and published long before Gary Leon Ridgway was caught for the Green River serial murders. The book is based around Keppel's interviews with another serial killer, Ted Bundy, who also committed many of his murders in Washington State. The idea of a profiler going out and interviewing a (famous) serial killer was also the basis for the movie Silence Of The Lambs, with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Where the movie is very good, is in showing the internal world of so many serial killers - the sociopath's inability to feel emotion except under extreme circumstances, the childhood abuse, etc. What it only slightly touches upon is the fact that for Ted Bundy, killing was only a means to an end. He was a necrophiliac who enjoyed the corpses more than the live persons, and God knows whatever other psychotic factors were in play as well. It remains a mystery why he kept the skulls - sex? Did they talk to him? These issues are brought up in a rather rushed manner, compared to the book. But that is only a minor quibble, and perhaps inevitable in a made for TV movie. The irony is that Robert Keppel was only marginally involved in actually catching either Bundy or Ridgway. Bundy was caught because of a traffic violation, and Keppel wasn't even involved at all in Ridgway's apprehension in late November 2001. I would like to add that the movie also accurately shows that these individuals are rather pathetic geeks once apprehended. They prey on the most vulnerable people in society, and often only then during their most vulnerable moments. They abuse the general trust people and societies need to operate. In short, anyone can sneak up on someone and hit them over the head. It is also why female serial killers almost exclusively target the very old and the very young, and very often use poison. They only very rarely kill adult men by violent means (Aileen Wuornos is the exception). This is a very good true crime movie, however as a movie, it has some problems.

Vass MKFeb 20, 2023

I just saw this on TV from about the halfway point only, but was familiar with the plot from my reading. I'm anxious to see it again. I thought Cary Elwes BECAME Ted Bundy in a way that was eerie and absolutely impressive. Bruce Greenwood had a part that could have been mundane, but his tremendous depth as an actor turned it into a disturbing and memorable role. And I thought their joint scenes were .. well, completely intense -- contrary to the lead-in review from IMDb. Greenwood has always been one of my favorites, but I found Elwes a bit more of a surprise. Would recommend this to acting classes everywhere and to anyone who can withstand an in-depth look at psyches that are way outside normal boundaries.