This film was about a psycho, a psycho in Miami! No, just kidding, of course it is in San Francisco. A very cheaply made movie that features two 'stars' of note, Joe Estevez whose main claim to fame is that he looks a lot like his more famous brother Martin Sheen and Todd Bridges from the sitcom Different Strokes! So no real star power and some kills and the most disinterested news anchor ever!

The story, a killer is on the loose! No, not Brandon Flowers, though I am sure he is out there too, but most likely he does not strangle and stab people! This one does as he kills and sends not so cryptic letters to the disinterested news anchor. Joe Estevez is an investigator and a bad one at that. Never before has the killer had so easy a time committing murders and committing multiple home invasions despite all Joe's efforts, like putting one cop in a car at the front of the house. Not like there are multiple entrances to houses and even alleyways ya know? Joe gets a priest to help and soon he figures out that he has to stop the killer from using an insanity plea! Though I am sure more than a few dead people would have rather he worked on actually capturing the killer than worrying about the trial...

As I said, Joe Estevez and Todd Bridges are the only stars of note, though it would not surprise me if the killer in this one wrestled or something. Looks like he'd be a good heel. The newscaster is totally out acted by Joe and Todd and that is not a good thing. Then there is Barry, Joe's partner and the priest...I swear that they look like they are all related or something, possibly brothers!

So, this thing was bad; however, it held me interest a bit as I kept wondering how the cops who were doing everything wrong were going to catch the killer. Then the ending comes and he gets away while the police think someone else did it. Surprised me, but it probably should not have because the police were worried about that impending trial, seemingly forgetting that they had to capture the killer first. Heck, if they actually put more than one officer at the house to protect the woman, they may of shot and killed the psycho and there would not have even been a trial!

San Franpyscho: 1 out of 10: So you want to make a serial killer movie. But your budget is non-existent, your camera equipment is elderly and your stars are Joe Estevez (Martin Sheen's younger brother and a staple in really bad movies) and Todd Bridges from Different Strokes. There are probably ways to pull of at least a watchable film. The Quiroz brothers have no clue.

First of all much of the cast seems to have been chosen in a desperate attempt to make Bridges and Estevez look like Oscar caliber thespians. Really how hard is it to play a priest or an overbearing mother? Certainly a city the size of San Francisco has a few professional actors willing to work for a few bucks and a screen credit. Clearly Chris Angelo and Bonnie Steiger who play these roles have other talents such as landscaper or waitress they ought to be fine tuning.

Joe Rosete as the killer (yes the serial killer is simply known as "The Killer") is also pretty awful in a mentally ill method kind of way but I am almost willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as his character is written with zero style or personality. A boring almost laughable serial killer is a problem for a serial killer movie.

In addition the Quiroz brothers seem to have originally planned this as an ABC Family movie of the week. There is no nudity or violence to speak of and the R rating clearly is for the adult style pacing. This move meanders like an 85 year old woman driving with wraparound sunglasses and her turn signal on. The only occasional horror comes from lighting Estevez's face with a glare that makes it look like his lower jaw was removed.

I wasn't expecting a great film when I rented San Franpyscho but I wasn't expecting mind numbing boredom either.

ZODIAC: SAN FRANPSYCHO is another laughable serial killer flick shot on an indie budget. The ZODIAC was added to the original title after the success of the David Fincher movie. Once again the cheap cameraman follows a serial killer through the city as he goes about his work, but those looking for another MANIAC should be aware that there's no gore here and no suspense either. It's just a mess of wooden acting and bad camera-work, all shot within an ultra-slow narrative. It's more police procedural than horror.