Probably one of the cleverest titles I've seen for a movie in awhile…but the shorter version would be: Red Herring.

I Am Not a Serial Killer (LITERALLY) follows the adventures of a borderline crazy kid – I'm not just being mean, trust me: he'll remind you of this every 15 minutes, in Small Town, U.S.A. where brutal killings begin and are rapidly increasing. The kid, or the unprotected offspring of Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, begins his own investigation into whodunit and makes an unrealistic scenario even less believable.

It would be hard to write a review of even glimpses of the synopsis other than the bland one I wrote above without spoilers, but suffice to say, the plot and events weren't my biggest concerns or praises here.

Starting off with reaction. To be fair, there are TV spots that show and tell of fear and anger from the townsfolk of a killer on the loose. But, other than those same kind of meaningless broadcasts as you saw in 2014's Godzilla, I felt like not one single person or authority figure would act the way they did when their town of 7,891 are dropping bodies like a Roland Emmerich epic. Apparently there are only two policemen in the town with no backup and the F.B.I. doesn't exist in this universe. In other words, other than somethings I cannot spoil, this movie is highly unrealistic.

Probably a budget issue. Fine, I get it. But, use those same broadcasts to feed movie exposition about the F.B.I. investigation the movie's title. But, it doesn't stop with the town. The boy, or our "hero," as sick in the head he'll remind us he is, virtually does nothing human in reaction to the events before him. Sometimes, sure, but mostly, I would think he would do and say things that even a crazy person would yearn to communicate.

But, the movie is an homage to older 80/90s (maybe even earlier) horror and works on many more levels. Suspense, mood, cinematography, direction and acting. Despite the subject matter and (hopefully) budgetary concerns, I felt transported into this small town and wanted to know more of the mystery.

And besides, while we still have him, I never complain about seeing more of Christopher Lloyd. Fine, maybe besides Piranha 3DD. He is still a living legend!

I would recommend this. Skip my criticisms because despite any flaws, it's still a tight, interesting and original thriller.

***

Final thoughts: One of the best scenes and powerful enough to watch the whole movie because of this, was the Halloween dance, anti-bullying speech. That was perfection and….I might try using it, in one form or another. Thief, I know. But, the greatest form of flattery…

Wow, i didn't see that coming. Nice twist at the ending, i really didn't expect it. At first I thought this was the same kind of mediocre murder movie with a lot of police involved, but i was wrong.

It was kind of bored in the beginning, started with daily life of a teenager whom diagnosed with a mental-illness. The story tried to lead us to think the major role was a sociopath, and that he was troubled. And he also thought so. Even though i didn't think he was. I mean, he just had a big interest about a story of homicide. It was perhaps rare among his teenage friends, but it was still normal. He just liked to play detective.

The pace is quite slow, the story was not so tense even when there was a homicide happened, but it kept me watching the movie. Maybe i was captivated with the acting, and i believed that something was going to happen. It was not brutal and scary, and we finally know he was not crazy and it sum up everything : he wasn't the killer.

I'm not disappointed though, even it seems like an underrated indie movie. I think this movie needs a chance.

Slow paced ? No ! It's called great character development and great story which you want more of ! Amazing script, acting and excellent executed! Christopher Lloyd is fantastic in this role, and it's a joy to see him act out his role. The movie itself has an late 80s early 90s aura around it, which is great.The soundtrack, atmosphere and the way the movie was filmed felt authentic and real and that combined with everything else just made this movie so awesome. I really can't compare it to anything, but I felt like if the movie Southbound, The Void and the TV show Stranger Things would have a love child it would be named I am not a series killer. When Lloyd quoted William Blake it gave me goosebumps and a chill down my spine. A must watch ! 9/10 for an amazing horror, thriller, drama !