Sometimes this film plays like a by-the-numbers serial killer movie, and at times the pacing is a little slow. But 'Killer' is buoyed up by several good performances. Hutton is low key but very good, and a number of small, supporting roles are very well cast and acted as well. Elwes is almost unrecognizable due to some weight gain, and he doesn't come off as strongly as some of the others. As for Dushku, well, this is probably the finest performance she's ever attempted. It doesn't always work she's not especially convincing when she has to descend into madness but most of the time she's a cut and a half above her usual fare; it's as if she finally decided to take a role where her looks aren't a factor and actually act, and it was nice to see for the most part she could pull it off (hey, they aren't going to see her as an 'adult' actress in Hollywood as long as she plays cheerleaders and works for Joss Whedon). This is the type of role you would have associated with a younger Sandra Bullock or Angelina Jolie (i.e., pre-skeletal), and Dushku compares favorably.
It's not a particularly happy or comforting movie; it's not quite creepy enough to be unsettling, and the director undercuts Megan's madness by showing us what she is hallucinating (showing off, by the way, some really terrific make-up effects); so the viewer is never really sure if, like Haley Joel Osment, she really can see dead people or if she's just going bonkers, or possibly both, the latter caused by the former. But Dushku is interesting to watch here (and not for any of the usual reasons) and shows promise she never has before.
It's not a particularly happy or comforting movie; it's not quite creepy enough to be unsettling, and the director undercuts Megan's madness by showing us what she is hallucinating (showing off, by the way, some really terrific make-up effects); so the viewer is never really sure if, like Haley Joel Osment, she really can see dead people or if she's just going bonkers, or possibly both, the latter caused by the former. But Dushku is interesting to watch here (and not for any of the usual reasons) and shows promise she never has before.