And, yes I've read many of the other reviews, and I can understand why there is some confusion, but I tend to watch films (and read books) with the thought that there is nothing the director (or author) shows or tells the audience that is without purpose.
First point: the film opens with a close up shot of Annie's eye. Nice, green eye. One of her eyes is up close again later in the film ... again, green. There are two other spots where eyes are shown to the audience ... one when the man in the cellar is shot (nice green eyes), and again at the close of the film, when another man's eye is seen through a peep hole. Decidedly not green.
So, it could be that Annie got her eye color from her mother, and the man in the cellar was her uncle (mom's crazy serial killer brother ... maybe), or it could be that the man in the cellar was actually her father, or possibly both.
As to the name "Judas" ... there were some who were confused by that. As our heroine is doing internet research, she finds that the "Judas Killer" was called that because he called himself that. He signed his notes "Judas."
We also know that the mother, her friend, and her mother's brother, were all involved in their church. Now, why might a very religious serial killer refer to himself as "Judas"? Maybe because, in the Christian religion, Judas is the betrayer of all that is held sacred.
The original Judas Killer (from the research done by Annie) had only 7 known victims ... all killed between 1968 and 1969. Jennifer Glick was born about that time. She isn't murdered until 1989. She is said to be 20 years old at the time of her death.
Second Judas Killer appears to be operating around 1989, right around the time that Annie is born and Jennifer is killed. If you look closely at the photo of the decapitated Jennifer, there is no blood pool except around her neck ... so if she was pregnant, the baby probably died with her.
Suppose for a moment that the original Judas Killer was Annie's grandfather, the father of her mother and of Charles Barlow. He is a serial killer and raises his children to be very sick puppies. He prefers to kill couples (according to the internet account), while the second Judas Killer (probably Charles Barlow) likes to kill young women, including his seventh (and possibly last) victim, Jennifer Glick.
Note that the map of Judas's known victims shows seven skulls, but skulls that do not correspond to the list and locations of the original Judas Killer's victims. These are seven rather widely spaced killings of individuals rather than couples.
So, we have two serial killers, about 20 years apart. Charles Barlow is, I think, the son of the original Judas Killer. I think the pact was a family pact, kept by the original Judas and his children, and that the children helped dad with later killings (including Jennifer), or carried them out for their father.
I also think that Charles Barlow went to ground at the time of Jennifer's killing because he (or dad) had hit a little too close to home by killing a woman who was known to the Barlows. Someone might have put things together ... so Annie and Nichole's "dad" just disappeared (under the floorboards). Mom closed the room up and put in the peep holes so that he could see his little family. She probably stuck them in the closet so she could spend time with her brother (and perhaps her father ... who I think was still alive and down in the basement with his son).
Which leaves us with the last set of eyes. A blue/gray eye of a man of an age that is difficult to determine. It is entirely possible that this is the eye of the original Judas, still down there somewhere.
Plot holes? Yes ... absolutely. I can't imagine that any portion of that house would be left standing after having a murdered cop in the basement. It would have been torn up basement and all, not just had the furniture moved out. But, it is the same house, same wallpaper, same everything.
However, I like that a lot is left to the imagination, even for someone like me who tends to go back through portions of a movie frame by frame (to read the material that only flashes on the screen for a second, including Annie's journal which adds another layer to the concoction.
In any event, I did enjoy it, and will probably watch it again to see if my opinion changes regarding the plot. Holes and all.
Pardon any typos.
First point: the film opens with a close up shot of Annie's eye. Nice, green eye. One of her eyes is up close again later in the film ... again, green. There are two other spots where eyes are shown to the audience ... one when the man in the cellar is shot (nice green eyes), and again at the close of the film, when another man's eye is seen through a peep hole. Decidedly not green.
So, it could be that Annie got her eye color from her mother, and the man in the cellar was her uncle (mom's crazy serial killer brother ... maybe), or it could be that the man in the cellar was actually her father, or possibly both.
As to the name "Judas" ... there were some who were confused by that. As our heroine is doing internet research, she finds that the "Judas Killer" was called that because he called himself that. He signed his notes "Judas."
We also know that the mother, her friend, and her mother's brother, were all involved in their church. Now, why might a very religious serial killer refer to himself as "Judas"? Maybe because, in the Christian religion, Judas is the betrayer of all that is held sacred.
The original Judas Killer (from the research done by Annie) had only 7 known victims ... all killed between 1968 and 1969. Jennifer Glick was born about that time. She isn't murdered until 1989. She is said to be 20 years old at the time of her death.
Second Judas Killer appears to be operating around 1989, right around the time that Annie is born and Jennifer is killed. If you look closely at the photo of the decapitated Jennifer, there is no blood pool except around her neck ... so if she was pregnant, the baby probably died with her.
Suppose for a moment that the original Judas Killer was Annie's grandfather, the father of her mother and of Charles Barlow. He is a serial killer and raises his children to be very sick puppies. He prefers to kill couples (according to the internet account), while the second Judas Killer (probably Charles Barlow) likes to kill young women, including his seventh (and possibly last) victim, Jennifer Glick.
Note that the map of Judas's known victims shows seven skulls, but skulls that do not correspond to the list and locations of the original Judas Killer's victims. These are seven rather widely spaced killings of individuals rather than couples.
So, we have two serial killers, about 20 years apart. Charles Barlow is, I think, the son of the original Judas Killer. I think the pact was a family pact, kept by the original Judas and his children, and that the children helped dad with later killings (including Jennifer), or carried them out for their father.
I also think that Charles Barlow went to ground at the time of Jennifer's killing because he (or dad) had hit a little too close to home by killing a woman who was known to the Barlows. Someone might have put things together ... so Annie and Nichole's "dad" just disappeared (under the floorboards). Mom closed the room up and put in the peep holes so that he could see his little family. She probably stuck them in the closet so she could spend time with her brother (and perhaps her father ... who I think was still alive and down in the basement with his son).
Which leaves us with the last set of eyes. A blue/gray eye of a man of an age that is difficult to determine. It is entirely possible that this is the eye of the original Judas, still down there somewhere.
Plot holes? Yes ... absolutely. I can't imagine that any portion of that house would be left standing after having a murdered cop in the basement. It would have been torn up basement and all, not just had the furniture moved out. But, it is the same house, same wallpaper, same everything.
However, I like that a lot is left to the imagination, even for someone like me who tends to go back through portions of a movie frame by frame (to read the material that only flashes on the screen for a second, including Annie's journal which adds another layer to the concoction.
In any event, I did enjoy it, and will probably watch it again to see if my opinion changes regarding the plot. Holes and all.
Pardon any typos.