In the late 1960s and 1970s there was a series of murders, in San Francisco, by an unknown assailant known only as the Zodiac killer. This man held the city in terror for the better part of a decade, taunted the police and San Francisco Chronicle with letters about the heinous crimes, and he was never brought to justice.

So what makes Zodiac interesting is that it’s not a police story. Instead Zodiac has a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal – Donnie Darko) who starts investigating the string of murders. Also involved with the unofficial investigations are Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man), police inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo – Blindness), and a host of others including handwriting experts, police investigators and a ‘lost’ witness. Roberts’s wife Melanie (Chloe Sevigny – American Psycho) plays a major part in the story.

Special Features – Disc 1

Commentary with Director David Fincher
Commentary with Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., James Vanderbilt and James Ellroy

Special Features in HD – Disc 2

Zodiac Deciphered: A behind the scenes documentary on the making of Zodiac
The Visual Effects of Zodiac
Previsualization: Split-screen comparisons between animatics and finished film for the three murder scenes.
This is the Zodiac speaking: A feature length documentary covering every aspect of the investigation, including interviews with the original investigators and surviving victims.
His Name was Arthur Leigh Allen: The truth about the prime suspect in the Zodiac case from people who knew him and the police who investigated him.

1080p High Definition, 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
Subtitles in English, English SDN, French, Spanish

This may not be an action packed, gore fest, but Zodiac is a compelling drama in the vein of Erin Brockovich. If there’s a genre for investigative thriller, then Zodiac is one of the best.

ComicsOnline gives Zodiac Director’s Cut on Blu-ray 4 serial killers out of 5.