Blistering performances.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

We watched this movie on Netflix streaming movies. It was made as a TV movie to run over a two hour time interval and as such has frequent fades to black for TV commercials.Neve Campbell is Kate Burkholder coming back to her small home community after being gone some 18 years. We only learn very gradually why she has been gone and why her family shun her. She has returned as Chief of Police. Shades of Margie in "Fargo."Only six months back, she and her department are confronted with a gruesome murder, the partially clad body of a young woman is found in a snowy field just a stone's throw off the highway. Kate immediately realizes she was an Amish girl.Kate was born and raised Amish but she left that life, therefore by Amish rules she had to be shunned. Even by her brother, Christian Campbell (her real-life brother) as Jacob (yaa-cobb) Burkholder, but they eventually have to work together to solve the crime.Another key character is old veteran C. Thomas Howell as elected Sheriff Nathan Detrick.This is a small movie with moderate production values but it has an interesting story, if not unique.SPOILERS: While investigating another is found dead, this time the young gymnast daughter of the Mayor. Kate manages to piece together a theory of why the serial killer had been inactive in the area for some years, she correctly figured out it was Detrick who had gone to Alaska for a while. Kate gets captured by Detrick, she plans to hang her upside down and bleed her out like all the others, but help arrives just in time.

Like the Harrison Ford movie "Witness" this television murder mystery set in the Amish community is a good watch because the community is so fascinating.Neve Campbell (why don't we see more of her than just Scream nowadays?) plays an ex-Amish detective investigating a murder in the Amish town where she grew up. There is a mystery about her departure from the community. Interesting to see her Amish dialog with the members who shun her for leaving.Also couple of faults: The solving of the murders in question ends in a rather formula predictable way. Also her detective romantic interest is a bit too plain and the romance isn't convincing. She's got more chemistry with her Amish ex.Read they were thinking of turning this into a series if the pilot was a success. I think it would be quite a unique show about a detective in an Amish community though I wonder how much crime there would be in that quaint rural place.

An Amish Murder (2013)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Incredibly good made-for-TV thriller about former Amish woman Kate Kurkholder (Neve Campbell) who left her people only to return years later as a cop in the small town. Her people have turned their back on her but she needs their help when a serial killer appears to have returned to the town killing young girls and a secret from her past might reveal who it is. AN AMISH MURDER actually turned out to be one of the best thrillers I've seen in several years, which is somewhat shocking because a lot of TV movies just don't really do much except try to keep someone entertained for a short time. This film here clearly wanted to do so much more because it gave us a terrific mystery that keeps you guessing, a lot of character development and it also builds up some wonderful tension as everything plays out. I must admit that I thought I had figured out who the killer was by the ten-minute mark but I was completely wrong and all the twists and turns are just so good that one can't help but really be on the edge of their seat as everything plays out. I also thought the film did a good job with the main character's development because we get to see her in her new life but also see what haunts her from her Amish years. I thought the way the film showed the Amish people was quite good and it also managed to make you understand why the family would turn their back on her. There's a second subplot dealing with the woman's relationship with a profiler (Noam Jenkins) who is suffering from his own haunted past. Campbell really turns in one of the best performances of her career because she just adds so much depth to the character. She does a remarkable job showing the various emotions with this character and she's completely believable in the role. Jenkins is also terrific in his role as is C. Thomas Howell who plays the sheriff. Director Stephen Gyllenhaal does a very good job at keeping the film moving at a fast pace and thankfully he really brings a terrific atmosphere as well as some very tense moments. AN AMISH MURDER might have worked even better as a theatrical film since the dark subject matter could have shown more but there's still no question that it's one of the better thrillers in recent years.

When I heard this movie was gonna be made, I was excited because I just wanted to watch Neve Campbell .Then I tried reading the book(Sworn to Silence) before although the movie would have missed many good things. After watching this, it was like people said "Books are better". This movie has cut gruesome material and reduced intensive moment.until a climax at the final sequence recovered these mistakes.Nevertheless, Neve's performance has saved this movie. She's convincing as a police chief who was traumatized but she has grown up with strength and intellect to solve the case.This movie is not like any typical crime show or Scream (there's a murder but without gore and surprising ending) but it will be much better if it becomes a TV series or has sequels which could focus on the other characters (Glock, T.J, Skid, Mona etc.)