'Walker' steps back to classic murder mystery genre

December 07, 2007 Murder mysteries, a Hollywood staple throughout the '30's, '40s and '50s, are rare these days, leaving fans of the genre to satisfy their appetites by watching DVDs of classics like "Laura," "The Thin Man" and Alfred Hitchcock's films. What Hollywood calls thrillers today are more often than not just horror films about sadistic killers and the biggest thrill is seeing their end credits roll. Happily, Paul Schrader's new murder thriller "The Walker" evokes the old school of mysteries where we're meant to care about finding out whodunit rather than to just sit there and watch whodunit doing it.

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