i respect alex cox the filmmaker and i really do . he like the kid at school who you think at first be just try a little too hard to be different and a literary punk rocker who have dip more than his foot into spaghetti western and science fiction and fringe culture and come out into the world ready to take s on . but then you see what he can actually do and the talent and raw feverish artistry and moment of true absurd hilarity capable of him and and you be ready to see whatever he have to offer . but there two side to his proverbial coin represent he can either really hit it out of the park ( repo man and sid and nancy and walker arguably ) or just try just a little too hard and pull way too many pretentious rabbit out of the hat ( straight to hell ) . death and the compass fall into the latter category and and while i respect it ( mostly ) original approach to tackle a detective killer story and it too fall on it face and it weirdness become oddly dull . it have a strange enough set up and already irreverent style to follow represent a detective and erik lonnrot and be after a killer with a hell fire voice and red ( something ) and and it seem that the killer be leave disturb clue with his victim represent scrawl in blood on the wall be message that and accord to eyewitness alonso zunz ( christopher eccleston look a if he just walk off shallow grave without change his look ) have religious significance in the kabbalah . we follow lonnrot on his case and and his method of go after the perp and which include follow at first a triangular and then compass shape pattern on the map this despite the protest of the flabbergasted commissioner treviranus ( miguel sandoval ) and who also look back in flash forward sit at a desk and speaking to the audience in garbled but sad description of his former employee and colleague after the fact of the case . oh and cox have his moment of creativity and interest and such a a shot where we see the entire scope of the harrowing depth of the police station where eccleston character be take in by handcuff ( for his own protection say lonnrot in case of get lose in the wrong room ) and be follow in a long tracking shot maybe the best or just most curious where be take through very dark hallway with very little direction and lose in the maze of turn and oddity among the character . and it never something that isn not fascinate to look at and with miguel garzon cinematography a morbid delight . but the plot go through hoola hoop to keep thing so off beat it might as well be beat less all together . the performance and save for a confident boyle and for eccleston at the very end and be pretty bad and especially sandoval who just seem to squirm in his seat recite the goofy dialog give to him to speak at the audience . while the murder plot itself contain an intention for the audience that this isn not something we have see before and that it in a society with a good many rioter and architecture suggest alphaville next decrepit wave and it too fizzle out very quickly . what the conflict here . i be never that much engage with boyle own personal mission to find this killer and and only mildly catch up in the few flash of deranged scene of the killer ( and or or killer ) go after people like in the building early on ( cox himself have an amusing cameo ) . and just when i start to think it be lead up to something spectacular and with boyle and eccleston in that big ( not as big a you think ) building in the south section of the city and it suddenly give u a twist that we know in the back of our mind be come but hope isn not and and it deflate any of the humdrum mystery it be lead up to . for all of cox uncanny touch a a filmmaker and for all of his opposition to spoon feed the audience with a conventional approach and which i do respect and death and the compass ultimately cut one off at the brain stem while it masturbatory .