Cruising (1980)

A police detective goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.

From memory: more exploitative than effective thriller seems to revel in the sleazy underworld it presents; still, Al Pacino does another great job in the lead role.

Halliwell (no star): "Alleged thriller with phoney pretensions and repellent detail."

Maltin*1/2: "...distasteful, badly scripted film. Gay world is presented as sick, degrading, and ritualistic."

The Bone Collector (1999)

A quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his female partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.

Routine variation of a serial killer thriller; professional direction and cast plus a higher budget are the factors that make this movie slightly better than the usual crime TV episode.

Halliwell (no star): "A wearying, downbeat thriller of a familiar kind, dragged down by a script that makes little narrative sense and leaves too many questions unanswered."

Maltin***: "First-rate suspense thriller/whodunit...Not for the squeamish."