MovieChat Forums > Zodiac (2007) Discussion > Eh? What happened with the Vaughn guy. ...

Eh? What happened with the Vaughn guy. From the Theater? (spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by swaggeringcuban
5 replies | jump to latest

I thought that was going to be the climax of the film. The guy basically admitted he wrote the posters which was by far the closest match the zodiac, he gets super scared and freaked out then he just leaves. The next scene he's forgotten that guy and is going after Rick Marshal again. Then he forgets marshall and goes back to Leigh Allen.

So what about the Bob Vaughn? What was the point of that whole scene?

[–] The-Demon 8 years ago

I think that part was in the book and Graysmith may explain more about it. I've read the book over 5 years ago and should re-read it.

Her is my theory on this scene. Fincher and the screenplay writer probably rewrote the script after conducting their own investigation and trying to go by the closest thing possible and to tell a story. Like in reality Graysmith and Avery never talked while at the Chronicle but it was factionalized to tell a story.

Zodiac is a dialogue driven movie. The first 30 minutes or so all the "cool" scenes happen. Then the rest focuses on the investigation. My ex watched it woth me and she was getting tired. They needed to add the unconfirmed Zodiac crime with Kathleen Johns and her baby to *beep* things up. They could have deleted that whole scene and it wouldn't change the story.

Same with the Bob Vaughan scene. This part was in the novel. Fincher just needed a spooky scene near thr end for pacing. They could have deleted that whole scene and cut to Graysmith visiting Darlene's sister in prison. It wouldn't make a difference, but they again needed to add something to spice it up. The prison scene was more important cuz Darlene's sister is the oje who says the man at the party's name was Leigh.

[–] swaggeringcuban 8 years ago

So the scene was just a red herring?

It was extremely jarring how one minute he's so sure he's in the room with the killer and the very next scene they're like "Nah just *beep* with u"

[–] The-Demon 8 years ago

Yes.

My memory is off but I think Graysmith writes that later Vaughan was cleared. But like I said, this whole scene really wasn't important and may or may not have happened. If it was cut from the movie it wouldn't even make any difference. They just wanted to add something scary near the end. The only thing I think it added also was that it sort of clears Rick Marshall. This isn't what cleared Rick Marshall there were other reasons. Reality is Rick Marshall was probably the most cooperative suspect. He even appeared on a documentary called Zodiac: Crime of the Century where Avery, Graysmith, Ken Narlow and Bob something (who meets Mageau in the end).

Truth is I read the book a few years after watching the movie. I never had an interest in Graysmiths book because I was already aware how he's a liar. I only got the book because it was a used one that I randomly saw in the bookstore for $5. Plus I figured it's good to be informative on anything even knowing that going in the facts aren't entirely there.

[–] dharary75 8 years ago

I completely agree. It seems like it would have been him or maybe both of them, perhaps there were multiple killers. That scene was chilling when he's trying to unlock the door and Vaughn suddenly appears behind him. It seemed like he was telling Greysmith that it was him.

[–] sebasarena 8 years ago

I was wondering the same after re-watching the movie. It even made me feel angry with Fincher about the final product because he should have cut it instead of leaving it there just to say: “Hahaha, you fools, I'm just playing with your expectations”.

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