The movie was a success, and Fincher didn't aim to give the audience a warm and fuzzy story. From the outset, it was oppressive, with the color palette of the shots forever tinged with grey, whether on the streets, at the police station, in the library, or in a bar, it never changed. Coupled with the exquisite montage editing techniques, the film also carried added weight and suspense.
However, the same editing techniques yielded vastly different effects when used in different scenes. For example, when Mills and Shamosai encountered the killer outside the fourth victim's house, disguised as a reporter, the infuriated Mills, believing him to be an intruder who had sneaked in, angrily grabbed the camera from him and chased him away, unwittingly making himself a target of the criminal.
