Home Blog Page 536

GROWNUPS – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
-
0
GROWNUPS – A Review by Gary Murray

GROWNUPS

By Gary Murray

Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin Smith, David

Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris

Rock and Salma Hayek Pinault and Maria Bello Written by Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf

Directed by Dennis Dugan

Running time 105 min

MPAA Rating PG-13

Adam Sandler is one of the most famous comics to have come from SNL. Over the years, he has consistently given his audience a uniform product. Films like The Water Boy, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison have taken command at the box office. Every once in a while he delivers a performance like in Funny People or The Wedding Singer that gets critical notice. Mostly he just makes silly, crude adult roughhouse comedies. His latest is a faux family feel good flick called Grownups. The film starts back in the 1970’s with five young boys playing basketball in a championship game. By working together they win. At their honoring banquet held at a lake house, the coach praises the boys and hopes that they will always remember to be a team. He wants the boys to play life like they played the game, with no regrets. Flash forward 30 years and all the guys are grown men with families. Lenny (Adam Sandler) is a successful Hollywood agent with a high fashion designer wife Roxanne (Salma Hayek Pinault) and three very high maintance kids. He finds out about the death of his beloved coach and decides to take the family back to New England for the funeral. Once there he reunites with the team. Kurt (Chris Rock) has become a house husband with a demanding wife (Maya Rudolph). Eric (Kevin James) runs a furniture company and has a large brood of a family and a loving wife Sally (Maria Bello). Rob (Rob Schneider) has gone ‘new age’ with a much older partner and estranged kids from all his former marriages. Finally there is Marcus (David Spade) our man-child, still single and chasing young women. Lenny rents the lake house that was the backdrop for their honorary banquet. It is also the place where the coach’s ashes are to be disbursed. The Feder family has plans to be in Milan, plans that Lenny secretly wants little part of. He has come to realize that his kids are not normal in the way he was brought and wants his kids to be kids. Exposing them to the families of all of his friends should nudge them in the right direction. He is so embarrassed by his wealth that he hides his nanny as an exchange student from China. But the other families are not much better. Rob has issues with both his toupee and how he has treated his former families, leaving some beautiful victims in his wake. Kurt is put-upon, getting no respect for either his kids or his wife’s family. Eric just tries to put on airs, making his world as important as Lenny’s. Finally Marcus knows that something is missing in his life, that element is a family. The film is a giant game of ‘the grass is greener on the other side of the fence’. The single night in the cabin becomes a Independence Day weekend with all the different familial groups bond into a collective whole. We get rowing and playing in the lake, playing arrow roulette (funny dangerous idea), a big set piece of going to a water park and the inevitable rematch of the 30 year-old basketball game with rival team bringing their middle-age game to the floor. The five leads are all funny men and there are some humorous bits here and there, but the whole film never builds into anything solid. It is like eating Chinese food-you know that you had it, you just don’t remember anything about it. Each take pot shots at the other, the way juveniles do, getting off some funny lines but I cannot remember any quip from any comic. The giant set piece at the water park seems like an excuse to get some young ladies in little bikinis. It is just as much a family film as Hooter’s is a family restaurant. The guys reminiscence while trying to build those same kind of memories for their kids. The entire film comes across mostly hateful, even though it has some great performances. The kid cast is just wonderful, being both kids and fully thought-out secondary characters. They find a few places to get a laugh-line stealing from the titans around them. The single best element of the film is the soundtrack. It is filled with tracks from Cheap Trick and Journey, with a single song song by Adam for his dad. But the biggest chunk is given to the great J. Geils Band, a grooving little rock outfit that has never truly been given their dues. Grownups is a family film only in the fact that it concerns families. Imagine The Return of the Secaucus 7 but as a basketball/family movie. A dark underbelly bubbles below the surface, a hateful look on life. It does find a few moments to shine but it is mostly a weak summer entry.

MICMACS – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
-
0
MICMACS – A Review by Gary Murray

MICMACS

By Gary Murray

Starring Dany Boon, Andre Dussollier, Nicholas Marie, Jean-Pierre Marielle and Yolande Moreau Written by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Running time 1 hr 44 min

MPAA Rating R

The French are known for making different and unusual films. They love to capture the absurdity of life and examine it by making it grand. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has been giving audiences on both side of the pond stunning visuals and cleaver storylines. His latest is Micmacs. The film opens with war, landmines and death. The father of Bazil dies just as he is born, leaving him both a war victim and fatherless. Years later, Bazil (Dany Boon) works in a video store, watching more movies than renting them out. A gun battle happens outside the shop and Bazil is hit, a bullet lodged in his brain. The doctors decide to leave it in, giving Bazil a different way of looking at life. Once back on his feet, he finds that his existance is destroyed. Having lost his apartment and his job, he has to perform on the street for coins. A homeless guy takes pity on him and introduces him to a collective that finds treasures thrown away. The place is also a metaphor for the people who live in the collective, they are all freaks who have been abandoned. With names like Tiny Pete, Calculator and Elastic Girl; they are all working on themselves as much as working on junk. One day Bazil is on a run and discovers that the landmine company and the bullet company are on opposite sides of the same street in Paris. Bazil goes into a rage when he sees that the companies that have ruined everything in his life are within his grasp. The rest of Micmacs is Bazil’s revenge against the two CEO’s of the companies, plotting one against the other to destroy both. Visually, the film is stunning. There are elements like dancing clothes on hangers that give a surreal feel to the proceedings. More than once there is a reference to a classic noir but with a modern twist. With this cast of characters, there are also references to some of the great silent comics, with special nods to both Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. The background of the junk cave harks back to something from Arabian Nights. The problem with the film is the aspect of blame. Bazil attacks two different military manufacturers because of the twisted turns that have assaulted his life. It would be like blaming GM if you were in a car wreck. He doesn’t go after the people who shot the gun or planted the landmine, no–he blames the company that made the products. The flick feels more along the lines of Brazil, the Terry Gilliam film. It has all the strange characters and outlandish situations, just not the strong storytelling. It is weird for the sake of being weird. It also drags along, more in love with the images it is putting on the screen than with the storytelling aspects needed to drive the plot. With a summer that has given us some very weak films, Micmacs becomes just another product trying to generate box office. It has a weirdness that betrays the sweetness it wants to become. Not a bad little flick but nothing to rush out and see.

Toy Story 3 – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
-
0
Toy Story 3 – A Review by Gary Murray

TOY STORY 3

By Gary Murray

Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty and Don Rickles

Written by Michael Arndt and John Lasseter

Directed by Lee Unkrich

Running time 103 min

MPAA Rating G

For those who follow my writings, I have stated more than once that Pixar Animation is the greatest film company that has ever been created. They have never made a bad motion picture and their percentage of 100 million dollar blockbusters is currently standing at 100%, a perfect score. They are not only the gold standard of computer animation, they are the gold standard of story telling. As much as I believe in the company, I was still worried about Toy Story 3. Go back and look at the third entry of a series and the third leg almost always is the weakest part. Godfather 3, Alien 3 and Lethal Weapon 3 are all examples of how the franchise had run their course. But every once in a while, the franchise is re-born in the last time out, giving a definite and amazing ending to the idea. Such is the finished product Toy Story 3, one of the best flicks of the year.

The story opens with a giant action adventure moment. Buzz and Woody with a little help from Jessie, rescue a bunch of troll dolls from an evil villain, played by our favorite pig Hamm. There is a runaway train and a giant explosion. We soon find that it is all just a very imagined game and that the toys just dream about being played with.

Andy has grown up and is about to go off to college. All of his toys are still in their giant toy box but they haven’t been played with in years. Some of the group have been lost to garage sales and some have just been thrown away. Mom wants Andy to either toss out the toys, put them in the attic or donate them to Sunnyside, a day care where both Andy and his sister attended all those years ago.

News of this shocks all of the toys. They worry that some will be discarded in the trash and all fear that they will become separated. When Andy makes his decision, all of the toys except Woody are to be put in the attic. Woody it seems is going with Andy to college, leaving behind Buzz, Jessie and all the rest.

But, through a series of misadventures, all of them end up at Sunnyside. Once there, they meet Lotso a cuddle bear who runs the toy part of the daycare. He tells them of how great it is going to be, being played with every day by different kids. Every toy except Woody wants to stay. Woody knows that they are all Andy’s toys and belong with their owner. So, the toys separate with Woody taking out on his own, trying to get back to Andy.

Buzz and the gang find out that being around a group of two year-old kids is a grueling punishment. We also learn that Lotso isn’t as kindly as he first appears. All of Andy’s toys become beat-up relics, used as paintbrushes and hammers. It becomes a miserable existence, with all of Andy’s toys trapped in prison-like conditions.

On the other side of the plot, Woody finds out exactly how bad Sunnyside is for his friends. Ending up at the daycare owners house, he is played with by the little girl who lives there. She has the same kind of imagination that Andy showed so many years ago. Woody treks back to save all of Andy’s toys, breaking them out of their confinement. Along the way we get references to such diverse flicks as Cool Hand Luke and Mission Impossible. The exercise of Toy Story 3 is of how friendship and loyalty bond individuals to one another.

This little film is just a joy to watch. Shown in 3D, the effects just come off the screen without ever resorting to cheap tricks. The colors used in the production create a magic wonderland seldom surpassed on the big screen. The film gives our leads some different aspects, from Woody questioning his loyalties to Buzz finding a different mode to his personality. Barbie meets Ken who is much more complicated then imagined. You will never look at a cymbal playing monkey the same way again.

Toy Story 3 is one of the best films of 2010, destined to make many “best of” lists. It is humorous and heartfelt, tugging with equal measure to the heartstrings an funny bone. During the screening, the ending was drawing sniffles and wet eyes from just about every member of the audience, even the heartless critics rows.

One last thing, the opening Pixar cartoon is called Day and Night. To tell anyone any part of the plot would spoil the fun of this inventive pre-feature. Let’s just say that it combines the best of modern computer animation with some old style Loony Toon fun, without using any WB characters, just the wacky attitude. It is absolutely a brilliant piece of work and a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

 

Jonah Hex – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray
-
0
Jonah Hex – A Review by Gary Murray

JONAH HEX

By Gary Murray

Starring Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Megan Fox Written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

Directed by Jimmy Hayward

Running time 80 min

MPAA Rating PG-13

My father was the person who introduced me to the Western. As a kid, we would go to the drive-in and catch the latest flick by John Wayne as long as there were cowboys and horses in the mix. With my two brothers, the family probably saw a few hundred tales of the Old West. I hated every minute of it. But as I have gotten older, I have found an appreciation for the Western genre. The first tales with good guys in white hats and bad guys donning the black ones are a simplistic hoot. The flicks by Master Sam P. showed some of the pathos of the cowpoke and Clint Eastwood envisioned a different style with his trio of Spaghetti Westerns. Lately, the genre has had some strong films with modern action heroes saddling up and taking the reins. The newest entry takes a supernatural bent and is called Jonah Hex Based on a 1970’s era DC comic, the film stars Josh Brolin as the titled anti-hero character. We get just a smidgen of the back story. Jonah was a part of the Confederacy during the Civil War. His commanding officer Turnbull (John Malkovich) orders him to do a deed that Hex sees as an uncalled for act of war. When Hex refuses, many men die. To be punished Turnbull enacts his vengeance on Hex by killing off his family, leaving him for dead and burning his face. He is rescued by the local Indians who give the spirit of the crow, an ability to communicate with the dead and be hard to kill. All of this happens fairly much before the opening credits. The story starts with Hex being a bounty hunter who has a bounty on his own head. We get a blazing gun battle when a group of law men try to collect on Hex’s bounty rather than pay him. It sets the tone both in violence and black humor, Gatling guns blazing. Soon after that, we meet Lilah (Megan Fox) a local lady of the evening who is all business with her customers but who has a soft spot in her heart for Hex. On the other side of the plot, there is a train robbery. Turnbull, who everyone thought was dead, is very much alive and planning a giant revenge plot against the United States. He and his band of outlaws steal a super weapon cannon. The scene is a parallel to our modern day terrorism, with explosive vests and innocent victims. The government contacts Hex through Lilah, promising him a government pardon if he will help them catch this terrorist before he can complete his plans. The rest of Jonah Hex is the hunt for the bad guys while the bad guys hunt for Hex. The fate of the nation rests Jonah Hex. Along the way we get to see Hex communicate with the dead, the curse of knowing the other side. It is his comic book style super-power. Josh Brolin is just brilliant with this role. He is not afraid to look ugly, both on the inside and out. He finds he right degree of snarl with Hex, but still manages to give one liners and quips as he kills the bad guys. It is good to know that ‘Dirt likes the Dead” even for the bad guys. Speaking of bad guys, John Malkovich can do these roles in his sleep. Here is goes down a familiar path as the bad guy, chewing on each scene with a certain degree of rustic charm. He’s got the snarl down pat. It is fun to watch him grunt and growl The weakest element in the film is Megan Fox. Though she is stunning to look at, she still cannot act her way out of a paper bag. All the director needs her for is to look pretty and fire some pistols. Her few moments on the screen are bearable as eye candy not as a performance. Another element Jonah Hex has going for it is its brevity. It doesn’t break the 90 minute mark, getting one in and out of the theater without overstaying the welcome. It just flows along from scene to scene, giving heavy doses of action with little daubs of back-story and romance. Jonah Hex is not a great film and it is never going to win any awards. But it is a fun, slight diversion and not a bad flick to catch on a ‘too hot to be outside’ summer afternoon.

 

 

PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME – A Review by John Strange

John Strange
-
0
PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME – A Review by John Strange
PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME
 
John ‘Doc’ Strange
 
Directed by: Mike Newell
 
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley, Steve Toussaint, Toby Kebbell, Richard Coyle, Ronald Pickup, Reece Ritchie, Gisli Orn Gardarsson
 
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.
 
Selig Rating: FULL PRICE
 
Running Time:1 hr. 55 min.
 
Here is another video game making the jump to the big screen, this time with a script and cast capable of justify said jump. Jordan Mechner, who created the game, penned this screen story from which was then adapted for shooting by Boaz Yaken, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard.
 
The story’s premise revolves around Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) adopted in his youth by the King of Persia for his fearlessness and good heart. Many years have passed since the adoption, Dastan and his to older brothers and true sons of King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), Prince Tus (Richard Coyle) and Prince Garsiv (Toby Kebbell) have been sent to quell dissent in the realm. They are informed that a holy city is selling arms to their enemies. They are urged to attack the city and stop these sales by their uncle and advisor, Nazim (Ben Kingsley). Dastan asks to lead the attack but Tus gives this task to the older, more experienced Garsiv.
 
Dastan sees a chance to save the lives of many troops by breaking into the city on the side away from his brothers besieging troops. He successfully leads his ragtag company of men and opens the gate to allow entry to the Persian troops.  Seeing his success, his brothers swiftly act on his triumph and storm the city through the compromised gate.
 
The fighting is short and swift. While the troops are fighting their way to the holy sanctuary at the center of the city, the head priestess, Tamina (Gemma Arterton), makes arrangements to smuggle the reason for her existence, the dagger, out of the city. In the only poor scene I saw in this story, the man assigned to this task attacks Dastan instead of attempting to skulk quietly away. In the fight that ensues, Dastan bests him and takes the knife as his prize.
 
Following the battle, Prince Tus enters the holy place and decides to bring peace by making the high priestess his bride thus connecting her city with the Persian Empire for all time. The king hears of their battle and races to the holy city to attempt to make things right. He decides that the wedding should go forward. The sons each produce gifts for the King. As usual, Dastan does not have a gift fit for a King in his spoils so Tus gives him a ceremonial robe to give their father. This robe results in the death by chemical burning of the King. Dastan escapes with the Tamina one step ahead of Prince Garsiv on Garsiv’s horse.
 
What follows is a chase fully worthy of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie (after all, he IS the producer) as Dastan and Tamina race to get the knife safely secreted away where the bad guys can’t find it. Unfortunately for them, the forces of darkness include the Hassasins, killers who were thought to have been disbanded and eliminated many years previously. Their fighting techniques are as imaginative as the movie including trained vipers and many exotic weapons,
 
I am told by several Prince of Persia game aficionados that the acrobatic fighting techniques used by Gyllenhaal (and his stunt doubles) and the Hassasins is perfectly in line with those used in the game. I can’t say about that but it IS fun to watch, full of acrobatic flips and running along poles sticking out of the adobe-like buildings of the region. 
 
For humor we have Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar, the pessimistic, tax-dodging schemer always looking for an easier way to make money and loving his racing ostriches. The sheik reluctantly follows Dastan and Tamina on their quest, accompanied by Seso (Steve Toussaint), a giant of a man, supposedly of an ancient tribe of Africans know for their prowess with throwing knives.
 
This is a film that is full of amazing visuals and exciting action, good humor and endearing teasing touches of love and affection. I can heartily recommend it with a full Selig rating of FULL PRICE! You will enjoy this saga and look forward to seeing if we gat a sequel as much as I did.
The Selig Rating Scale:
FULL PRICE – Excellent movie, well worth the price
MATINEE – Good movie
DOLLAR – OK movie
CABLE – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
FREEBIE – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn’t paid for it.
COMMERCIAL TV – Commercials and cutting to the allotted time will not hurt this one.
FORGET IT! – Bad. If you see this one, do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself.
GET YOUR TORCHES – BAD! – Burn the script, the writer, the director and maybe even the actors!

 

 

Albert Fish (DVD) – A Review by Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards
-
0
Albert Fish (DVD) – A Review by Michael Edwards

Back in 2004 I reviewed a film called “H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer”, and up until now I’ve thought that was the most disturbing movie about a serial killer I had ever seen. I was wrong. Leave it to the keen cinematic eye of filmmaker John Borowski to follow his earlier project up with a lurid new look into the mind of a maniac. His new film brings to life the sick, twisted and sadistic acts of 1930’s child murderer Albert Fish.

I’ve always been fascinated by serial killers. Not in the ‘I wanna be like them’ kind of way, but more the ‘how the heck can any human being do that to another human being’ kind of way. I still don’t understand… and maybe its better I don’t… how anyone can be so cruel and monstrous. And on the case of Albert Fish, and others like him, how they can be so horrible to a child. Watching “Albert Fish”, I could not help but think of my own little girl. She’s only three and I cannot imagine placing her in such a horrific situation.
For those of you who have never heard of Fish, he was arrested back in 1934 for the kidnapping, murder and cannibalism of 10 year old Grace Budd. He was already in his sixties, and the stories that came out of that trial painted a picture of evil that is almost unbelievable to any civilized person. The fact that he had also killed others came to light, though no one knows exactly just how many. Yet throughout his life he came across as a rather innocuous person. Someone you would tip your hat to going down the street and never give him a second thought.

But some of you, regardless of your level of interest in someone like Albert Fish, may be turned off by the fact that it is a documentary. But what sets Borowski’s documentaries apart from, say, something you’d see on the History Channel or Court TV is that the style of the film and attention to detail in the dramatizations are so shocking as to command your attention. We’re not talking some flat video sequences of mannequin looking actors dressed up, but real honest and compelling performances. Even the narration, by Tony Jay (who sadly passed away a few months ago) is delivered as if he is truly interested in sharing the subject with you and not simply reading off of a script.

Fish is portrayed by actor Oto Brezina, whom I’ve never seen before though his resume is quite extensive, and he gives quite the chilling performance. I think the fact that he is a relative unknown helps the credibility of seeing him as Fish. Through his body language and expressions, there is little doubt that a sociopathic individual lurks beneath what appears to be an innocent appearance.

Borowski includes interviews with experts in the film, though some of them seem a little less credible than the actor. Most notably is artist Joe Coleman, an Albert Fish aficionado who managed to get his hands on the original letter that led to his arrest. He comes across as being rather… disturbed… himself going as far as to compare his psyche to Fish’s. But instead of killing, he paints….. riiiiiigghhtt…. Still, Coleman’s appearance in “Albert Fish” is only one of two nitpicks I can find in the film. The other is some of the unusual imagery Borowski uses to give us the ‘impression’ of Fish’s religious delusions. From a filmmaking standpoint, I can see what he was going for, it just didn’t work for me the way I believe he intended.

Beyond that, “Albert Fish” just as powerful and disturbing of a story as “H.H. Holmes” did, and in many ways even more so. The emotions that are elicited run from watching it run the gamut from fascination to revulsion. Personally, watching the movie makes me even more adamant about the use and necessity of the death penalty. Fish was executed for his crimes, but I am reminded how many of todays killers sail through with little more than a slap on the wrist. I’m reminded of the hideous things that are done to children, and where I used to just shake my head in disbelief, it now brings tears to my eyes. When I read about a person like Andrea Yates drowning her 5 children or Dena Schlosser cutting off the arms of her infant daughter, and I understand that these modern monsters should suffer the same fate. Throw out the term Innocent by Reason of Insanity and replace it with Guilty by Reason of Insanity and put these animals down.

Getting back to the subject at hand, what really impresses me about the DVD for “Albert Fish” is that, for an independent release, it has an incredible amount of extra features. Borowoski really went all out and added tons of deleted scenes, extended interviews and a still gallery. You’ll also find a featurette on the history of the electric chair, a much closer look at Joe Coleman’s disturbing portrait of Albert Fish (where you can zoom in to look at the detail) and several of Fish’s letters ready by Harvey Fisher. There’s even a performance by the group Macabre of their song about Fish. This is probably THE definitive look at the life and crimes of Albert Fish.

The part of me that holds a fascination for serial killers really looks forward to any future projects John Borowski has on his docket, yet I would also like to see what kind of film he might make off of the subject. His filmmaking talent is unquestionable and leaves little doubt he has a passion for what he does, so it begs the question, “If not serial killers… what else?”

Directed by: John Borowski
Narrated by: Tony Jay
Starring: Oto Brezina, Derek Gaspar, Nathan Hall, Cooney Horvath

Extras:
INTERVIEWS – Insight into the serial killer culture behind Albert Fish.
Nico Claux – The Vampire of Paris, Cannibal
Macabre – Death Metal Band
John Borowski – Includes behind-the-scenes production footage and more!
OUTTAKES – Due to story flow, some scenes were cut from the final film.
Fritz Haarmann – The Vampire of Hanover
Walter Winchell’s Gossip Column
Roses
Tony Jay reads as Fish
Coleman Interview Outtakes
Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. Interview Outtakes
THE HISTORY OF THE ELECTRIC CHAIR – Presented by Theodore Bernstein, Ph.D.
TRAILERS – View four Albert Fish trailers.
FISH’S LETTERS ON GRACE BUDD AND BILLY GAFFNEY – Complete letters read by voice-over talent Harvey Fisher.
JOE COLEMAN’S PORTRAIT OF ALBERT FISH – Zoom in on areas of the painting for detail.
MACABRE LIVE PERFORMANCE – Albert Was Worse Than Any Fish In The Sea.
STILL GALLERY – Includes production stills and poster designs.

Specifications: Full Screen
Release Date: 3/27/2007
Region: All Region
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer (DVD) – A Review by Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards
-
0
H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer (DVD) – A Review by Michael Edwards

 

I’ve long had a fascination with the subject of serial killers. Now, before you start thinking I’m some kind of sicko myself, I assure you I am not. It’s more that I have a strong interest in psychology and I’ve longed to understand the mind of someone who can commit such horrendous atrocities. No matter how I try, I simply cannot fathom how anyone could bring themselves to commit cruel, cold-blooded murder, not just once, but over and over again. For years I’ve read books on the subject as well as watched numerous documentaries and films. I’m all too familiar with names like Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Of course, to say I hold a special interest for those whose identities remain a mystery, such as Jack the Ripper.

As familiar as I am with an incredibly long list of serial killers, I was actually surprised to learn the name of one I had never heard of before. His name was Henry Howard Holmes and he is credited as being America’s First Serial Killer.

Recently I watched a film on H.H. Holmes, and now that I am a bit more familiar with the extent and scope of his crimes I am hard-pressed to understand how in the world I had missed him with as much as I’ve read on the subject.

The film in question is called “H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer.” Coming in at just over an hour, it is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on any serial killer. Through the use of archival photos and meticulously filmed re-creations, it follows the life and crimes of Holmes as it focuses on some of the main life-changing events in his life. Some of the most chilling sequences recall what was to be the culmination of his career, a hotel built with a labyrinth of corridors leading to hidden torture chambers and a crematorium. I cannot even begin to describe the carnage that took place within these walls. That is for this film to do.

“H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer” is the result of a three year odyssey for filmmaker John Borowski, and all of the hard work shows. There is a wealth of information about Holmes offered within the confines of a single hour, but it is all so well edited that it never feels bloated. I would compare the film to those I’ve seen on the History Channel or Arts & Entertainment, but I have to admit this documentary is far superior to many of those. Where re-creations are often poorly done or are so slick that they pull the viewer out of the story, Borowski’s are so well-produced that they serve to draw your attention even further into the events as they occurred. Of course, they also offer an unflinching look at Holmes’ crimes, and while you are drawn into the story… you are most certainly equally repulsed.

Borowski also made a great choice when it came down to who would narrate his film. He chose master vocal artist Tony Jay, who is probably best known as the voice of Judge Frollo in Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Jay’s voice is one that is quite familiar to me as it has graced numerous projects, my personal favorite being that of the villain Megabyte in the highly underappreciated animated series, “Reboot.”

This independently produced documentary has been making the Film Festival circuit, but fortunately it is also available on DVD to anyone who wishes to see it. It is available on the website listed below, and I highly recommend ordering one while they are still available. Much as the film itself is superior to many high-dollar documentaries, the DVD release far outshines many of those offered by the big studios. The transfer of the film is terrific, and I was caught off-guard by the awesome Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound that was available. I had my surround sound system turned on while I was watching it, and I often had to look over my shoulder to make sure some of the sounds weren’t actually coming from any uninvited guests who might have been sharing the room with me.

The DVD of “H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer” offers up much more than just the film itself, and includes a 20 minute “Making of’…’’ featurette that is a must watch. I was amazed to see just how much work went into the making of a film like this and amateur filmmakers will certainly find some of the information to be of special note. There are also some outtakes that were cut from the film for timing reasons, all of which are well worth watching. You’ll also find some information about some of the events that transpired since Holmes’ capture that make for a useful follow-up.

Borowski offers up a director’s commentary that, unlike many commentaries, is actually quite interesting. He touches upon a lot of the smaller details of what it took to make the film, and what it meant to him. There are also some of the obligatory trailers and bios that are standard fare on most DVD releases.

I have the opportunity to see a lot of independently produced projects, and for the most part, most of them are better left unseen. But occasionally there are films that are so good as to rise above a lot of the work coming out of the big budget studios. “H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer”, is one of those films.

Directed by: John Borowski
Extras: Director Commentary Behind the Scenes Featurette, Outtakes, Trailer, Poster Designs
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Release Date: Available
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

1...534535536Page 536 of 536