H.H. Holmes
America's First Serial Killer
A Documentary Film by John Borowski
THE FILM
I first heard of this film in mid 2003, and looked forwarded to seeing it ever since. Since Holmes' crimes happened over 100 years ago, it's hard to find a good source of information about his life and the murders he commited. Harold Schechter's book was a good read, but visuals keep me interested more than strictly reading.
John Borowski's film tells Holmes' life story from start to finish. From his small town childhood home, to his college education, to his murder castle, to his capture, and on to his death and burial. One of the best aspects of the film are the recreations that give you more of a reference to a feeling of actually being there.
Before viewing this DVD I had very little knowledge of the Holmes case. Holmes was born Herman Mudgett in a small New Hampshire town. Later he attended college in Ann Arbor, Michigan before moving on to Chicago where he would make history. After fleeing Chicago while being investigated on insurance fraud he traveled back and forth around the midwestern United States, and was finally captured in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania.
An interesting thing that I didn't know was that Holmes was arrested by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the same agency that tracked Frank & Jesse James, and would later evolve into the CIA.
After the trial, which was compared to the OJ Simpson trial of it's day, he was sentenced to die and held at a prison in Pennsylvania. His last request before being hanged was to be buried 10 feet deep and encased in cement, due to a fear of having his body disturbed after death.
One of my favorite parts of the DVD is when it shows Holmes grave at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania. Holmes was buried in an unmarked grave, so finding it had to be quite a task.
To help in the storytelling there are interviews with Harold Schechter and others familiar with the Holmes case along the way. The narration by Tony Jay adds to the creepiness of the story. Jay's voice has been heard on many cartoons and tv shows, including Disney's Beauty And The Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The special features on the disk include a 20 minute behind the scenes making of video. It's pretty well done, showing where scenes were filmed, and how the recreations of Holmes' castle took place.
The outakes/deleted scenes was kinda boring, but interesting at the same time. If you get into forensics, this interview would interest you.
The trailers were decent, but he should have included a teaser for his upcoming documentary on Albert Fish.
There are 3 or 4 seperate poster designs, talent bio's, and some photos of places related to the Holmes case.
There is also a filmmaker commentary with Borowski that is pretty in depth about the production of the film, but not much extra information concerning the case itself.
OVERALL
I was really impressed with the quality of the film itself. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give this docu-film an 8. I'm really looking forward to his feature on Albert Fish.
To find out how to get this film for yourself, check out the homepage located at http://www.hhholmesthefilm.com. To find out more about John Borowski, check out his homepage, http://www.johnborowski.com.
|
,
