H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer
by John Borowski
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DVD details
Actor: Ed Bertagnoli, Harold Schechter, Marian Caporusso, Thomas Cronin, Tony JayDirector: John Borowski
Brand: Facets Multimedia
Cinematographer: Frey Hoffman
Cinematographer: John Borowski
Editor: John Borowski
Producer: John Borowski
Writer: John Borowski
Producer: Dimas Estrada
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 64 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-19
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Facets Video
DVD Reviews of H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer
DVD Review: A monster revealed
Summary: 4 Stars
I think it's safe to say that we can separate serial killers into two categories--let's call them "A" and "B"--when discussing their name recognition. Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Jeffrey Dahmer, Henry Lee Lucas, Jack the Ripper, and Charles Starkweather would definitely fall in the former. Thanks to the media, the public is all too aware of these vicious killers. Numerous books, articles, documentaries, and movies describe their exploits in nauseating detail. The second tier murderers, no less appalling in their capacity to take human lives, would draw mostly blanks if you dropped their names into polite conversation. Albert Fish, Beck and Fernandez, William Bonin, and dozens of others fall into this category. One name that, until recently, also garnered blank stares was Dr. Herman W. Mudgett aka Henry Holmes aka H. H. Holmes. Thanks to a best-selling book entitled "The Devil in the White City," Holmes is finally receiving his due. I haven't read Erik Larson's treatment, but I have read dozens of serial killer compilations over the years. Holmes made the grade in all of them. I decided to reacquaint myself with this monster recently by watching John Borowski's documentary "H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer."
Borowski's production, which runs a scant sixty-four minutes, gives the viewer everything they ever wanted to know about this notorious butcher. Holmes grew up in New Hampshire in the 1860s and 1870s, a brilliant but troubled child who eventually attended medical school. After running an insurance scam involving stolen cadavers from school, Holmes disappeared for a number of years before popping up again in Chicago in 1885. Then the nightmares began in earnest. He bounced around the city running numerous scams and running up debts before beginning construction on an enormous mansion across the street from a drugstore he owned. An odd structure indeed, this castle, considering that it boasted close to sixty rooms and a most unusual floor plan. Moreover, Holmes continually hired and then fired workers laboring on the building. One reason was to get out of paying for services rendered. Another reason, and a far more ominous one considering what would soon take place in the mansion, was Holmes's fervent desire that no one but himself would now the ins and outs of the building's design. You see, Dr. Holmes had a specific purpose in mind for his new domicile, a purpose that involved trapdoors, slides, and a murder pit in the basement.
Over the next four years, Holmes lured dozens upon dozens of women to the castle. Some came to rent rooms from the good doctor, others seeking employment. No one really knows how many women H. H. Holmes killed. It is generally acknowledged what he did with the bodies, however. After dispatching a victim, the murderer would send their body down to the basement where pits full of acid and quicklime ensured that all traces of the corpse would vanish--after he sold the victims' skeletons to medical schools across the country, that is. Holmes's murderous career started to unravel after police arrested him for running a con in St. Louis. While in jail there he swindled famed train robber Marion Hedgepeth, a swindle that came back to bite him later on when Holmes reneged on a promise to pay the criminal money for securing legal assistance. Hedgepeth eventually rolled over on the doctor, reporting to the authorities an insurance scam Holmes planned on running once out of jail. The Pinkerton Detective Agency got involved in the case, and the rest, as they say, is history. The horrors of the Chicago mansion soon came to light, and H. H. Holmes eventually went to the gallows for his terrifying crimes.
Whew! Boy, am I leaving a bunch of stuff out! I could go on and on about H.H. Holmes, about his numerous affairs with women, his cons, and his treatment of the Pietzel family. The fact that Borowski managed to stuff this much information about Holmes's activities into sixty minutes is an impressive feat indeed. The documentary looks like something you might see on A&E or the History Channel. It shows us the pictures of places and people central to the story of Holmes, contains interviews with serial killer experts like Harold Schechter, boasts several black and white reenactments of significant events, and even has Tony Jay doing the narration. If you don't know this guy's name, don't worry; you'll certainly recognize his voice. He's one of Hollywood's premier voiceover talents, having worked on dozens upon dozens of shows, movies, and videogames. Definitely a great choice to tell the creepy story of one of America's worst serial killers! My only problem with the picture is the title. Sorry, but H.H. Holmes wasn't America's first serial killer. Jesse Pomeroy killed numerous victims several years before Holmes was born. Moreover, serial killers existed in Europe long before America became a country. Gilles de Rais and Elizabeth Bathory are just two examples.
Extras on the DVD consist of a commentary track with John Borowski, an informative making of featurette, several trailers, and a photo gallery showing how the places involved in Holmes's crimes have changed in the last hundred plus years. Good stuff. So why isn't Holmes as well known as Bundy, Starkweather, Gacy, and the rest? The documentary answers that question indirectly by having to rely on recreations of the crimes. Holmes operated in a time before television and film could capture the crime scene and the trial. Modern Americans need to see the horror, see the killer marching by on their television sets, for it to register. Nonetheless, I think Borowski's documentary does much to elevate Holmes to the ranks of the "A" grade serial killers.
Description of H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer
Erik Larson?s bestselling book The Devil in the White City introduced America to one of the most horrific but little-known episodes in our nation?s criminal history. When the shocking exploits of the mysterious Dr. H. H. Holmes became known, U.S. tabloids dubbed him the American Jack the Ripper. H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA?S FIRST SERIAL KILLER is the first film to tell the entire true story of this grisly episode. H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA?S FIRST SERIAL KILLER focuses on Holmes? entire life of crime and villainy, from childhood to his death sentence and ultimate execution. Original photographs and newspaper reports of the period create a chilling authenticity, while actor Tony Jay (Time Bandits, Disney?s Beauty and the Beast) provides spooky, insightful narration to enliven the proceedings.Bestsellers in DVD
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