REVIEW: H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer (2004) REVIEWED by Bryan “SHU-IZMZ” Schuessler
Chicago-native John Borowski has directed and produced a very interesting and fact-filled documentary, H. H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer, complemented with dramatization and superb narration by the excellent Tony Jay, an actor and voice that has been seen and heard in countless films and television productions to create an all-around, solid fact-filled 64 minutes of appalling accounts of America’s first serial killer.
I first met John Borowski at Chicago’s leading independent horror website Horror Society, which I write for, during one of their film fests entitled Summer Slaughter, which was quite fitting for Borowski to be selling his documentary on one of the world’s most notorious serial killers. Slasher films were being played all night and why not being selling a documentary about someone who made fantasy killing a shocking reality. H. H. Holmes was a man I knew nothing about, mainly due to the fact that I was not very intrigued by “modern-day” serial killers as much as I was interested in more current sociopaths and psychos. It really had to do with the fact that I did not think that man could be so nasty as he was right now. Boy, was I wrong!
Borowski’s documentary does a superb job of filling the documentary up with loads of knowledge and research while also maintaining a film-like atmosphere, thus not making the non-fiction piece of work feel like one was in history class, being flooded by tons of facts and not much visual stimulation. For my tastes, one who enjoys history but enjoys the sordid atrocities of life more than the pleasant ones, this film was a perfect match. It intersects scenes of photos and drawings with live-action drama re-enacted by actor and actress alike, filled with an aural intoxication by the late and great Tony Jay narrating throughout the entire film.
Most intriguing to me were the shots of various spots around Chicago, which I am a native of, having lived in the city and surrounding suburbs my whole life that H. H. Holmes had lived in and around while committing his most insidious crimes on unsuspecting victims, men, women, teenagers and little children with not so much as a remorseful bone in his empty conscience. Here was a man that was truly horrific and was the embodiment of evil in every aspect of the word. Great detail was put into every aspect of this documentary and no fiendish act committed by Holmes was left out, neither were his crimes ever glorified at any point, as some sensational films on the subject tend to do.
I also found enjoyment that the director chose to have one of the most famous authors of the most infamous serial killer, the subject of many horror films old and new, Harold Schechter who wrote Deranged, a book entailing the heinous crimes of another sick individual, Wisconsin’s very own Ed Gein. If that was not enough, also on hand were Criminal Profiler Thomas Cronin and Programs Section Chief of the Illinois State Police Forensics Science Center Marian Caporusso. The film was set at a very comfortable pace, not too fast that the viewer has no time to digest all the facts that are given to him or her, but not so slow that one loses interest or finds the overall tone of the documentary to be a adverse exercise in one’s tedious boredom.
The film’s soundtrack was masterfully done by Douglas Romayne Stevens and the production does not cut any corners in the film’s look or professionalism. This easily can be one documentary that one would find on the History Channel on any given day when serial killers were to be the focus of topic. In addition to its slick and polished look, the film comes with an abundance of special features and extra goodies. Thee is included a 20-Minute Making Of segment, Outtakes, Trailers, Poster Designs , and a very interesting segment entitled The Story Continues, as well as Bios and Commentary with filmmaker John Borowski. I am also happy to note that the dvd is distributed by Chicago’s very own Facets Video.
Myself being a very big fan of documentaries, especially those dealing with the seedier elements of life in the world, I was not only too happy to pop this in my dvd player and find myself enjoying it very much, even if I was ashamed for knowing next to nothing about such a maniacal individual, one who lived in my own city and state for a large period of his life.
Do one’s self a favor and check out this film-whether you enjoy it or not as much as I did, you certainly will be horrified at the unfiltered facts and truths about H. H. Holmes and his despicable murders in one of the few serial killers to actually go to college and graduate, only to become one of the smartest and ruthless killers society ever knew.
