Serial Killers: The Real Life Hannibal Lecters

When it comes to crime, there is a clear hierarchy was something like petty theft at the bottom, escalating up to offences against the person, grand larceny, rape and then, at the very pinnacle, serial murder incorporating necrophilia and cannibalism. As they are so rare, serial killers have a special place in our collective psyche as they are both repellent and fascinating. It's not just a case of wondering why someone may kill another person, but what makes someone killed dozens, perhaps eating their flesh or defiling their corpses. As such, serial killers have influenced numerous writers and filmmakers and have been immortalised in print and on celluloid with perhaps the most famous being Thomas Harris' creation: Dr Hannibal Lecter.

This documentary takes the name and famous image of Dr Lecter in that strange adapted hockey mask, with bars over his mouth, to adorn its cover but, oddly, doesn't spend an awful lot of time on Ed Gein, the serial killer that probably influenced Harris more than any other, not with Hannibal Lecter, but with Buffalo Bill. With contributions from authors, criminologists and behavioural psychologists, this hour-long documentary concentrates on three serial murderers, two of whom are probably less well-known than others who are briefly touched upon: Albert Fish, Andrei Chikatilo and Jeffrey Dahmer.

In between the contributions from the talking heads -- described in the press release as "world renowned experts" (I don't know what it takes to become world-renowned, as I hadn't heard of any of them), there is some re-enactment, clippings from newspapers plus newsreel footage of the killers and/or their victims being dug up. There is obviously much more material on Jeffrey Dahmer, whose trial was televised, than of Albert Fish, who murdered in the early part of the 20th-century and was executed in 1936. Showing why these men become such fascinating subjects, the documentary shows how their crimes were covered in the newspapers and on television, the nicknames they were given (Fish had several including The Werewolf of Wisteria and The Brooklyn Vampire).

It is clear from the press release that the whole documentary is geared towards associating these men is closely with Hannibal Lecter as possible and that makes it all the more strange that Thomas Harris isn't interviewed -- I can only imagine that he was approached but didn't want to be involved. Therefore, we can only speculate as to what blend of serial murderers became Hannibal Lecter and who Harris researched the most before acting Hannibal; this would've benefited enormously from an interview with Harris, either that or just don't have such a massive pop culture reference on the cover.

Despite being deeply flawed and only dealing with three of the killers in any depth, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy are covered in a rather perfunctory manner at the beginning, Serial Killers: the Real Life Hannibal Lecters is a perfectly enjoyable watch for anyone who enjoys watching films or reading books about serial killers. I had never heard of Albert Fish prior to watching this and the name Andrei Chikatilo was just that -- a name. I knew more about Jeffrey Dahmer, but not much more and this went into quite a bit of detail about all three, going over their backgrounds, early forays into crime, MOs and what finally happened to them. I won't give it away here, but Chikatilo's last words are quite amazing, especially as there is more than a degree of truth behind his statement.

The Disc

The Picture
A perfectly serviceable full frame picture which uses captions for the 'experts' only three times during the film which strikes a good balance so you don't forget who each one is, nor do you get sick of seeing their name on the screen. It is quite nicely put together, cutting between interviews with the 'experts', newsreel footage, the re-enactment and other bits they have added to give each section some depth.

I did find the cutaways to a man dressed in a boiler suit and wearing that Hannibal Lecter mask to be completely unnecessary and only there because of the title.

The Sound
The stereo soundtrack is perfectly adequate and all of the dialogue comes across clearly enough. This isn't a film that has any surround sound, nor does it need any, so everything is easy to make out and understand; the narrator has suitably sonorous tones and does a pretty good job at delivering his script and talking you through on-screen events. Unsurprisingly, there are no subtitles.


Final Thoughts
Serial Killers: the Real Life Hannibal Lecters is the sort of documentary that you may find on Channel 5 late one night and would quite happily sit through it for an hour. Although this is a little perfunctory when it comes to dealing with Bundy and Gacy (and there's scarcely a mention of Ed Gein), the three men it does feature heavily are fascinating individuals, if only because their everyday lives were so far removed from their criminal lives. What I found most interesting was the coverage of Jeffrey Dahmer's trial which features interviews with two of his victims' relatives, cutting from one of the interviews to her losing it on the witness stand.

This is reasonably priced at £5.99 and, whilst I'm not sure whether it's the sort of thing you'll watch more than once, it will certainly be of interest to those who just can't get enough of serial killers.