After reading it, Metcalfe spent five years attempting to get the story onto the screen, writing his own screenplay. It dealt most directly with Panzram's unpublished memoir about his life and his insistence on having no regret for his numerous crimes. Screenwriter Tim Metcalfe found a copy of the book Killer: A Journal of Murder (1970) by Thomas Gaddis and Joe Long, in a used-book store.
Throughout the movie, Lesser's relationship with his wife Esther ( Cara Buono) is briefly touched upon. I could kill ten men while you're fooling around here."Īlthough horrified and disgusted by Panzram's crimes, Lesser is troubled by Panzram's death. He urges the executioner to speed his preparations for the execution, saying "Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard. In his last hours he refuses to appeal for clemency, and rejects a priest who comes to hear his confession. Panzram is hanged at Leavenworth in 1930. In one scene he says, "I want out of this body, I want out of this life!" Lesser tries to convince the condemned man to appeal by claiming insanity, but Panzram stubbornly refuses. While granted a furlough, Panzram rapes a woman and is incarcerated again.Īfter recounting his life of homicide and crime, and refusing to apologize for any of it, Panzram beats a prison guard to death in an altercation. but, his actions destroy the rehabilitation program. He is encouraged by a warden who believes in rehabilitation and whom Panzram appears to like. He writes his life story, confessing to numerous murders and violent physical attacks against men and boys, accusing the circumstances of his life for his own cruelties to others. They develop some kind of relationship and Panzram asks Lesser for writing materials. Prison guard Henry Lesser ( Robert Sean Leonard), at the beginning of his career, extends kindness to him arising from his belief in reform. Total gross in America totaled $65,682.Īfter repeated convictions and prison sentences for robberies and violent crimes in the early 20th century, Carl Panzram ( James Woods) is serving time again at Leavenworth penitentiary for burglary. In the United States, the film grossed $31,993 on its opening weekend across 9 screens. In 1997 it was distributed by First Independent Films in the UK in Spain, it was shown through Ufilms. The film was theatrically shown in the United States in 1996 through Legacy Releasing Corporation, although with limited distribution. It premiered internationally in September 1995 at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The film explores the relationship between Panzram James Woods and Henry Lesser Robert Sean Leonard, a prison guard who believes in redemption.
It uses some passages drawn from his own writings near the end of his life.
#KILLER A JOURNAL OF MURDER MOVIE SERIAL#
It is loosely adapted from a book of the same title, on the life of American serial killer Carl Panzram, who was active in the early 20th century and executed in 1930. Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995) is an American drama film written and directed by Tim Metcalfe.
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