Killer: A Journal Of Murder is a 1996 American film set in the 1920s. It concerns an inmate of a Kansas prison who subsequently confess to being a serial killer to a prison guard, to whom he proceeds to relate his life of crime. It is based on the real-life criminal Carl Panzram and is based on his biography. [1]
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Plot outline
It stars James Woods as Carl Panzram and Robert Sean Leonard as Henry Lesser, the idealistic young prison guard who manages to befriend Panzram, who is serving the latest of many convictions for burglary. Panzram responds to Lesser's unrequested friendship by asking for writing equipment and proceeds to write the guard his life story, detailing many crimes, including multiple murder, and subsequent cruel punishments for breaking the rules during his previous trips to prison. The film employs many flashbacks to flesh out Panzram's adult life, although significantly it only briefly mentions his murders and instead concentrates on his experiences in prison. In some of these flashbacks, James Woods narrates by reading the actual words of Panzram's confession.
Plot summary
After recounting his life of homicide and crime, and refusing to apologise for any of it, Panzram ends up beating to death a prison trustee, and is sentenced to death. Lesser tries to convince the condemned man to appeal by claiming insanity, but Panzram stubbornly refuses, and in one scene makes his hatred of his own existence clear to Lesser by angrily declaring "I want out of this body, I want out of this life!" In the end, Carl Panzram gets his wish and is hanged. In his last hours he steadfastly refuses to appeal for clemency and even chases away a priest who comes to hear his confession by hurling a barrage of insults at him. Despite showing obvious disgust at Panzram's crimes, Lesser seems emotionally bothered by Panzram's death. Throughout the movie, Lesser's relationship with his wife Esther (played by Cara Buono) is briefly touched upon. It is to her he confides his experiences with dealing with Panzram's violent and nihilistic outlook on life, although she has difficulty understanding the people her husband must deal with in his line of work.
References
- ^ * Gaddis, Thomas E and James O Long (2002). Panzram : a journal of murder, original edition 1970, Los Angeles, Calif: Amok. ISBN 1-878923-14-5.
