True Crime Movies

[RivkahChaya]

Hopefully the in the works remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown will live up to expectations.

And yet, I'm not holding my breath.

[RivkahChaya]

Has anyone else seen Death Scream? It's based on the Kitty Genovese murder, and was made-for-(US)-TV in 1975 (I saw it years later, maybe 88 or 89). It's a pretty amazing who's who of American television in the mid-1970s, because so many actors were willing to lend themselves to the film's message of "getting involved."

I remember first hearing about Kitty Genovese case in high school psychology, the story of all the people who watched a murder, and did nothing. I remember feeling oddly let down, when I learned the story was mostly hype-- the number of witnesses was exaggerated by about 100%, and no one apartment overlooked the space of the entire attack, which was pretty wide, but even more importantly, Genovese was essentially attacked twice, and the first time appeared to shake off the attacker, who then came back, leading some witnesses to first of all think she wasn't seriously hurt, and second that it might be an argument between people who knew each other; no one thought it was a murder, or even a crime like a mugging was taking place. Most important: the only person who actually saw Genovese "go down," so to speak, did call the police, but it was before the US has a 911 (emergency response) system, and a caller, after looking up the police switchboard in the phone book, was told by an operator which precinct to call, and given another number, to hang up and dial-- which was often wrong, and the person had to call the switchboard back, in the days of rotary phones and party lines. There was a very long gap between the neighbor's first call, and the arrival of the police.

I don't know why I felt let down-- I should have been happy that it was a misunderstanding, and not deliberate callousness-- well, happy is the wrong word, because Genovese is just as dead. I guess I felt lied to, and also a little mad, because 20 years after the crime (which happened in Queens), people would still mention it as an example of the unfriendliness of New Yorkers, of which I am one, and I love New Yorkers.

[sdreid]

Hopefully the in the works remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown will live up to expectations.

[sdreid]

Sure - please do.

[Magpie]

OK - Well, maybe I'll get to see it someday.

I could PM you a link, if you'd like.

[sdreid]

OK - Well, maybe I'll get to see it someday.

[Magpie]

Does Longford cover the murders at all of just the appeals process?

It's pretty much all post murder. It's mostly the battle for parole, up to the point where she confesses to the other murders, then there's a break while he watches porn, then back to Myra up until she gets new lawyers and dumps him as a liability.

[sdreid]

Does Longford cover the murders at all of just the appeals process?

[Magpie]

Watching "Longford".

Good movie--little slow, and a little disturbing.

[sdreid]

Ah, I remember the mondo movies - somewhat unsettling sometimes.

[Magpie]

What's that about Magpie?

It's like a "mondo" type movie, featuring newsfootage about crime in the US--everything from RFK and JFK to Brenda Spencer.

[sdreid]

What's that about Magpie?

[Magpie]

Just watching "The Killing Of America"

Incredibly depressing, yet at the same time compelling.

[sdreid]

The name sounds familiar but I don't remember seeing it.

[JDow]

Easily my favourite true crime movie is 'Out of the Blue'. It's a 2006 movie (one of Karl Urban's first I think) which recreates (very accurately, in my opinion) the massacre in the small New Zealand town of Aramoana in 1990. It's pretty gruelling stuff, but then if we wanted Bambi we wouldn't be watching true crime

J