Into the Abyss. What a morbid film from Herzog

Border-Rat

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1972663/

Its been a while since I've watched something that has stuck in my head for a few days. The Police evidence tape that opens it is genuinely chilling, compounded by the interview with the killer. No remorse, resonates definite evil.

Jezek

So excited for this...watching this in the IFI with a live Q and A with Herzog after..(online)

LuckyLloyd

Saw it in the Film Festival last month. Very strong film imo. Herzog gets some good stuff from those interviewed, and the case (but particularly the backstories of those involved in same) is fascinating.

Heavy subject matter.

Decuc500

I thought the parts detailing the crime were interesting but once it reached the 'talking heads' section of the documentary it kind of lost me.

I didn't get a sense of evil from the killer, just that he was incredibly stupid.

johnny_ultimate

I liked it without being wowed by it. Herzog steps back somewhat for a change, letting the story speak for itself. The result is a documentary that certainly provides moments of insight and emotional power. But lacking the eccentricities of Grizzly Man or Encounters at... it was minus a unique edge.

That said, the interviewees were mostly strong, and it's a fascinating case study.

Mickeroo

Decuc500 wrote: »

I thought the parts detailing the crime were interesting but once it reached the 'talking heads' section of the documentary it kind of lost me.

I didn't get a sense of evil from the killer, just that he was incredibly stupid.

Not familiar with the killer in question but maybe the whole point is that killers aren't necessarily evil......

Looking forward to seeing this, hadn't heard of it before. Still must get around to watching Cave of Forgotten Dreams too.

duckworth

Mickeroo wrote: »

Not familiar with the killer in question but maybe the whole point is that killers aren't necessarily evil......

Looking forward to seeing this, hadn't heard of it before. Still must get around to watching Cave of Forgotten Dreams too.

I don't think there was a point intended - the killers did what they did, and now one of them is going to die. The film doesn't deal in terms of good/evil (of course the audience makes up their own mind if they want).

To me, the film was telling a story of something so absolutely pointless and wasteful - they committed the terrible murders for no real reason, and now they in turn are going to die. It's all one big terrible affair - we're staring into the abyss of despair.

I thought it was great - one of my favourite Herzog docs - up there with Grizzly Man and Little Dieter.

I agree with others above at how shocking it is - the crime video was very disturbing in a way I never expected. CSI Miami this is not!

Decuc500

Mickeroo wrote: »

Not familiar with the killer in question but maybe the whole point is that killers aren't necessarily evil......

Certainly that might have been one point being made. I suppose I was commenting on the first poster who said the killer resonated evil. I just saw some not so bright kid who commited a crime and tried to talk his way out of it.

mikhail

Decuc500 wrote: »

Certainly that might have been one point being made. I suppose I was commenting on the first poster who said the killer resonated evil. I just saw some not so bright kid who commited a crime and tried to talk his way out of it.

I had the same initial reaction - the word 'yokel' came to mind in the first few seconds of his interview - but increasingly found something about him creaping me out. Herzog himself says something like 'I had the sense that this was the most dangerous man I had ever met' (though I forget now whether he said it in the film, or in one of the interviews I read afterwards; I can't find it with a quick google).

Raekwon

I watched this the other night and even thought it was a very good documentary, I was thoroughly depressed by it. The nature of the crimes were extremely cold and calculated yet utterly pointless. That crime scene was incredibly eerie though.

mikhail wrote: »

I had the same initial reaction - the word 'yokel' came to mind in the first few seconds of his interview - but increasingly found something about him creaping me out. Herzog himself says something like 'I had the sense that this was the most dangerous man I had ever met' (though I forget now whether he said it in the film, or in one of the interviews I read afterwards; I can't find it with a quick google).

Herzog said: "However I have seen quite a few men and one woman on death row, and according to my instincts no one was as dangerous as he was. I think he was the most dangerous of anyone I ever met."

For me it was his dark intense eyes, they were the eyes of a deranged psychopathic killer. Plus the fact that he had absolutely no remorse and told the family of the people that he murdered that he forgave THEM compounded that fact.

Also I found the wife of the guy serving life for the murders very strange. She seemed like she had a few screws loose up stairs to put it very mildly.