H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer:
The first thing you might say upon watching this fascinating documentary is "why haven't I heard of this guy before?". While the recent novel Devil in the White City by Erik Larson detailed his exploits, 19th century serial killer H.H. Holmes has nowhere near the notoriety of such modern maniacs as Gein, Bundy, or Dahmer - or even that of his British contemporary, Jack the Ripper.
Well, now filmmaker John Borowski has delivered a documentary (independently financed by Borowski himself) that depicts the bizarre odyssey of one of the most heinous madman ever. Holmes' hey-day was in the late 1800s, coincidentally around the time Jack the Ripper was making headlines in London. While Jack's legend may loom larger in history, the facts of the Holmes case make the Ripper's deeds look like amateur hour.
Borowski's film is a quiet, absorbing work (effectively narrated by Time Bandits' Tony Jay) that doesn't pander to an audience seeking sensationalism but it is unsettling just the same. Starting with Holmes' ascendancy to wealth (gained mostly by a variety of scams), Borowski shows the insidious cunning that went into Holmes' plans to build an elaborate hotel in the East Side of Chicago (nicknamed "The Castle" due to its stature) in which the entire second floor was made to order as a place where Holmes could murder at will.
As evidence of Holmes' methodical mind, Borowski's film informs us of how Holmes' would hire construction workers to work for a short amount of time on the building and then promptly fire them - all so that with a constantly rotating stream of workers, no one besides Holmes himself would have a clear notion of what the finished layout of the building would entail.
As diagrams in the film illustrate, that layout included secret rooms (some of them airtight so Holmes could siphon off the oxygen to unsuspecting victims - all the while watching their death throes through a peep hole), false exits (doors that opened to brick walls) and greased chutes meant for depositing bodies into the basement. This was not someone who simply picked up a scalpel and began to stalk victims. Holmes' crimes were an orchestrated affair.
As the film shows, Holmes was no impulsive killer. Bereft of remorse or any semblance of conscience, Holmes' would literally strip his victims' bodies down to the bone and then sell the skeletons to medical colleges (yes, Holmes was an entrepreneur in his own right). In his basement were acid vats and crematoriums - all of which presented a problem for the nascent pathological science of the day when Holmes was finally discovered. No firm record of his total number of victims can be verified.
Borowski assembled his film over the course of three years and the wealth of archival photos as well as the period equipment (including turn-of-the-century scalpels) used in several re-enactments stand as evidence of the film's exhaustive attention to detail. At the same time, the narrative flows effortlessly - laced with unforgettable imagery (I can't get the discovery of a footprint found on the inside wall of one of Holmes' vaults out of my head).
Eschewing the typical image we have of serial killers as socially maladjusted loners, Borowski's film reveals how Holmes managed to not only thrive as a business man but also marry several times and keep an array of mistresses on the side. While some of these woman met horrific ends, others were inexplicably spared.
And through it all, Borowski keeps us keenly aware of what a monster Holmes was. While many modern films have made the serial killer into an anti-hero of sorts - and while surface details of Holmes' life would lend itself to portraying him as some sort of evil genius (this is true Hannibal Lecter territory) - Borowski doesn't glamorize his subject's ghoulishness.
In this, Borowski is abetted by the fact that Holmes' is so little known that he doesn't bring along the same pop cultural baggage as, say, Ed Gein who over the years has turned into a perverse icon of sorts (he's the Mickey Mouse of serial killers!), with his face adorning T-shirts and trading cards. No, Holmes is fresh territory in this regard.
And while the upcoming adaptation of Devil in the White City might "Hollywood-ize" Holmes a bit, I imagine Borowski has already made the definitive look at America's First Serial Killer.
B+To order H. H. Holmes, go to www.hhholmesthefilm.com.