Judgment Day: The John List Story

... Because he is third billed, is hardly on screen versus everybody else, and he spends most of the time he is on camera mutely over emoting. This premiered in February 1993, so this was before he was a shooting star on NYPD Blue the following year.

This was Robert Blake's first acting job in eight years, and he does a serviceable job playing this film's version of John List. I'm not sure List was this powder keg always about to explode that he is portrayed here, but then the guy was such a loner all his life there probably is not much in the way of insight in existence unless it is coming from police psychiatrists after List's arrest. If you don't know, List is infamous for having bought a mansion, then lost his job as a bank executive when he could not relate to people, pretended to his family that he still had that job, embezzled from his mother to meet his bills, and then when the money ran out killed his elderly mother, his wife, and his three children and was a fugitive from justice for 17 years before being caught in 1989.

The film follows List after he murders his family and disappears, but pretty much shows the same pattern in his new life that he had in his old one - He finds a church, gets married to a woman who is looking for security who is ultimately disappointed in his ability to provide, buys a house he cannot afford, and is frustrated by his lack of success in the workplace.

It gets one key thing wrong - When List was arrested he initially denied that he was John List. Also the great irony of List killing his family at least in part because of the financial burden of the mansion he bought in New Jersey is not mentioned. That irony was that after the house burned down in 1972 it was discovered that the stained glass sky light over the ballroom was Tiffany glass and worth an estimated hundred thousand dollars at the time. That would have solved List's financial problems.

This is a very mediocre and lazy effort at telling one of the great true crime stories of the twentieth century, and I found it disappointing overall.

John List was a devout Lutheran who lived with his wife, mother and three children. He grew up as an only child with strict German parents, he had an overly protective and domineering mother (sort of like Norman Bates). List had a masters degree in accounting, but lacked social skills and had a history of losing jobs. People who knew him describe him as an odd and reclusive man who had few friends. He was such a tight ass he would wear a shirt and tie to mow the lawn. One day he snapped and murdered his entire family and got away with it for almost twenty years until America's Most Wanted captured him. That is the story in a nutshell and this film is a good depiction of it. Blake plays List as a milquetoast with rage underneath. this was his first acting in eight years and he won an Emmy nomination for his performance. List claimed that he killed his family because he was worried his daughter wanted to be an actress a job he considered sinful and his wife was sick. Bull@#$%! List was in financial trouble and just wanted to get out and start a new life, that is why he killed his family. His lawyer tried to use this excuse at his trial, but thats all it was. He killed his family to just get rid of them thats all. They featured List's story on a tv show I like called Forensic Files recently and it was just as riveting as this film. Theres one man I would like to take my hat off too. He is a Forensic sculptor named Frank Bender. He created a bust of what List would look like twenty years later and it led to his capture when they showed it on tv. He went over pictures of List and even consulted a forensic psychologist to create a psychological profile of the killer. He even correctly predicted what kind of glasses List would wear twenty years later, a pair with dark frames to hide the fact he was a failure. It led to this killer's capture. List was sentenced to life in prison and to this day has shown no remorse for his terrible crimes. I just cannot believe a human being could be so cold-hearted to murder his wife, mother and three children. I saw this film again on Court TV and it was even more chilling giving the recent circumstances surrounding Robert Blake. I think he killed his wife, and I even wonder if he got the idea from making this film!

Judgment Day: The John List Story is another well done made for tv movie.

It's the true story about a man that was driven over the edge, and decides to kill his whole family (wife,3 kids, & his own mother). He planned it out & had a 2-week head start to get away. Robert Blake,s performance as John List was amazing. "John List" escaped from being captured for almost 20yrs. It took a profile on America,s Most Wanted to finally bring him to justice.

This movie may be disturbing to some viewers. But it's a story that had to be told. And it was done really well.

John List was so apparently confused as to the will of God. Robert Blake did an awesome job of performing this twisted man. Awesome movie I suggest anyone interested in true life crimes to watch this one. One can only imagine the horrors that John List must have seen when he closed his eyes at night. His mother was in my opinion, the main reason John List was the way he was. She taught him some very odd lessons in life. His defense was "Guilty: Due to a twisted religious belief." Or words to that affect. I found is particularly curious that when confronted Robert Clark confessed he was John List. I didn't really expect that, but at the same time, I guess it does make sense since he was so concerned with sin.

I love Robert Blake. He is a perennial favorite(up to this point, of course). He is versatile, dynamic, and compelling. However, I think he was miscast in this role. Part of the problem is that nothing about him resembles John List. Although in a lot of scenarios, it is easy to look past the physical resemblance to characters, I found it very difficult to accept his portrayal of John List.

Insofar as the overall acting, it was marginal. Caruso was boring, and not particularly enthralling. D'Angelo was excellent as List's wife. The other tertiary characters added breadth to the film.

All in all, not a bad piece. It is watchable when you are flipping through cable looking for something other than reruns of Home Improvement.