Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation

Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation (2007)

** (out of 4)

Extremely disappointing documentary from John Borowski who had previously made H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA'S FIRST SERIAL KILLER. This one here takes a look at Albert Fish, a now notorious killer who not only brutally murdered people but he also ate them.

This is part documentary, part re-enacted drama but neither one really works and they certainly don't work together. I was really disappointed with this film because of its extremely slow-pacing, which just kept it from having a very good flow. What really hurt the film is the fact that the narration is way too dramatic for its own good and there's just not too much life to the picture.

There are some some very good moments scattered throughout including a confession that is read, which just shows how crazy and downright creepy this guy was. The film like to go for some shock value as there are well detailed accounts of the cannibalism and the violence towards children.

Repetitive, slow as hell, filled with corny re-enactments and cartoonish voice acting, interviews with some of the smuggest people i've had the displeasure of seeing in a documentary.

2 stars because there's a bit where they read out the grace budd letter with cheesy sound fx in the background while shaking a camera at a house and zooming in and out and it was hilarious.

The story is so horrifying and gruesome, even by today's standards, that the director's attempts at dramatization add nothing and are more of a distraction. Multiple shots of roasting meat in the shape of ass? Really? And too much time is spent with two dubious "experts," one of whom proudly describes how he acquired Fish's confession letter in an act of larceny (anyone send a copy of this film to the cops in Westchester County?) and who creepily asserts that Fish MUST have loved Grace Buddd in order to do what he did to her. Huh? Anyone want to go dig around in THIS guy's backyard? And all of the religious motivation nonsense is completely at odds with what we know about sexual homicide. It's all about a toxic mix of extreme self absorption and the desire to control others with a nice positive feedback of orgasm. That's it folks. No religious motive here. The religious stuff may have helped him rationalize what he did and certainly sweetened the filth aspect for this guy, but that's probably it. Read Schecter's Deranged instead for a good Fish account.

I've been watching some "True Crime" stuff and this fluffed-up film got recommended by Amazon. Not even watchable. Normally I make a point to endure movies all the way to their ends before reviewing them here, but this time I have to admit I turned it off halfway through. It's as though they had about ten minutes' worth of facts and fluffed them out to become a feature length film. Just read the Wikipedia article if you're curious about this repugnant human being.

Ridiculously slow and corny as hell. I like serial killer documentaries but this was too awful to ever watch again let alone recommend. Reenactments of things that DID NOT need reenactment, and I'm not talking about anything gory just stupid stuff like him painting a wall with fake blood. It added nothing to the story and didn't even happen they just did props like that to be ridiculous in the film. I hated the narrators voice in which they tried to make the guy sound like he was from Jersey. The only thing remotely interesting was when they were showing a man cut up some obvious raw beef to try to make it look like it was a human. Well at least I got a good laugh out of it.