The Iceman and the Psychiatrist

This 3-part series blends stock footage together with interviews of Richard Kuklinski, better known as the Ice Man, a notorious mafia killer. From behind bars, Kuklinski shares his experience as a professional hit-man on camera. The result is slow at times, and somewhat repetitive, but it is a chilling look at an extremely dangerous man.

Kuklinski earned his title, Ice Man, by freezing his bodies to confuse their time of death. The nickname, it turned out, was a good one. Not just because of his clever techniques. But because of his total lack of emotion.

At the start of the program, the Ice Man is asked how many people he has killed. He smiles softly, then stares pensively for a moment. He guesses maybe 100 people. He doesn't really know for sure. At this point we're a little confused. Kuklinski comes across as thoughtful, honest, and adjusted. Not the monster we expected. He has a gentle sense of humor. Disturbingly, he even seems like a decent man. How could he have killed that many people?

As the program continues however, Kuklinski talks about his career. Slowly, this psychological puzzle of a person starts coming together. As he goes into the killings, which were in many cases, bloody and horrifically disgusting, Kuklinski shows almost no emotion. The interviewer asks if he feels remorse. He pauses, then shakes his head no. The interviewer wants to know if he liked doing the murders. He thinks again, then shakes his head no. If he had the choice, he says, he'd prefer to have not killed all those people.

As it goes on we begin to understand what the Ice Man is. And he is truly frightening. Kuklinski is no movie villain. He is a sane man. A stone cold sane man. A sane man with no regard for human life. We could be his best friend. It wouldn't matter.

In the third segment, which is the most interesting, a forensic psychiatrist diagnoses Kuklinski with antisocial disorder and paranoia - a deadly combination of constant edginess, including the need to get immediately even with people who challenge him, and a complete lack of fear. Although this may sound like an admirable kind of toughness, we just don't get that feeling from Kuklinski. It is creepy how vacant he is. Even he is confused by his own lack of feelings.

Although the Ice Man is now dead - he was alive when this documentary came out. And it must have felt very good to know that he was behind bars.

My fascination with true crime doesn't usually extend to the Mafia and the hit men-types. This DVD had me riveted all the same. It's 150 minutes, divvied up into three distinct sections, of delving into the mind of a man who seems incapable of feeling anything whatsoever - remorse, satisfaction, guilt, a thrill - when he murders people. As he says himself, "For the right price, I'll talk to anybody." And we learn that firsthand as we watch the three parts of these interviews. It's baffling to realize there are people out there who go through life experiencing no emotions whatsoever, yet still get married, have kids, hold down jobs, and so on. That is precisely what Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski did for decades.

While there is some repetition from one part to the next, I was impressed by the documentarians' ability to add and expand with each segment, rather than just trotting out the same facts and confessions. It culminates with an interview by the famed Dr. Park Dietz, which is fitting, as that segment debatably provides the viewer with the most uncomfortable moments as the two men face off. Interestingly, Dietz gives Kuklinski an opportunity to turn the tables and ask the questions, and what he asks is very telling. At one point, after a contentious point is raised, we get a real glimpse of what the Iceman's victims likely faced in their last moments: an anger that burns cold.

There are more than a couple of standout moments during Kuklinski's confessions, ones that I imagine leave a lot of viewers puzzling over the human condition. At one point he expresses...not guilt, exactly, but regret?...over the way he conducted a particular killing. It's hard for us to know if those were real feelings, or if this very smart man had just learned to approximate human behaviour, a skill that surely made him even better at his job.

The segments don't feature an overly graphic display of gore, but between some real crime scene photos and some no-holds-barred descriptions of the Iceman's deeds, I'd say this isn't for the easily offended or the squeamish. But if you're interested in hearing a man bluntly relate his truly horrific crimes (murders he estimates are in excess of 200), and are a student of body language (which is indulged by the very still camera work, always focused on his face while he speaks - particularly fascinating when the Iceman "melts," if only briefly, while speaking of his wife and children), put this in your Watchlist right now.

This series of interviews are indeed a chilling experience. If you know anything previously of how dangerous Richard Kuklinski was (and there is a very informative book by Philp Carlo) you can hear it all first hand (in these HBO tapes). No one really knows how many men he actually killed but it's between 100 and 250 individuals. He stated he murdered over 100, before even working as a hired contact killer (for all five major crime families). By the age of 26, he had already butchered 65 victims (with knives, guns, poison and even eaten alive by rats)! The Psychiatrist asks him some well delivered questions and then explains to Kucklinski, what is actually wrong with his personality. The ending is in fact an insightful reveal. Also the fact that the subject is very polite, sometimes charming and with a sense of humour, makes it even more compelling. It's a must watch for anyone interested in criminal history and a person who is either possibly, or probably the most dangerous man who ever lived!!!