Product Details

• Actors: James Ellroy
• Directors: James Ellroy
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MPI Home Video
• DVD Release Date: March 25, 2008
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0010X7478
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,637 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

LA CONFIDENTIAL author James Ellroy surfs the death vibe from the Dallas assassination site of US President John F. Kennedy to the Hollywood intersection where Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short s mutilated corpse was dumped in 1948.

Part procedural, part confessional, FEAST OF DEATH is an uncensored carnival ride through Ellroy s dark places, conducted in fearless fashion by a teenage sneak thief turned celebrated author of crime books written in blood, seminal fluid and napalm.

See Ellroy return to the location of his mother s 1958 rape and murder, which continues to haunt the Demon Dog of American crime fiction 50 years after the fact.

See Ellroy on a profane trip down memory lane to the scenes of his boyhood crimes and misdemeanors.

See Ellroy in skull sessions with LAPD cops and journalists as they name a suspect in the unsolved Black Dahlia case.

A hit at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival, FEAST OF DEATH was directed by Vikram Jayanti (producer of WHEN WE WERE KINGS, 1997 Academy Award® for Best Documentary ) and features an evocative score by Rob Lane (AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tasty But Only A Two Course Feast, May 31, 2010

By 

born into this (Roanoke, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: James Ellroy's Feast of Death (DVD)

Features the author's comments about his Mother's murder as well as the famous Black Dahlia case. This is done while riding shotgun with an old detective friend and passing by old haunts (literally); and while dining with a sleu of seasoned detectives (hence the 'Feast' in the title). If you are allergic to f-bombs where a flak-jacket.

The action effectively shifts between the driving and dining scenes, supplemented by crime scene photos as well as domestic interview scenes with Ellroy and wife and among other things at a bookstore where we see Ellroy at his politically incorrect best.

Ellroy as always makes an interesting character study but the film itself is a bit incoherent in that it fails to stir the two cases into a satisfying stew. And I love free-wheeling table-talk but the detectives around the table seem reticent to opine. They are perhaps uncomfortable with the format or didn't wish to come across as stealing the show from the great man--who sits at the seat of honor and dominates discussion.

There's been so much made of Ellroy's Dark Places that it would have been refreshing to have more give and take dialogue that opened up into broader commentary. But it's still very compelling and must-see for anyone interested in the unsolved Black Dahlia case--The Black Dahlia expert delivers a very tight thesis.

Watch this as a warm-up or after-show party to L.A. Confidential.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intense family history, December 25, 2008

By 

Surferofromantica "S.O.R." (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: James Ellroy's Feast of Death (DVD)

This DVD features interviews with Ellroy about the unsolved case of his mother's murder, the centrepiece of which is a gathering of Ellroy with a large group of LA detectives who had worked on his mother's case or other homicides in LA over the years. Discussed at the table, as Nick Nolte (for some reason) wanders into the room, is the Black Dahlia case that had fascinated Ellroy as much as his mother's had for decades. One person at the table had used his own money to investigate the case and come up with what Ellroy calls the most plausible theory about the murderer's identity that he had ever come across. Who, in other words, would have had both the extreme dementia and the medical knowledge required to do what was done to Elizabeth Short on that day in January 1947. The film is a glimpse into the noir world of Ellroy, and it is fascinating seeing firsthand what an intense fellow he is, as well as his wife. I just wonder why he hates Bill Clinton so much?