Customer Reviews

Murder by Number [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first saw this documentary on CNN back in '93 and have watched it several times since then. It's one of the most informative, interesting, documentaries on the "phenonemon" of serial murder out there. They really go in depth. Various known killers are feautured, including interviews with 3 different ones; a male nurse convicted of murdering 37 of his patients, a woman convicted for the killings of children she babysat, and a child murderer who was executed by hanging several years back in Washington state.

This video is a MUST for anybody who wants to learn more about the reality of serial death.

There is a lot to like about this documentary. It touches on numerous aspects of the serial murder phenomenon, and is unafraid of being critical of how the phenomenon is represented. Especially impressive is the segment on how the "serial murder problem" is misrepresented. There are also segments dealing with several lesser known offenders such as Bobby Joe Long, Christine Falling, and Wesley Alan Dodd, including interviews with each. My only major criticism is that the documentary too readily embraces the brain trauma explanation for serial offending, when there are other causal factors that may do as good of a job (or better) of explaining the etiology of serial homicide.

The cover of this video is deceptive. It actually has very little to do with Jeffery Dahmer. Nonetheless, it has some facinating stories about some other, less famous, serial killers. The best story is about the guy who worked in the hospital. 'Murder by Number' starts off boorish, but gets better towards the end.

Purchased movie for my class. Played it for first time this week and the movie is poor quality. It has lines running through it. It is shaky. The picture will go out but the sound remains in tact. The tracking adjuster does not help. I have a hard time believing that this was a new copy when he plays worse than the one I was trying to replace. Very disappointed.