Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

soldierblue68 Firstly , I would say James Woods was totally mis-cast in this movie . I always enjoy Mr Woods in movies but this was not his to own . He couldn't pull it off in the aggressive , madman scenes that required the actor to lose it . Carl Panzram was unique , maybe an unknown actor with nothing to lose would have been better suited . I was never afraid of Woods ! Not at any moment , I don't think the guards were either . In fact , he was kind of an o.k guy , Carl on the other hand would have made you feel very " uneasy " . The director humanized Carl too much , we never really felt his anger , isolation , resentment or his selfishness . We just saw mr woods trying to be a rebel without a cause . To tell this story , every morning Mr Woods should have stripped bare and let the cast throw their "do do " at him and shout " action " .

Travis Marriott Carl Panzram lived an amazing life and scribbled down his memoirs on scraps of paper for possibly the only person who ever did anything selfless for him. The book "Panzram: A Journal of Murder" by Thomas E. Gaddis and James O. Long, which came out the better part of a century after Panzram's death, gives the historical context to a first-generation American's account of running away from home to go west and be a cowboy, getting caught, thrown in the boy's home, getting away repeatedly and thrown into prison over and over all the time getting tortured and sodomized. As Panzram grew huge and strong, he sought to take revenge for the wrong done to him as he traveled to South America, Europe and Africa, and it didn't matter what people he raped, robbed, or murdered because we are all equally worthless.This film casts skinny James Woods as the rough neck, mean-ass, son of a bitch Carl Panzram who in the film is a "drunk", overly-dramatic and emotional, and who never mentions the joy of sodomizing men and boys. The film neither elaborates on anything else particularly of note about this world traveler and career prisoner (like robbing former President Taft or being released from the Oregon prison as long as he gave his word to return). In short, I don't think Carl would be too happy.

gridoon The Australian biopic "Chopper" got all the hype in 2000, but the much lesser-known " A Journal of Murder" is actually a better film on a similar subject. For one thing, it gives you more of a background about (if not much more insight into) the killer, and for another it doesn't try to make him appear "cool". In fact, the script is quite uncompromising in the way it refuses to humanize Panzram, at least beyond the minimum degree required. But despite Woods' strong performance and a few nice directorial touches (especially in the use of black-and-white cinematography and newsreels from the period), the film is rather flat - almost like a TV production. (**1/2)

culwin This movie seems more relevant today than ever. Prison conditions may have improved since the early part of the century, but prison populations are increasing exponentially and there seems to be no end in sight. Does punishment really prevent crime? Can harden criminals be rehabilitated? Is society to blame? Whatever your opinion, this is a short but must-see film.