I haven't read the novel, and if it's comparable to this, I have no intention of doing so. My father purchased this for me, on account of the name attached to it. I had never heard of it, and it's not surprising that this was pretty forgotten. It's uncompromising, that's for sure. However, it really doesn't "work" on us. We're not that engaged. This borders on propaganda for the death penalty and for the idea of some people just being "evil", or "bad seeds". Everything that Panzram is seen doing in this can be explained through psychology, even if his actions are not exactly admirable. When we first see Woods, he's mugging in extremis; this he fortunately stops, and gradually, we do come to understand him. His guard, too. Those are about it. Everyone else is there either to provide opposition, or because they were in real life. The only characters we get are a hateful one and a seemingly naive one(certainly by this movie's logic). Well, the Irishman is interesting enough. The acting is good. Editing and cinematography are average. This is close to being pure emotional porn for those who read/watch stories about serial killers. There is a lot of strong language, a bit of brutal, bloody violence and disturbing content including a rape in this. I recommend this to those who catch all of these, and big fans of James. 6/10
