Albert Fish (V)
| release date | March 27 2007 |
| studio | Facets/Waterfront Productions |
| director | John Borowski |
| writer | John Borowski |
| starring | Joe Coleman, Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. |
| tagline | In Sin He Found Salvation |
| site | albertfishfilm.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
13 Comments
John Borowski’s documentary on Albert Fish introduces us to a seemingly sweet elderly man who was locked away in an orphanage for the greater part of his childhood and left there to witness excruciating acts of torture inflicted upon other young boys of his age group. Based on the true story of the infamous sado-masochistic child killer, Albert Fish, John Borowski’s 2007 documentary gives we, the viewers, an honest, and utterly disturbing look at how a psychopath evolves.
From the untimely death of his father, to the years spent witnessing horrors truly beyond belief, Albert (Hamilton) Fish goes from being a neglected young boy, troubled by the loss of his parents, to a deeply disturbed young man with rather unusual sexual interests. Writer/director John Borowski does his very best to provide the audience with a hauntingly vivid portrayal of the in-human monster that lived within this seemingly innocent old man. I personally have to applaude Borowski for succeeding at providing the facts without going over board. If he had in fact made this film more graphic, it wouldn’t have been as interesting, because rather than taking in and absorbing the detailed explanation of Albert Fish’s life, the viewers would have been more caught up in the physical actions of Fish (The gore), rather than the essential why and how (his motives).
As the narrator, Tony Jay does a fantastic job of unifying the whole film with his eerily mesmerizing verbal descriptions of the actions and events that took place surrounding the Albert Fish crimes. Harvey Fisher does a decent job of providing the voice of Albert Fish, although it seemed to me that he was trying a little too hard to sound creepy…It just wasn’t an effective effort. The brief shots of biblical figures, various forms of torture, and the many faces of Albert Fish combined are what really brought this film together.
I particularly enjoyed the commentary provided by artist, Joe Coleman. Much of Coleman’s work was based on the life and crimes committed by Albert Fish. It was definitely intriguing to find out why exactly he chose Fish as the subject of some of his paintings. Coleman does a great job of answering many of the questions that arise when asking why someone would commit such vile acts upon children. When explaining how he can personally relate to Fish on a religious level, Coleman makes some very logical points regarding the link between Catholicism and the infliction of pain. Coleman–being the naturally dark spirited realist that he is–was an excellent addition to the documentary and definitely added to the overall effectiveness of Borowski’s work.
Like most infamous serial killers, the interesting thing about Fish is that he was the one person who nobody expected to be capable of commiting such heinous acts. As mentioned in the documentary, if there was one person for people to trust their children with back then, it was him. When considering this along with the fact that this man abused, tortured, killed, and ate what could possibly have been over fifteen young children, the horror of it all really starts to sink in….deep. John Borowski has, by far, provided the most impressive on-screen depiction of any notorious serial killer in history. I’m really hoping that he’ll come out with a documentary on Ed Gein some time in the near future–something so shockingly honest that it will knock the socks off of all these other amateur film makers who have failed to provide us with a truly disturbing summary of the facts.
Very good movie about Albert Fish. Gave me chills.
Hehehe… warm creamy peanut butta…
fascinating yet very disturbing