17 Dec 1897
The Hanging of William Carr
The hanging of child murderer, William Carr
Death Row
A Comprehensive Look at America's Most Controversial Punishment
The death penalty in the United States is as old as the country itself, with roots to the original European settlements. During this time over 15,000 men and women have been executed, eventually spurring a heated debate about this ultimate punishment. Featuring interviews and commentary from leading criminal and sociology experts, this documentary takes an inside look at the origins of America's capital punishment laws, the methods of execution, and the faces of evil who have received the death sentence including Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh, and John Wayne Gacy. Also get a glimpse into the prison cells and lives of those who await their fate on Death Row.
5h 34min
Top Billed Cast
Similar movies
The Hanging of William Carr The Hanging of William Carr The Execution Machine: Texas Death Row The Execution Machine: Texas Death Row 10 Mar 1997
The Execution Machine: Texas Death Row
Explores the realities of death-row inmates inside Huntsville (Texas) Unit, a prison with the highest number of executions in 1997. Features interviews with prisoners, guards, officials, lawyers and victims' family members.
The Virtual Corpse The Virtual Corpse 26 Jan 2003
The Virtual Corpse
Documentary about the first human to donate his body to science so that it could be studied in the form of a 3D database of the entire anatomy that is available to view online. Convicted killer Joseph Paul Jernigan donated his body to science shortly before he was executed in 1993 and this documentary examines what took place after his death by lethal injection.
Death and the Judge 
Death and the Judge 09 May 2018
Death and the Judge
The documentary, " Death and the Judge", revolves around Iran's most famous criminal judge, Azizmohammadi. He served as a criminal judge for 45 years and issued about 4500 death sentences; a record in not only Iran, but also the world. This documentary looks into his personal and professional life as he is followed within his home with his family, in the court of law, and in his retirement days. The ultimate purpose of the documentary is to deduce the role of death in the judge's life as he either takes life away from criminals or death comes to his loved ones. During his retirement, he is once again given the choice between the life and death of a person, despite no longer being a judge.
Waiting for the Sun 
Waiting for the Sun 19 Mar 2017
Waiting for the Sun
In China more people are on death row than the rest of the world combined. The children of the convicts are often left alone, stigmatized and living in the streets. Grandma Zhang, as the kids call her, is a former prison guard who has founded an orphanage in Nanzhao.
An American Tragedy 
An American Tragedy 11 Nov 2018
An American Tragedy
Jeffrey Ferguson has been on death row for 26 years. Now he has just one hour left before he is put to death. Would you forgive the man who killed your daughter?
Execution of a Teenage Girl 
Execution of a Teenage Girl 27 Jul 2006
Execution of a Teenage Girl
On 15 August 2004, a 16-year-old girl was hanged in a public square in Neka, a small Iranian town by the Caspian Sea. Atefeh Sahaaleh's death sentence was for "crimes against chastity". Despite Iran being a signatory to an international convention that promises not to sentence to death or execute those under 18, permission was obtained from Iran's Supreme Court by the local mullah and head of the city's administration to do exactly that. Eyewitness accounts and dramatic reconstructions, plus undercover filming in Atefah's hometown tell the powerful story of the life and tragic death of an ordinary girl.
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer 
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer 09 Sep 2003
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
British documentarian Nick Broomfield creates a follow-up piece to his 1992 documentary of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Interviewing an increasingly mentally unstable Wuornos, Broomfield captures the distorted mind of a murderer whom the state of Florida deems of sound mind -- and therefore fit to execute. Throughout the film, Broomfield includes footage of his testimony at Wuornos' trial.
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer 
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer 01 Nov 1992
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer
In this documentary, filmmaker Nick Broomfield follows the saga of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who has been accused of committing a brutal series of murders. Broomfield conducts interviews with Wuornos herself, and his crew films her trial as well as her interactions with religious fanatic Arlene Pralle, who gives Wuornos dubious advice and legally adopts her. The cameras also roll as the accused's attorney ignores the case at hand to negotiate a deal to sell his client's story.
Give Up Tomorrow 
Give Up Tomorrow 06 Apr 2011
Give Up Tomorrow
When a teenager from a political family in the Philippines is accused of a double murder, the country’s entire judicial system is put to the test after years of alleged corruption.
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory 
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory 13 Oct 2012
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
A further investigation into the arrest of three teenagers convicted of killing three young boys in Arkansas who spent nearly 20 years in prison before being released after new DNA evidence indicated they may be innocent.
Women on Death Row 
Women on Death Row 08 Jan 2006
Women on Death Row
Look into the personal lives of women currently awaiting execution on Death Row. Though each woman is convicted of committing society's ultimate crime, there is often another side of the story.
Into the Abyss 
Into the Abyss 11 Nov 2011
Into the Abyss
We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes.
Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti 01 Jan 2007
Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti
Scott Panetti was tried for the capital murder of his parents-in-law on September 8, 1992 in Gillespie County, Texas. He was subsequently sentenced to death on September 22, 1995. Panetti has an extensive history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, manic depression, auditory hallucinations and paranoia. Panetti was hospitalized, both voluntarily and involuntarily for mental illness fourteen times in six different hospitals before his arrest for capital murder in 1992. Following his conviction, Panetti’s former wife, and daughter of the victims, Sonja Alvarado, filed a petition stating that Panetti never should have been tried for the crimes as he was suffering from paranoid delusions at the time of the killings.
Escaping Satan's Web 
Escaping Satan's Web 01 Jan 1987
Escaping Satan's Web
In the mid 80s during the Satanic Panic era Pastor Flether A. Brothers who was director of Freedom Village USA interviewed Satanic teen killer Sean Sellers for an exclusive video only offered through Brothers Ministry. Brothers interviews Sellers and discusses what "Satan doesn't want you to know". This video was one of the highlights of the Satanic Panic epidemic first started by Geraldo Rivera in the mid 1980s. The clamshell case bodly [sic] professes "This tape may save your childs [sic] life and even your own!" […] This tape is hard to find and the interview with Sellers has rarely ever been seen outside of the owners of this release. The clamshell and video we have is in perfect condition and has pretty much only been played once in 25 years. (serialkillersink.net)
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal 
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal 01 Feb 2013
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
The film chronicles the life and revolutionary times of death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The State of Texas vs. Melissa 
The State of Texas vs. Melissa 15 Sep 2021
The State of Texas vs. Melissa
Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and now faces her last appeal.
The Fear of 13 
The Fear of 13 15 Oct 2015
The Fear of 13
After 23 years on Death Row a convicted murderer petitions the court asking to be executed, but as his story unfolds, it becomes clear that nothing is what it seems.
Last Supper Last Supper 03 Dec 2005
Last Supper
Today, the ritual of giving the last supper to the condemned person has been detached from its origin, and can be perceived to be as absurd as the punishment it accompanies. Mats Bigert & Lars Bergström's film “The Last Supper” focuses on this discrepancy between historical “meaning” and contemporary use of a tradition that has lost its connection with the past. The main character is the former death row chef Brian Price, who reconstructs one of the 200 final meals that he prepared during his time as inmate in Huntsville State Prison, Texas.
Seamstress 
Seamstress 25 Sep 2015
Seamstress
A documentary film about Martta Koskinen, the last executed woman in Finland during the war in 1943. Martta was a Seamstress who lived in Helsinki during the Second World War. She was one of the post-civil war (in 1918) generation for whom the war had meant a disappointment in the system and failure in unity of the Finnish nation. The legacy of the civil war had left systems of persecution in place for those with socialist ideals. Martta and her fellow revolutionaries were determined to continue the resistance movement although they knew that at worst it could cost their lives. Martta was imprisoned twice before she was shot. She was an idealist, whose seemingly harmless, naive beliefs in peace and justice were the most dangerous traits a person could have at the time.