Carl Panzram - The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance

Carl Panzram - The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance is a documentary that came out in 2012 about a serial killer. There are great moments to this documentary. That's why I am recommending it for viewing. However, the critical lens needed for watching the documentary is to include additional filters for your viewing, while taking some production values and casting them aside.

Here is what I mean: The film is distracted by the "boogey man" voice associated with Carl Panzram. It is too theatrical. Next, the film provides "evil" film sequences to accompany the autobiography. It would have been much better if the producers withheld from distractions such as the additional footage they included. It would have been better served to allow the viewer to provide visual imagery through narration within their own minds. The goal of this film is to ultimately explain "good v. evil." Instead, I enjoyed the potential to explain how evil is created by systems within our society. The movie can not balance nature v. nurture very well in explaining Panzer's actions.

It is apparent to me that the producer wanted us to lack empathy for Panzer. Scenes of abuse which was so lengthy was attributed to "evil." Even when historical analysis is given that is of substance, the "Panzer Evil Voice" helps to distract some of the counterpoints.

The value of the movie is the insight from a serial killer in his own words what constructed his violence. This movie could have been a greater indictment of Judeo-Christian values and how they impacted the criminal justice systems over a hundred years ago. The environment that Panzer grew up with was ironically just as cruel as his murders. There was sort of disconnect to this theme at times.

What we can learn from this movie from a modern perspective is that systems in the safety net left unmonitored can come back to haunt us as a society. The "Serial Killer" is an American cultural icon. Other developed countries have less serial killers. Why is that? Carl Panzer tried to give us insight into why that is by opening up and sharing his story. Most Serial Killers are silent about their past. For this reason, I recommend this movie, with filters of decency come from the viewing of this film.

Authors Notes: Panzer served sentences in Oregon and Upstate New York. Both communities have a dark past regarding prison abuse. As I watched, I wondered how many people in both states know the history of their prison systems.