Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Purely Joyful Movie!

Beautiful, moving film.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Errol Morris documents a cinematic portrait of timid eccentric Fred A. Leutcher, Jr. The rise of this man begins with his successful career as an American execution device and designer (the electric chair, lethal injection, and the gallows). And his fall, midway through designing a better way to use the noose, or "gallows," he's employed by Holocaust deniers to collect "proof" that the gas chambers in Auschwitz were intended for that purpose. Mostly through close up and dreamlike montages, Leutcher's personae becomes much of a lark. How is the audience supposed to view this character? Is he good or evil? That's where Errol Morris shines in this ambiguous documentary presenting the difficulty of simplistic moral values. Another takeaway from the documentary is the irony that eviscerates Leutcher's life. For instance (SPOILERS), the states that hire hime for these capital punishment devices later refuse to deal with him once he writes the "Leutcher Report" and makes connections with Neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers. Much of this documentary depends on the individual's amusement with the character, which can be sometimes difficult because he is an oddball and his ramblings are quite dispiriting (there's a scene with an elephant being electrocuted). Also, one of my pet peeves in talking head documentaries consists of an edit being obvious to cut out extraneous dialogue or the scene cuts to black to reorientate the viewer back to the story, this happens several times. Although Mr. Death succumbs to some distressing moments, Errol Morris captivates his audience with irony and judgmental restraint to allow the audience to make our own impressions of this milquetoast.

Fred Leuchter Jr is an engineer who has become something of a specialist in the design and manufacture of electric chairs and other methods of capital punishment. In this film we hear him discuss his work and join him on his visit to Auschwitz where he maintains that the mass extermination of people in world war II could not have been physically possible.As with many other Errol Morris, this is a fascinating study of an interesting character, although not one I would particularly want to meet or have any common ground with. When it is allowing him to talk about his trade the film is interesting mainly because Leuchter's opinion of his work and, more importantly, himself is engaging to listen to. His attitude towards his work marks him out as somewhat of an eccentric but yet he sees himself as an expert in his craft – which it is also strangely clear that he is not. However the film loses this "appeal" somewhat in the second half where it becomes more about Leuchter's report on the Holocaust more than it does about the man himself. In a way it does feel like Morris has lost the essence of his approach by making sure that Leuchter's words are not allowed to just stand unquestioned.Of course nobody could fault this approach because it was important not to just give this man a stage to speak unchallenged but it does rather change the film. Of course this is not to say that it isn't interesting because it still is. Pardon the pun but Morris does give Leuchter enough rope to hang himself and produces some telling moments such as him proclaiming himself the only expert in the world. The various spokespeople for the Jewish community don't really counter Leuchter and do themselves an injustice by being quite emotional in the face of his arguments. Fortunately there is enough actual factual response to him to make up for this.Overall then a quite fascinating film but not quite what I expected from Morris. As it gets deeper into Leuchter's report on the Holocaust it does rather lose touch with the man but is still interesting and the approach was a necessary evil given the subject matter.

This documentary is a classic study of the tragedy that invariably occurs when religious dogma collides with actual facts. Normally the two rarely cross paths, because people are loath to submit cherished beliefs to the light of objective analysis. This is especially the case with religicized issues like the Holocaust. Regardless of what one thinks of this issue, there is always at least two sides to every event in human history, the Holocaust is no exception.While everyone has been made aware of the Zionist version of what occurred in Nazi camps such as Auschwitz, there has always been another side to this story, that has never been allowed a fair hearing! Suppression, slander, and relentless propaganda, has relegated this alternative version of events, to relative obscurity. Enter Mr. Leuchter, his honesty and professionalism, allowed him to meticulously investigate the fundamental premise of an issue that has literally become a religion in itself! Unlike his hopelessly biased opponents, he was able to remain completely objective throughout this very trying ordeal. The result was perhaps the first completely independent assessment of the merits of the issue of homicidal gas chambers in the Holocaust. Regardless of how one feels about this, Leuchter's investigation produced conclusive scientific results, that prove the infamous homicidal gas chambers in places like Auschwitz show no traces of cyanide gas! This can only be the case, if this central claim of the Holocaust, was false to began with! This of course is not out of the question, since the Holocaust has been of immeasurable political and economic value to Zionist interests.On the other hand, Leuchter's findings are a bolt of lightning in the name of truth, over blind belief, and finally sets the record straight, after these many years of erroneous history about the Holocaust. While most true holocaust believers have no use for these disturbing facts, those who understand that the truth is always of greater value, than any political agenda or belief, will welcome these startling revelations. This of course has nothing to do with hatred of Jews, but everything to do with historical revision, and correcting erroneous views of an important period of human history. As with anyone who goes against the powerful forces of political and religious orthodoxy, Mr. Leuchter paid a high price for his honesty and steadfast expression of the right of free speech. The contrast between Leuchter and the lab scientist who chose to protect himself and his company, by conveniently attempting to sabotage the results of his own unbiased tests, could not be greater! This is after all, what most men would do when facing the wrath of such ruthless foes. Leuchter on the other hand, courageously stood his ground, as a man of honesty, and integrity, in the face of a Holocaust industry, intent on crushing those who dare to question the accepted teaching on the Holocaust. For those hopelessly biased in favor of the orthodox Holocaust narrative, this film will be of little value. For those who remain of open mind, and able to appreciate the considerable loss of freedom in the west, to powerful special interests and pressure groups, this film provides a sobering look at the lengths the high and mighty will go, to destroy the lives of honest men, as well as how the hatred of those completely blinded by their beliefs, serves as another weapon, in the fight against the truth.

like i'm sure other people have said this guy isn't a very worthwhile subject. sure, our society has a morbid fascination with death, and it's funny hearing him talk about how much he smokes and how much coffee he drinks, but he's into giving himself an unworthy mystique. anyway, the bottom line is that he's a moron racist using feeble methods to try to disprove the mountain of evidence of the holocaust, and as such he should be forgotten by time. but Morris is in love with any kind of curiosities, which normally i wouldn't fault him for.