H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004) Reviews

True crime buffs who thought they knew it all will be proven chillingly wrong with this unforgettable account of murder and madness from filmmaker John Borowski. H.H. Holmes was a master manipulator whose handsome exterior and disarming charm masked a psychotic soul bent on torture and dismemberment. The clean-cut killer's deceptively inviting outward appearance made it easy for him to lure women back to his mammoth castle in Chicago's burgeoning Englewood neighborhood -- a trip from which many would never return. In addition to his career as a serial killer, Holmes was also a skilled con artist. When the owner of Chicago-based drug store at which he was employed mysteriously disappeared in 1887, Holmes took over the shop and purchased a large lot directly across the street for the supposed purpose of building a hotel that would house guests attending the massive 1893 Chicago World's Fair. A complex maze of blind hallways, treacherous chutes, and air-tight rooms in which Holmes would gas his intended victims, the foreboding structure also housed a sub-level torture chamber complete with stretching rack, quicklime pits, and an incinerator that was perfect for disposing of human bodies. Though the structure, commonly known by locals as Holmes' "Murder Castle," was eventually burned to the ground, to this day no one truly knows the number of victims who suffered within the confines of its dark walls. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi