Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. poster & wallpaper

David Irving, Fred A. Leuchter Jr.

Director Errol Morris has never shied away from difficult subjects: Gates of Heaven explores the world of pet cemeteries, and The Thin Blue Line sets out to prove that hitchhiker Randall...( read more  read more... ) Adams did not commit a murder. Morris's view is distinctive; he finds the dark humor and oddity in the most solemn of subjects. His controversial documentary Mr. Death, therefore, should not come as a surprise to audiences.

The film begins on a surreal plane, as Fred Leuchter talks about his career as a designer of execution equipment. The son of a prison guard, Leuchter found himself in the execution game when, as an electrical engineer, he offered his services to help fix the electric chair used in North Carolina. His motivation? Humanitarian; previously the device in place would torture the prisoner before killing him. After his success in North Carolina, other states contacted him to help with their execution devices, and Leuchter helped devise lethal-injection devices, gas chambers, and gallows as well.

From here, though, the film takes an even more bizarre twist. During this time in the late 1980s, Ernst Zündel was arrested in Canada for publishing neo-Nazi materials. Zündel hired Leuchter, as an expert on gas chambers, to go to Auschwitz to gather evidence of the Holocaust. Leuchter surreptitiously videotaped himself illegally gathering chunks of rock from the concentration camp, which he then analyzed. From these results he determined that the Holocaust did not occur, and he became an active historical revisionist. What he viewed as his definitive achievement, his paper The Leuchter Report, ultimately led to his fall, as states wouldn't work with him, Jewish groups targeted him, and neo-Nazis sought him.

Mr. Death is frequently disturbing to watch, and Morris allows Leuchter to speak his mind with few interruptions. The tale that emerges is spellbinding, as Leuchter comes off not as anti-Semitic but as a deluded man with strong albeit misguided convictions. He is a fascinating character, and the only thing missing is more personal information about him beyond his daily intake of 40 cups of coffee and 100 cigarettes. --Jenny Brown

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88% liked it

588 ratings

PG-13, 91 min.

Directed by: Errol Morris

Release Date: December 31, 1999

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DVD Release Date: June 6, 2000

Stats: 165 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (165)

  • flynnparadox
    September 14, 2006
    flynnparadox
    Leuchter is a funny, strange, scary person and this film tries to figure him out. Excellent stuff.
  • cacutshaw
    February 8, 2008
    cacutshaw
    Amazing look at an outsider, and the choices he makes to be accepted, no matter by whom. Disturbing and sad, this is a truly great film about lonliness and what it drives people to do.
  • KLFilmmaker
    December 22, 2007
    KLFilmmaker
    Fascinating look into the life of a man who designed execution equipment. He also somehow gets convinced to help disprove gas chambers during the holocaust.
  • kitcollis
    October 15, 2006
    kitcollis
    There is footage of an elephant being electrocuted
  • hossein13
    August 17, 2009
    hossein13
    Scary but fascinating character.
  • closedmouth
    February 1, 2009
    closedmouth
    Interesting and depressing. I could muster no sympathy for this moron.
  • SadisticMinister
    April 22, 2008
    SadisticMinister
    What a bizzare little man.
  • AlexisCoolKidinTwilightZone
    March 8, 2008
    AlexisCoolKidinTwilightZone
    You've gotta see it for the elephant.
  • vctrlz
    October 14, 2007
    vctrlz
    insightful and dark.

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