Loading Page
Obituary of a Beast
Top 1 Billed Cast
Loading Trailer Videos...
HomePage
Overview
Between 1962 and 1966, sex murderer Jurgen Bartsch cruelly tortured and killed four children in an old air raid bunker in Germany. This documentary examines the personality of the killer who died in 1976 during voluntary castration surgery at the age of 30. Vilified by the press for his heinous crime, Bartsch also became a case study for famous found criminal psychologists like Alice Miller (who maintains that no one abuses without being abused as a child, and murderers tend to have their own childhood abuse denied by the adults around them). Bartsch never met his birth parents, he was raised in a clinic and later adopted by a cold, unaffectionate couple. By the age of 15, he tortured and killed his first child victim. This informative, fact-filled documentary provides enough details for viewers to come away with a broader understanding of the nature of the criminally insane and society's role in their formation.
Release Date
1985-01-01
Average
8
Rating:
4.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
DeutschKeywords
Similar Movies
61%
The Case of Bruno Lüdke(de)
2021-02-17
The incredible story of Bruno Lüdke (1908-44), the alleged worst mass murderer in German criminal history; or actually, a story of forged files and fake news that takes place during the darkest years of the Third Reich, when the principles of criminal justice, subjected to the yoke of a totalitarian system that is beginning to collapse, mean absolutely nothing.
70%
Murder: No Apparent Motive(en)
1984-04-24
This documentary about serial killers and FBI Behavioral Sciences profilers features interviews with Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy as well as crime victims and law enforcement officials. The film includes some dramatic recreations.
0%
Lucy Letby: The New Evidence(en)
2024-10-06
In the eyes of the law, former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby is one of Britain's worst ever serial killers, found guilty of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of many others. This documentary explores new questions that have emerged about the case, as well as meeting experts who hope to have it officially reviewed
54%
Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation(en)
2007-08-13
Albert Fish, the horrific true story of elderly cannibal, sadomasochist, and serial killer, who lured children to their deaths in Depression-era New York City. Distorting biblical tales, Albert Fish takes the themes of pain, torture, atonement and suffering literally as he preys on victims to torture and sacrifice.
76%
Ted Bundy: Mind of a Monster(en)
2019-08-18
New exclusive access and never before heard testimony gives a unique insight into the mind of America's most notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy. Breathtaking archive from the time and the voice of Bundy himself, reveals the monster inside the man.
68%
My Father, the BTK Killer(en)
2025-10-09
Raised by a man leading a monstrous double life, the daughter of the BTK serial killer shares her chilling story.
70%
John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster(en)
2019-07-25
"Sam, could you do me a favor?" A seemingly simple request sparks the story that has now become part of America’s true crime hall of fame - the journey of a young lawyer, fresh from the Public Defender’s Office, whose first client in private practice turns out to be the most evil serial killer in our nation's history.
68%
Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers(en)
2025-10-29
Aileen Wuornos remains a rarity: a female serial killer. From childhood abuse to death-row revelations, this documentary revisits her life and crimes.
48%
Mind of a Monster: The Grim Sleeper(en)
2021-05-01
An LA serial killer goes silent for decades – but he was just warming up.
37%
Faces of Death III(en)
1985-03-10
Gory real-life footage of blood and guts on the German Autobahn, drug smugglers getting blown away, a parachutist landing in a crocodile pit, torture and murder in El Salvador, a PCP addict getting stoned, a videotaped rape/murder, a car thief getting ripped apart by two junkyard dogs, and much more.
0%
Die Unsichtbaren(de)
2023-09-30
The film follows the career of detective inspector Marianne Atzeroth-Freier through the Hamburg police force of the 80s and 90s. At the end of the 70s, Marianne is 30 years old and a single parent; she becomes one of Hamburg's first female police officers. Marianne is one of the first women ever to be promoted to the Hamburg homicide squad. The opposing forces in this male-dominated world are strong, she is not really taken seriously and is even bullied along the way, until she comes to the attention of the furrier Lutz R.. Against the considerable resistance of her superior, Marianne investigates in her spare time and makes a significant contribution to solving the case of the "acid barrel murderer".
58%
Chaplin Today: Monsieur Verdoux(en)
2003-09-22
A short documentary in the Chaplin Today series about Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux." Includes an interview with Claude Chabrol, whose 1963 film "Landru" concerns the same serial killer that inspired Chaplin's film.
63%
Tales of the Grim Sleeper(en)
2014-08-29
When Lonnie Franklin Jr. was arrested in South Central Los Angeles in 2010 as the suspected murderer of a string of young black women, police hailed it as the culmination of 20 years of investigations. Four years later documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield took his camera to the alleged killer’s neighborhood for another view.
65%
Capturing the Killer Nurse(en)
2022-11-11
Charlie Cullen was an experienced registered nurse, trusted and beloved by his colleagues at Somerset Medical Center in New Jersey. He is also one of history’s most prolific serial killers, with a body count potentially numbering in the hundreds across multiple medical facilities in the Northeast.
64%
Murder by the Coast(es)
2021-06-23
In 1999, teen Rocío Wanninkhof is murdered. Her mother's ex-partner, Dolores Vázquez, is suspected. Did she do it? A second victim reveals the truth.
59%
Serial Killers: The Real Life Hannibal Lecters(en)
2001-01-01
This documentary examines a selection of real life serial killers and compares them to the fictional Hannibal Lecter.
75%
Fresh Meat: Killing Dahmer(en)
2023-06-22
This grisly documentary centres around gruesome psychology of infamous Jeffrey Dahmer. Join us as we examine how the world’s most notorious serial killer became a victim himself.
80%
Black Serial Killers:Truth or Fiction(en)
2023-04-12
America has a fascination with serial killers. Many of them are household names, Ted Bundy, John Wade Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer. But there is another group of serial killers with even higher body counts. However, chances are you've never heard of Samuel Little, The Grim Sleeper, or The Sunday Morning Slasher. Combined these men have 85 confirmed murders. There are no books, movies, or television shows about these killers. Why? Because they are black serial killers. Filmmaker Sean Reid explores black serial killers and the lack of public information and media representation about them. Reid interviews Allan Branson, a criminal justice professor. Branson discusses the history of African-American serial killers and the negative stereotypes and biases that have influenced their portrayal in the media.
Recommendations Movies
59%
Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes(en)
2021-08-18
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen narrates his life and horrific crimes via a series of chilling audiotapes recorded from his jail cell.
62%
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story(en)
2025-12-30
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
76%
Ted Bundy: Mind of a Monster(en)
2019-08-18
New exclusive access and never before heard testimony gives a unique insight into the mind of America's most notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy. Breathtaking archive from the time and the voice of Bundy himself, reveals the monster inside the man.
68%
Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers(en)
2025-10-29
Aileen Wuornos remains a rarity: a female serial killer. From childhood abuse to death-row revelations, this documentary revisits her life and crimes.
68%
Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home(en)
2022-05-03
JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.
60%
Cold Hell(de)
2017-01-19
A young Vienna-based taxi driver of Turkish origin witnesses an extremely brutal murder. The perpetrator, a serial killer, makes eye contact with her; a deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues.
76%
Night Will Fall(en)
2014-06-07
When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".
66%
The Weather Underground(en)
2002-11-17
The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.
69%
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin(en)
2003-05-01
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
59%
The Calling(en)
2014-08-05
Detective Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Port Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling.
69%
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction(en)
2013-09-11
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
73%
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God(en)
2012-11-16
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
75%
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski(en)
2018-12-20
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
67%
Gilbert(en)
2017-04-20
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
68%
Looking for Richard(en)
1996-10-11
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
74%
For the Love of Spock(en)
2016-09-09
The life of Mr. Spock, as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played him for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son: Adam.
76%
Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows(en)
1998-12-20
This documentary follows superstar Bret Hart during his last year in the WWF. The film documents the tensions that resulted in The Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial events in the history of professional wrestling, in which Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals, and others, legitimately conspired behind the scenes to go against the script and remove Bret Hart as champion.
68%
The Crash(en)
2026-05-14
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
80%
Joker: Put on a Happy Face(en)
2020-08-18
Featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of The Joker, and learn why The Clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic-book supervillain of all time.
71%
The Class of ‘92(en)
2013-12-01
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.