Search - Executions on DVD

Typical Shockumentary Content

Bryan M. MCNEELY | Fort Wayne, Indiana United States | 06/09/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Having looked frequently for video footage of human tragedy and "the stuff you can't see on TV," I came across this peculiar video.

Maybe I'm getting a little desensitized to the world of shockumentaries, but "Executions" leaves a lot to be desired. Hardly "hardcore" in any respect, it's more or less a mish-mash of very old footage from war-torn areas of the globe. That's not to say that the content isn't intriguing, it's just fairly tame. There's only so many times one can witness executions of criminals (both suspected and guilty) in the middle of dirty streets before it becomes uninteresting. ..and that's what this video has a lot of.

The classic series, "Faces of Death," may have been chock-full of reenactments and bad acting, but the approach was well-done. The narrator spoke to you as if it were personal, giving the footage a more "as a matter of fact" feel to it. Treated as a documentary of death, it worked...and shocked many who stumbled upon it. "Executions" doesn't work the same way. There are various narratives describing what's happening in many of the clips, but unfortunately, it comes across as being more or less a stiff news report rather than someone attempting to speak to you on a personal level about the tragedy of violent death. Very cold and distant.

If you're merely a person with fleeting interest in controversial footage that the nightly news wouldn't let you see, give "Executions" a shot. If you're a gorehound or a hardcore reality freak looking for wanton violence, you may want to steer clear of this title. A nice addition to a collection of dark footage, but pretty much, nothing more."