The Killing of America (1982)

Director:

Sheldon Renan

Writers:

Chieko Schrader (writer)
Leonard Schrader (writer)

Release Date:

14 July 1983 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime

Tagline:

A stunning eye-witness experience of the growth of violence in the United States

Plot:

A documentary of the decline of America. It features a lot a great footage (most exclusive to this film) from race riots to serial killers and much-much more. |

Plot Keywords:

Prostitution | Texas | Mondo | Gun Control | Exploitation

Cast

Chuck Riley	...	Narrator
Ed Dorris	...	Himself, Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept., Homicide (as Sgt. Ed Dorris Ret.)
Thomas Noguchi	...	Himself, Los Angeles County Coroner
Sirhan Sirhan	...	Himself
Wayne Henley	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Ed Kemper	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Berkowitz	...	Himself (Son of Sam) (archive footage)
Kenneth Bianchi	...	Himself - Hillside Strangler (archive footage)
Lawrence Bittaker	...	Himself (archive footage)
Arthur Bremer	...	Himself - Shoting Wallace (archive footage)
Sam Brown	...	Himself - Sidewalk Sniper (archive footage)
Ted Bundy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dean Corll	...	Himself (archive footage)
Juan Corona	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mark Essex	...	Himself - Howard Johnson Sniper (archive footage) (as Robert Essex)
John Wayne Gacy	...	Himself (photographs) (archive footage) (as John Gacy)
Richard Hall	...	Himself - Hostage (archive footage)
John Hinckley	...	Himself (archive footage) (as John Warnock Hinckley)
James R. Hoskins	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jim Jones	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Reverend Jim Jones)
Jacqueline Kennedy	...	Herself (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage) (as President John F. Kennedy)
Robert F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Robert Kennedy)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Lennon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Manson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Herbert Mullin	...	Himself - Serial Killer (archive footage)
Lee Harvey Oswald	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage) (as President Reagan)
Jack Ruby	...	Himself (archive footage)
Leo J. Ryan	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Rep. Leo Ryan)
Robert Benjamin Smith	...	Himself - Mass Murderer (archive footage) (as Robert Smith)
Brenda Spencer	...	Herself - School Sniper (archive footage)
George Wallace	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Whitman	...	Himself - The Texas Tower Sniper (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Violence U.S.A (Japan: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1983) | Norway:(Banned) (1982-2003) (cinema release)

Trivia:

This film has never been released, distributed, televised nor made available for sale in the USA.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Narrator: While you watched this movie, five of us were murdered. One was the random killing of a stranger.

Movie Connections:

References Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977)

Soundtrack:

For What It's Worth

Time Capsule

I have the Japanese video. The narration was all in Japanese while all the footage was subtitled. Good thing because I heard the English narrator drove people crazy with his long pauses.

America from 1960-1980. Showing everything from police standoffs to assassinations to serial killer trials. Nothing is left out. You suddenly realize a lot more was filmed than they would let you see on the news.The street scenes of L.A. were interesting but the morgue & autopsy scenes were a bit much.

Personal favorite scenes? James Hoskins in Cinncinati and Anthony Callitsos (spelling?) in Indiannapolis. Callitsos definitely has a commanding presence.