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Oase Film Essen

Obituary of a Beast

1985 60 min German
Wubly rating 7.1 IMDb rating 7.6

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.

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Cast

8 people

Rolf Schübel Director · Michael Lentz Screenplay

United States release January 1, 1985 · Produced in Germany · Original title Nachruf auf eine Bestie

Production

O

Oase Film Essen

Production

Germany

Produced in

Languages

Original title

Nachruf auf eine Bestie

Original language

German

Spoken on screen

German

Release dates

United States · January 1, 1985

Theatrical

Germany

December 5, 1985 · TV premiere

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