The Letter Room
Richard, a lonely and well-meaning prison officer, is put in charge of reading and censoring the letters received by inmates.
Killer by Nature
The troubled teenager Owen Whitmore has a sleep disorder and occasionally sleepwalks. Owen is having therapy sessions with Dr. Katherine Ramos. Having just joined the medical school, he has to move to another town, but he is divided between the college and his sweetheart, Maggie. His parents Leona and Walter Whitmore are very worried about him. When Owen has violent dreams, Dr. Ramos decides to consult with Dr. Jonas Julian, a specialist in dream analysis and sleep disorders. Meanwhile, people are protesting in front of the Townsend State Prison where the infamous serial killer Dr. Eugene "Mean Gene" Branch will be executed. Dr. Eugene is the son of another serial-killer and had performed sadistic medical experiments on his victims. Out of the blue, Marcia Freeman who went missing, is found dead in precisely the way that Owen saw in his dreams - the murder set up as if carried out by Dr. Branch.
Convicts 4
After his death sentence is commuted to life in prison, John Resko is transferred from Sing-Sing to Dannemora where, with the help of a humane prison guard, he becomes a rehabilitated man and a successful painter.
Beyond the Call
Russell Gates (David Strahairn) is a Vietnam vet on death row for killing a policeman. His childhood sweetheart, Pam O'Brien (Sissy Spacek), is stunned to learn this and does not believe he could commit such a crime. She writes to him much to the dismay of her husband Keith and becomes obsessed with the case, exploring every avenue that may still be open to the doomed man. The trips to the prison take a toll on both her marriage and her family.
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer
In this documentary, filmmaker Nick Broomfield follows the saga of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who has been accused of committing a brutal series of murders. Broomfield conducts interviews with Wuornos herself, and his crew films her trial as well as her interactions with religious fanatic Arlene Pralle, who gives Wuornos dubious advice and legally adopts her. The cameras also roll as the accused's attorney ignores the case at hand to negotiate a deal to sell his client's story.
Charlie Chan in London
Charlie Chan is sought out by Pamela Gray, a desperate young socialite whose brother Paul awaits execution for the murder of a weapons inventor. Pamela is convinced of his innocence.
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
American Violence
A psychologist interviews a death row inmate to determine whether or not a stay of execution should be granted.
Hello My Name Is Gacy
John Gacy was a notorious serial killer who was on death row for 14 years. After lethal injection was administered, it took him far too long to actually pass away. This film takes place during those last moments, as he tries to justify what he may or may not have done.
The Executioner's Song
In this fact-based made-for TV film, Gary Gilmore, an Indiana man who just finished serving a lengthy stay in prison, tries to start anew by moving to Utah. Before long, Gary begins an ill-advised romance with the troubled Nicole Baker, a teenage single mother. As their relationship quickly deteriorates, Gary goes on a murderous rampage, leaving two dead. During his trial, he demands capital punishment; a media circus ensues and outsiders look to profit from his story.
The Valiant
A man condemned to execution tries to convince two women that he is not their son and brother, and that they must get on with their lives.
L.A. Law: The Movie
Reunion movie from the popular TV series reunites most of the original cast from the Los Angeles law firm of McKenzie-Brackman. In the eight years since the series ended, the founding senior partner, Leland McKenzie, has retired and left Douglas Brackman, Jr. as the senior managing partner. New employees to the firm are Brackman's over-achieving son Jason, who's at odds with his father, and ambitious and conniving associate Chloe Carpenter at odds with others. Former partner Michael Kuzak, now a successful restaurant owner, is called out of retirement to help stop the impeding execution of a former client on death row and the opposing counsel is Kuzak's old flame Grace Van Owen.
Midnight Edition
After interviewing a convicted killer, a reporter becomes obsessed with his mesmerizing subject. When his life is threatened, he comes to his senses, but it may be too late to save his family.
The Flor Contemplacion Story
The story of the Filipina domestic helper who was hanged in Singapore for allegedly killing her fellow maid is chronicled in a film that operates on various personal, social, and political levels. Both controversial and critically acclaimed, it has brought Nora Aunor numerous citations for her intense portrayal as the fallen heroine of the story.
Yield to the Night
Locked in her cell, a murderer reflects on the events that have led her to death row.
Secrets of a Nurse
This Universal programmer was based on a Collier's Magazine story by journalist Quentin Reynolds. This story in turn was ostensibly based on a true incident, in which a gangster "returned from the dead" to save an innocent young man from the electric chair. The nurse of the film's title is Katharine McDonald, who falls in love with her prizefighter-patient Lee Burke as he recovers from a beating received in a fixed prizefight. Katharine must fend off the advances of criminal attorney John Dodge, another patient who also loves her and becomes jealous of Lee. But when Lee is framed for the murder of his disgruntled manager, Slice, by a henchman of the fight-fix leader, Joe Largo, Dodge takes on his defense and works with Katherine to discover the real killer. Convicted and sentenced to death, Burke is about to walk the "last mile", as Katharine encourages mortally wounded Largo to a deathbed confession.
Two Seconds
A condemned murderer, in the process of being executed, relives the events that led to his being sentenced to die in the electric chair. Told in flashback, we witness a sleazy dancehall girl (Vivienne Osborne) dupe a high rise riveter (Edward G. Robinson) into marriage so she can live off of him. But when he loses his job and his marbles, she ends up supporting him with money from her side man--and misses no opportunity to rub it in his face that she's now supporting him in his emasculated state. As the animosity grows and things get more and more unbearable, he is eventually driven to desperate measures.
Dead Women Walking
Nine vignettes depict the stages leading to execution for women on death row.
Last Supper
Today, the ritual of giving the last supper to the condemned person has been detached from its origin, and can be perceived to be as absurd as the punishment it accompanies. Mats Bigert & Lars Bergström's film “The Last Supper” focuses on this discrepancy between historical “meaning” and contemporary use of a tradition that has lost its connection with the past. The main character is the former death row chef Brian Price, who reconstructs one of the 200 final meals that he prepared during his time as inmate in Huntsville State Prison, Texas.
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
A further investigation into the arrest of three teenagers convicted of killing three young boys in Arkansas who spent nearly 20 years in prison before being released after new DNA evidence indicated they may be innocent.