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The Killing of America (1981)

R (US) | Japan, USA | English | 90 min

Directed by: Sheldon Renan

7.5

Composed of archival material and exclusive footage, Sheldon Renan and Leonard Schrader's shocking and eye-opening documentary of carnage, madness, and mayhem focuses, with an unapologetic sincerity, on the factual depiction of violence in the industrialised nation of the United States. Featuring a juxtaposition of detailed accounts of terrible acts, brutal behaviour, and interviews from experts and convicted serial killers alike, this grim collection of pain doesn't shy away from real-life, in-your-face, horrifying imagery, and the escalating levels of crime and murder in the United States. The Killing of America also documents two shocking murders: the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which marks the beginning of a new era of violence, and the murder of John Lennon on the evening of December 8, 1980.

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Cast & Crew

Sheldon Renan

Director

Chuck Riley

Narrator

Ed Dorris

Self

Thomas Noguchi

Self

Sirhan Sirhan

Self

Wayne Henley

Self

Videos (1)

THE KILLING OF AMERICA | Trailer

Trailer

Release Date

Japan

No data

1981-09-05

USA

(New York City, New York)

1982-02-13

Portugal

No data

1983-02-07

Also Known As (A.K.A.)

The Killing of America

(Original title)

The Killing of America

Australia

The Killing of America

Canada (English title)

Parent Guide

Real footage of a man being shot is shown within the first 10 seconds of the movie starting

Close-up of a body in a morgue. There is a bloody head wound and some brain matter is visible

Brief scene of bodies in a morgue and then in a large autopsy room. One of them has their chest fully cut open. Bloodied internals organs are shown bring weighed

Graphic detail shown in a close-up of the Zapruder film. JFK's head is shown exploding from the sniper's headshot

Footage of Lee Harvey Oswald being shot from two different angles

Footage of police and soldiers clashing with protestors following Martin Luther King's assassination is seen. A man is brutally hit in the head with the butt of a rifle. Some bodies are seen lying on the street- they appear to have been shot.

Footage from the Vietnam War of a man being executed with a gunshot to the head. His body is seen lying on the street in a large pool of blood.

A politician is shot in the stomach whilst in public. A small amount of blood is seen.

Photos of Robert Kennedy lying in a pool of blood are seen, post-assassination.

Bodies of victims after a sniper spree are shown, as are graphic photos of the sniper's body and that of his wife, who we are told he murdered before committing the spree.

Grainy footage of an armed robbery is shown. Graphic more so for the audio that's heard, rather than the footage itself, as the cashier is mostly off-screen during the actual shooting.

Descriptions of school shootings through narration. The footage is limited, but the descriptions of the murders against children are graphic and upsetting.

Brief montage involving suicide. A man jumps off a ledge approximately 10-15 metres off the ground, numerous bodies are seen in photographs hanging from nooses, and a photograph of a man who has shot himself in the head with a shotgun is seen. Some of his head appears to be missing.

Countless dead bodies are shown all over the ground after the Jonestown massacre.

A man is shown being shot and killed by police from a distance.

Montage of crime scene victims is shown, culminating with two very graphic morgue photos, one with an open head wound from a gunshot, and the other appears to show a blade sticking out from someone's skin.

Heavily decomposed bodies and body parts are shown being dug up from sites where they were buried. It's sometimes not clear exactly what's being retrieved, which makes it more disturbing.

Photograph of a naked corpse is briefly shown, and is said to be a victim of the Hillside Strangler.

Photos of victims from Ted Bundy's crimes are shown.

A gunfight on the streets and the bloody aftermath is shown. A man is seen seemingly dying, taking what looks like his last breaths.

It opens by showing policemen shooting down an armed criminal.

Bodies that has been cut open for autopsy is shown.

We see a man who has commited suicide with a shotgun. His head has been splitted in two.

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