Leofwine_draca WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP is a one of a kind documentary experience that explores the odd series of violent deaths that plagued a rural Wisconsin town in the late 19th century. The filmmakers do away with the normal structure of a documentary - i.e. an explanatory narrative, talking head interviews and the like - to instead present a montage of reenactments showing these violent deaths in action.So the reader is subjected to an endless barrage of black and white footage of farmers shooting their wives, wives shooting their husbands, suicide, violent behaviour, and people carted off to the asylum. The cinematography is vivid, spooky and atmospheric, bringing to mind German expressionist cinema of the 1920s, but there's little real meat here and virtually no explanation or structure. I wanted to hear more from historians, from psychologists, to explain the bizarre phenomenon but if you're looking for answers, WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP is oddly hollow. Watch it as a visual experience and a celebration of death, nothing more.

merklekranz "Wisconsin Death Trip" Is a compilation of newspaper accounts from the Black River Falls area in the 1890s. The film delivers the facts along with glorious black and white photographs. Apparrently at the time, life had little value, and depression ran rampant. A nice assortment of calamities are covered including, irrational behavior (window smashing), suicides, dementia, a Diptheria epidemic, superstitions, murder, witchcraft, spirits, and lots of other depressing matters. Many perpetrators of these calamitous acts are dealt with by simply locking them away in the local insane asylum. The movie is loosely structured around crimes committed during the the four seasons. Though somewhat redundant, "Wisconsin death Trip" is also frequently fascinating. - MERK

y2mckay with a name like "Wisconsin Death Trip", and a premise of a small turn of the century town plagued by murder, arson, suicide, and insanity, you'd think that this would turn out to be a pretty interesting flick. At least, I did. Boy was I wrong. This plodding series of dry, dull newspaper clippings, narrated by Ian Holm (even having a good actor associated with this can't redeem it), has got to be the most tedious hour and a half of film since the old filmstrips we used to see in grade school. The only thing missing is the loud BEEP in the narrative between frames, letting the teacher know it was time to turn the film. Those beeps would have actually been welcome here as something to keep the audience awake. There is no plot, no point, and no emotional connection to anything going on. All it is is Ian Holm reading 100 year old newspaper clippings that say things like "Mary Brown threw a brick through several windows today." or "Farmer John decided to kill himself today by laying down on a stick of dynamite and lighting the fuse". These dull narratives are accompanied by old photographs or poorly-staged re-enactments shot in black and white film. There is no attempt to present the subject matter in any kind of compelling or coherent format. There is nothing entertaining, enlightening, or even historically valuable about this film. All it confirms is that people a hundred years ago did as many insane or inexplicable things as people do today. Big deal. That certainly doesn't qualify it as any great insight into the human condition.

mellowmike2000 Unapologetically dark. Unashamedly morbid and moody. This documentary offers an alternative, more realistic, depiction of American life at the turn of the twentieth century. Mundane elements of work, love, marriage, and simple existence in the American North are swept up in an undercurrent of darkness that reminds the viewer that history is not all presidents, education, and industry. This documentary offers both sides of life, not just the common, brightly lit portion that is outlined in popular media and historical documents. This is all not to say, however, that the film is oppressive or grotesque: accounts of insanity, murder, and tragedy are intermixed with elements of black humor and sarcasm. Well worth the hour-and-a-half running time.