Shattered Hopes DVD Review

[ToxiMoron]

Wow..I was just on the website for this film and its Facebook page. From what I've learned here and from other sources, they are full of glaring errors--too many to even count. One that stuck out, though, was the pic of "Dawn" on his wall photos area. Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely this isn't Dawn in November of 1974? Even from looking at crime scene photos, Dawn's hair seems much longer than this.

[Victoria Principles]

so this whole deal is based on Geraldine and the notion that
butchie grew up in an abusive environment? Wheres the
smoking gun crapola that Ryan said was so revealing?

The smoking gun would be that rusty thing he said his driver found in the Amityville Creek.

[Howard64]

oh...that paperweight? Pshaw...i saw a pic of that rusted piece
of junk. Good luck tying that to a murder.

[ToxiMoron]

Lol...yeah, that looks like an antique cap gun I found buried in my back yard a few years ago. And actually, the cap gun was in better shape.

[Jacob Sterling]

Lol...yeah, that looks like an antique cap gun I found buried in my back yard a few years ago. And actually, the cap gun was in better shape.

I heard that the police stated it was nothing more than a flare gun. Now the real question is, who throws a flare gun in the creek?

[Dan the Damned]

I think the "flare gun" term was used before they looked at what they had. It wasn't an official description. I think it was just an off-the-cuff remark by a police officer which was taken as "an official statement" by Ryan.

[Howard64]

If I was to make an educated guess, I would say POSSIBLY a .38 special

Similar to this one....



I do not recall if this was supposedly they type of handgun that Louise
Defeo was allegedly reaching for the night of the murders or not. But the
frame looks similar. I would think it would be possible to recover the serial
number from the butt of the gun.

[Shawn]

gonna again try to watch the flick from 58:oo minutes. I took my Dramamine.

[Jacob Sterling]

If I was to make an educated guess, I would say POSSIBLY a .38 special

Similar to this one....



I do not recall if this was supposedly they type of handgun that Louise
Defeo was allegedly reaching for the night of the murders or not. But the
frame looks similar. I would think it would be possible to recover the serial
number from the butt of the gun.

Okay, so there was a .38 in the river. That connects to the murders, how? The entire family was shot and killed with a Marlin 336c rifle. Where does a revolver fit in to all of this?

[Victoria Principles]

If I was to make an educated guess, I would say POSSIBLY a .38 special

Similar to this one....



I do not recall if this was supposedly they type of handgun that Louise
Defeo was allegedly reaching for the night of the murders or not. But the
frame looks similar. I would think it would be possible to recover the serial
number from the butt of the gun.

Okay, so there was a .38 in the river. That connects to the murders, how? The entire family was shot and killed with a Marlin 336c rifle. Where does a revolver fit in to all of this?

There was a gun in the river, there was a mass murder close by. Thus they are connected. Just like there was a car driving by on Broadway at the time of the murders picked up the real killer and drove away.

[Dan the Damned]

There's a much better thread dedicated to talk about this gun that Ryan's crew found:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9137

The thread contains a lot of specific information about what type of gun this likely was (and how it doesn't seem to match any possible 2nd gun rumored to date).

[Howard64]

I was only making comments on what the rusted piece looked like
to me. I had thought at one time that someone was stating that
Louise kept something similar to this in her nightstand.

thats where I got this from. I was not saying that is what THIS was
but that I can see why some would think it WAS.

[scipio-USMC]

Lol...yeah, that looks like an antique cap gun I found buried in my back yard a few years ago. And actually, the cap gun was in better shape.

I heard that the police stated it was nothing more than a flare gun. Now the real question is, who throws a flare gun in the creek?

In a creek near me are parts of a tractor, parts of a washing machine, a tire, a steak knife, a broken school chair and a bunch of other odd assorted things. Bodies of water are a favorite trash depository. Bodies of water are especially popular fo rgetting rid of guns hough will guns and gun parts being found in nearly every body of water in the US when dredged or drained, sometimes large numbers.

What is readily apparent immediately is that what was found is not a standard modern handgun frame. thus the officer thought maybe it was a flare gun remnant. It wasn't though it is the receiver of an Iver Johnson Safety Hammer break top revolver.

[Shawn]

gonna again try to watch the flick from 58:oo minutes. I took my Dramamine.

Well I did not finish it yet. I'm going to finish it tonight though. I'm going to force myself. Watching that toothless hag though really ruins it. yuck.

[Jacob Sterling]

You know what might be less painful? A Pauly Shore film festival.

[Shawn]

You know what might be less painful? A Pauly Shore film festival.

Ah..I agree....BUT...but the movie Pauly Shore is Dead was a great flick! I think he made up for his lameness in that one. Really.

[Jacob Sterling]

You know what might be less painful? A Pauly Shore film festival.

Ah..I agree....BUT...but the movie Pauly Shore is Dead was a great flick! I think he made up for his lameness in that one. Really.

Hey, I like Pauly Shore. That's why I suggested a film festival celebrating his awesome movies.

[kathyM]

Maybe Ryan should have got Pauly Shore to act in the dvd. Now that would have been good!

Shawn, cant wait to hear the rest of your review!

[Jacob Sterling]

Maybe Ryan should have got Pauly Shore to act in the dvd. Now that would have been good!

Although, if Pauly Shore had written, directed, acted and produced the 2005 remake of the 1979 movie, I think it would have gone a little something like this...

112 Ocean Avenue would be a sort of self-contained Bio-Dome.
Jodie the Pig would be a talking weasel simply called "The Weasel."
George would have found the body of Ketcham in a block of ice buried in the back yard.
At some point, Kathy (played by Jennifer Connelly) would attend jury duty with George.
We'd have extensive flashbacks to George's days in the military, and all his wacky adventures.
And Stephen Baldwin would play George's best friend, who is a born again Christian.

...Hmm, that actually sounds pretty good. Still, superior to the 2005 movie, I guess.

[kathyM]

[sherbetbizarre]

Shawn, did you ever get to the end? There's at least another 5 hours on the way!

And now, reviews for PART TWO are appearing, after a private screening was held for people guaranteed to give good quote for the box art.

First up, our old friend Mary:

Shattered Hopes II : Mob. Mayhem. Murder. in my opinion is one of the very best true crime documentaries I have ever watched. This installment is filled with many "Aha" moments. I was amazed at the evidence shown as most has never seen the light of day until now. Ryan Katzenbach has not only done his homework, but he also has, in my opinion, become a very talented, skillful, and knowlegable private detective! I would certainly want his expertise if I ever needed help in an investigation no matter how old the case would be.

Geraldine is a great source as her re-telling of the tragedy and the effects it had on all the key players makes you feel as though you were there. I found tears running down my cheeks as she describes how she heard about the slaughter. I felt, in her sincere telling, that I was right there with her.

The mob connections are real. This installment gives us much more information on the immense connection with some very natorious names. This information in itself will be facinating to any mob fan.

I don't want to give anything away here, but I will say that the corruption this film proves, wasn't just on the mob end.

There are many surprises in this installment-new evidence, crime scene photos I have never seen before, witness testimony from key people who were actually there, and some of the best story telling I have ever seen.

I highly reccomend this movie for all true crime buffs and fans. I would also reccomend this to fans of the great writer and story teller James Ellroy as Ryan Katzenbach reminds me so much of Mr.Ellroy and his brutally honest voice when telling the story and sucking us in to want to go on this scary ride with them.

And now an official review from Freddie In Space:

Part 2, subtitled Mob, Mayhem, Murder, is set to be released to the public this October the 26th, and I am incredibly honored to be one of the few who Katzenbach sent out an advanced screener copy to, which I received last week and watched last night.

I guess he's still not sending screeners to any of the majors then?

Now before we even go any further, I do want to mention that Shattered Hopes represents what Osuna and Katzenbach believe happened on that night, based on what they've read and have been told. Though there are perhaps no better authorities on the matter than they, the fact of the matter is that absolutely nobody on this planet, other than DeFeo himself, knows exactly what went down on that night, and the fun of all this is that we never truly will.

Try telling that to the filmmakers!

What makes the case so compelling is that we won't ever find out the truth, and Shattered Hopes is merely a string of theories that shed a whole lot of light on many things about the case that were kept out of the public eye

Really? Has Ryan changed things up?

What I really like about it is that Katzenbach never definitively tells you "Hey, this is exactly what happened", but rather he presents us with as much information as possible, and leaves us to discuss it, think about it, and form our own opinions. I can guarantee that you will form your own, after experiencing it.

If Ryan did this from day one, he wouldn't be getting himself butthurt by all the criticism.

The good...

Part 2 is absolutely exhaustive in its coverage, taking us from the time the police arrived and started wheeling out bodies to the time Ronnie DeFeo decided to go for that whole insanity plea, presenting several possible theories to explain who was in the house at the time of the murders, and exploring the strong possibility that DeFeo did not act alone. If he wasn't the only one wielding the gun, then who else was with him? Well, you'll have to watch it and find out for yourself!

The not-so-good...

Part 2 runs two and a half hours long, over a half hour longer than the first part, and it's admittedly a bit hard to take in all the information being presented, almost like being read an entire audio book with the fast forward button on. There's just so much information to be relayed here, which is why I'd only recommend this documentary to those who have a serious interest in true crime, more specifically in this case, which is I suppose the only people who would be interested in picking it up anyway. It's really not about entertaining the audience so much as it is delivering as much information as possible, which is certainly no fault of Katzenbach's, who is perhaps an even better private detective than he is a filmmaker. I will say that this part runs perhaps a wee bit long, and I admit that I was kinda zoning out and losing track of what was going on at times, but it's just as strong of a documentary overall as the first part was, another strong piece in a so far incredibly strong bigger picture.

Full stronger review at -

http://www.freddyinspace.com/2012/10/sh ... ry-of.html