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Review

Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.'s dad first took him along to work when Fred was 4 years old. Fred Sr. was superintendent of transportation for the Massachusettes correctional sytem; Fred Jr. roamed amidst the cellblocks and the death house areas. An older Fred Jr. began tinkering with design modifications for the electric chair. In the forefront of the industry, he became known as a consultant, branching out into gas chambers and lethal injection. Leuchter's self-contained and relatively harmless world explodes when he is called in as an expert on death machines by revisionist historians seeking to dispute the occurrence of the Holocaust. His examination of Auschwitz reveals the limitations of his science; his inability to see a larger picture reveals his limitations as a man. Director Morris (The Thin Blue Line) has again organized and communicated complex and detailed information with outstanding clarity and precision. This is a compelling examination of a small man whose illusions of importance and desire for significance undo him in a most dramatic way.