Secrets of the Dead (TV Series) Gangland Graveyard (2005) User Reviews

Is it a show about forensics or an exposee on the Bonanno family?

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 24 January 2012]

The episode begins with hearing about a supposed gangland graveyard. Apparently, the FBI has reason to suspect several bodies are buried in a New York lot--and they're going to bring in their forensic folks to determine IF bodies are there, WHO they are and HOW they were killed. Unfortunately, any discussion of this would occur MUCH later in the show.

I have noticed that some episodes of "Secrets of the Dead" are very forensics-oriented and some are more about re-creating the story. Finding the right balance is tricky, I am sure. In this installment, I was a bit disappointed because while the show seems to focus on the forensics quite a bit early on, soon it really became an exposee on the Bonanno family. I say disappointment because I was fascinated with how the FBI could uncover bodies which had been buried in muddy soil for 25 years and build a case around it--and this just didn't seem to matter as the evaluation of the various bones seemed to disappear mid-show. Then, it consisted of various actors portraying mob leaders as they reconstructed their illegal activities. I really wish the show had chosen ONE focus--the forensics or the court case and investigation. As a result, the show seems watered down and lacked focus. As a crime exposee it was lacking and as a forensics show, it was simply maddening. How could they spend 25% of the show on this and then just drop the forensics?! Crazy.

Despite this serious problem, the show is mildly interesting though a bit gruesome. Not among the better episodes of the series.

Interesting story that is damaged by a really poor narration

[bob the moo · 25 February 2008]

This documentary uses the excavation of some waste land outside of New York as the starting point to look back on the investigation into the mob by the FBI that included the undercover work carried out by Joe Pistone – perhaps more famously known as Donnie Brasco.

Given the prevalence of mobsters within popular culture, it is no surprise that the truth makes for a fascinating story in many a case. And so it is with this film which was shown as a stand alone film in the UK, which charts the twenty year investigation into a massacre in 1981 and the eventual takedown of mobster Joe Massino. The film just about manages to deliver this in a way that holds the interest but it is not for the lack of trying. What I mean by this is specifically the narration, which seems to repeat everything several times throughout the hour. To give you an idea what I mean, I will shortly be reviewing the film and telling you it is OK. Now I am telling you that the film is OK. So I have told you that the film is OK and shortly will be telling you that it is interesting. Now I am telling you that it is interesting. I have told you that it is interesting and will soon be explaining some issues with the delivery. And so on and so forth – this is how the narration delivers and structures the film.

If you have made it this far into this rambling review then I applaud you but I'm sure you'll agree that it was painful to read those last few sentences. However, imagine having a narrator do that for nearly an hour. The impact on the film is to drag the enjoy out of it and break up the flow of the documentary, making it a lot less engaging than it really should have been. For me personally it also made me feel like my intelligence was under question and that the film didn't trust me to be able to understand anything without being told it three or four times. Sean Pertwee's drab narration doesn't help either.

Overall then this is an average documentary which really lets down the story and the people involved. The structure is fine and even the dramatic scenes are well used as background (preventing hammy overacting) but the overbearing narration is a major problem, crushing the story and annoying the viewer by being repetitive. Pistone and the rest of the people involved in the case deserved much better than this.