Square Grouper: Godfathers of Ganja

Square Grouper: Godfathers of Ganja, directed by Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman. In 1979, the U.S. Customs Service reported that 87% of all marijuana seizures in the U.S. were made in the South Florida area. Due to the region's 5,000 miles of coast and coastal waterways and close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America, South Florida was a pot smuggler's paradise. In sharp contrast to the brazenly violent cocaine cowboys of the 1980s, Miami's marijuana smugglers were cooler, calmer, and typically nonviolent. Square Grouper paints a vivid portrait of Miami's pot smuggling culture in the '70s and '80s and its major players: the smuggling Black Tuna Gang, the pot dealing Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church and the tiny fishing village Everglades City. Click here for more information or to order.

.

Mind of a Serial Killer

Mind of a Serial Killer, DVD by NOVA. The Boston Strangler. The Son of Sam. Jeffrey Dahmer. Every time a serial killer hits, it touches a deep collective nerve of fear—in part because his grisly acts so defy comprehension. Or do they? Step behind the scenes at the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, where psychological detectives race against time to penetrate the minds and emotions of the most elusive of murderers. Using state-of-the-art science, elite investigators tease apart crime scene evidence and scrutinize victim profiles to construct an astonishingly accurate personality print of the perpetrator—and a good guess as to how and when he'll make his next move.

This time the scene is Rochester, New York, where multiple slayings of prostitutes have left local authorities baffled. Find out how FBI sleuths figure out what makes this dark mind tick—and how remarkable prediction lets them stop the killer in his tracks before he can strike again.

Alcatraz Reunion

Alcatraz Reunion, directed by John Paget. What happens when America's most notorious prison hosts an 'alumni' reunion? Award-winning filmmaker John Paget presents Alcatraz Reunion, the critically acclaimed documentary on America's legendary prison. This Special Edition DVD comes packed with bonus features and is beautifully packaged in a full-color six-panel Digipak, complete with pictorial timeline history of Alcatraz.

Synopsis: Calling All Cons! Calling All Cons! With the 70th Anniversary of Alcatraz Penitentiary fast approaching, National Park Service Ranger John Cantwell is inviting every ex-Alcatraz inmate - and their former cellhouse guards - back to the Rock for an Alcatraz Alumni Gathering! (And you thought your family reunion was dysfunctional!)

Intrigued by this most unlikely of reunions, filmmaker John Paget travels the continent to find the few known surviving ex-prisoners of Alcatraz. They were once America's most dangerous public enemies - but who and where are they now?

Against the backdrop of these colorful characters and their imminent rendezvous, Alcatraz Reunion traces the history of the iconic island, and its mysterious transformation from notorious prison to tourist mecca. Once this tale holds you captive, there is no escape!

In this film you'll meet the real ex-cons of Alcatraz, and experience their humor, hubris and humanity like never before...plus commentary from legendary San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carl Nolte and the heartwarming story of 'the Alcatraz priest' Father Bernie Bush.

DVD BONUS FEAUTURES: Three complete historic newsreels from key moments in Alcatraz history: The Famous Escape of 1962, Jack LaLanne's Handcuffed Swim, Alcatraz Closing Day, 1963

Manson 40 Years Later

Manson 40 Years Later, He was the mastermind of the most notorious murders in U.S. history, a crazed guru who terrified the world and plunged the city of Los Angeles into a state of paranoia and panic. This two-hour docudrama from HISTORY takes viewers deep inside Charles Manson s twisted world of hate, fear, and mind control to tell the story of how one man transformed a harmless group of hippies into a gang of brutal murderers. Intertwining first-person accounts with rare archive footage, Manson looks back at the nine months leading up to and including the brutal murder of Sharon Tate, the Manson family s most famous victim, four decades after her bludgeoning. It features key Manson family member Linda Kasabian, who was at the scene of the Sharon Tate murders as lookout and getaway driver, in her first interview in 20 years, as well as interviews with fellow Manson family member Catherine Share; Vincent Bugliosi, the lead prosecutor who wrote Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders; and Deborah Tate, Sharon Tate s sister.

America's Serial Killers: Portraits in Evil

America's Serial Killers: Portraits in Evil, This DVD will strip the covers from a world of profiling, forensic science and painful investigation as history's most brutal serial killers are exposed. Wars have terrorized entire populations for thousands of years. The American West was home to ruthless killers who were idolized in fiction and folklore. Evil evolved to a hideous new form with the genocidal dictators of the 20th century such as Hitler, Stalin and MaoTseTung who ordered the death of tens of millions. But in the middle of the 20th century a new and chilling phenomenon emerged in post-war Western society: The Serial Killer. As if fashioned from our nightmares, they terrify and fascinate us. Lurking behind masks of bland normality they often evade capture for years, decades or eternity. They are America's serial killers.

Detroit Mob Confidential

Detroit Mob Confidential, Detroit Mob Confidential explores the history of Detroit's La Cosa Nostra Family, which, in many ways, is the most successful crime family in the United States. Detroit's family has had only 2 Dons, the current boss has served for 30 years and is the longest serving mob Don in America. The documentary consists of interviews with multiple FBI agents and Federal prosecutors as well as several mafia associates from the 1950's and 1960's. Topics such as the Detroit "Combination's" (as the Family is known) infiltration of Las Vegas casinos and their centrality to the dissapearance of Jimmy Hoffa are discussed. The Detroit Family was the first LCN chapter that had members convicted of corruption involving Las Vegas casinos, and has been the target of the FBI's still ongoing Jimmy Hoffa investigation since 1975. The formation of the family during the prohibition era, culminating in the "Crosstown Mob War" of 1930 is covered, as well Detroit Mafia connections to the battles between Ford Motor Company and the UAW in the 1930's and 40's. The Detroit Family's role in the international heroin trade and their ties to the French Connection are discussed as well as various murders the Federal government suspects them of involvment in. Detroit area underworld legends like Tony "Jack" Giacalone and his brother Vito (Billy Jack), Freddy "the Pope" Salem and "the General" Henry Hilf are covered, as well as the Denny Mclain, Alex Karras, and Isiah Thomas gambling investigations. The Mafia's role in controlling the African-American "numbers rackets" is exposed as well as the internal politics and conflicts of the family. In addition to law enforcement and media sources, former associates reflect on the past and their work with Detroit Mafia members in sports gambling and other criminal activities. Several hundred unique and never-seen-before surveillance photographs from Federal law enforcement are used as well as family photos of Don Joe Zerilli on his Grosse Pointe estate. "Detroit Mob Confidential" is the first and only documentary made about America's most secretive, and most succesful Mafia family. Beginning in 1912 and finishing in 2009, "Detroit Mob Confidential" is a must-see DVD for any student of American History, crime buffs, and Detroiters of all ages and backgrounds.

Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem

Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem, As some of the country s most notorious criminals, they were responsible for an historic crime spree that included hundreds of bank robberies, kidnappings, and murders. Though the havoc they wreaked across America lasted just 18 months, it resulted in the rise of the FBI and the nation s first war on crime. Meet the outlaws who defined this golden age of crime, from John Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly to Ma Barker, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd, as HISTORYTM details the crime wave of 1933-34. At the height of the Great Depression, police jurisdictions ended at state lines, the FBI barely existed, and many of the thirteen million Americans out of work blamed their troubles on the banks, setting up an opportune time for criminals to rob, steal, and kill. And with technological advances like the Tommy Gun, electric-start V-8 engines, and bulletproof vests, the robbers often had the advantage over the cops.

Attention-grabbing and action-packed, CRIME WAVE: 18 MONTHS OF MAYHEM mixes archival footage with evocative reenactments to help capture the hectic pace of the heists, stick-ups, and high-speed chases that turned these charismatic thieves and murderers into legendary characters, as well as the bloody sprees and shoot-outs that resulted in their deaths.

Rampage: Killing Without Reason

Rampage: Killing Without Reason, Dare to take a look deep inside the dark, twisted minds of America's most disturbed mass murderers. This 10-part documentary series explores the motives and events leading up to the most horrifying rage-murder cases in recent history. This original documentary production features rare and never-before-seen footage and information. See leading experts discuss the psychological reasoning that leads to hate crimes, arsonists, deadly cults, workplace killings and school massacres.

Excellent Cadavers

Excellent Cadavers, directed by Marco Turco. Excellent Cadavers is a documentary about the real Mafia: not the comical hoods of the Sopranos or the tragic warriors of The Godfather, but the historic, violent Sicillian gang that has flourished in Italy and the U.S. for more than a century, leaving bloody havoc in its wake. The focus is not on individual Mafiosi but on the Cosa Nostra as a powerful and amoral coporate entity, intimately emmeshed with Italian business and politics, and, on two brave, unshakeably honest prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who battlled them in the courts for years, winnning hundreds of convictions, before both were assassinated. Sicily is one of the most picturesque of movie locations, and director Marco Turco takes full advantage of that here. One of his main interviewees is the gifted photojournalist Letizia Battaglia, who has recorded the Mafia's violent legacy in Palmero for decades, and uses her searing black-and-white shots evocatively and well. Cadavers is a rich mine of information on a subject about which it is sometimes too easy to be superficial.

Vegas: The City the Mob Made

Vegas: The City the Mob Made, Las Vegas...Sin City...There is no place like it on earth. The adult playground in the Sun... The country s greatest resort city... the gambling capital of the world...A place of casinos...Home of the famous, and infamous Strip. It is a city where for the right price every kind of entertainment is available for everyone and anyone at any time... It is a city that never sleeps. But it is also a uniquely American city...A Western city ... A desert city. The story of Las Vegas is a 20th century tale...A tale that unites the Mob with the Wild West s culture of cowboys, gunslingers, and saloons. Las Vegas reflects the greater American story of freedom, and the American dream of striking it rich...The last place where you can arrive as a nobody and leave as a king.

Hunt for Jack the Ripper

Hunt for Jack the Ripper, DVD (The History Channel) Many serial killers were more brutal. Others slaughtered more often. But Jack the Ripper remains the world's most infamous murderer. In 1888, he slashed his way across London and into the annals of crime when he murdered and mutilated seven women. His ghastly rampage remains one of history's great mysteries. Who was this butcher that baffled Scotland Yard's best minds? Today's foremost Ripper experts offer insights into the madman's mind and theories of who he really was.

H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer

H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer, Erik Larson’s bestselling book The Devil in the White City introduced America to one of the most horrific but little-known episodes in our nation’s criminal history. When the shocking exploits of the mysterious Dr. H. H. Holmes became known, U.S. tabloids dubbed him the American Jack the Ripper. H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA’S FIRST SERIAL KILLER is the first film to tell the entire true story of this grisly episode. H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA’S FIRST SERIAL KILLER focuses on Holmes’ entire life of crime and villainy, from childhood to his death sentence and ultimate execution. Original photographs and newspaper reports of the period create a chilling authenticity, while actor Tony Jay (Time Bandits, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast) provides spooky, insightful narration to enliven the proceedings.

Jesse James - American Outlaw

Jesse James - American Outlaw, THE HISTORY CHANNEL presents a compelling look at the gripping tale of one of the most infamous criminals in American history. Specifically filmed to tell the real story behind the Hollywood blockbuster The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Jesse James: American Outlaw examines his treacherous murder and the mystery that continues to surround his death today.

Jesse James: American Outlaw and crimes of America s favorite rebel. From his early days as a Confederate guerilla fighter to his life of crime filled with numerous narrow escapes, Jesse James remains one of the most fabled anti-heroes of the old west. DVD Features: The James Gang: Outlaw Brothers from A&E s award-winning series Biography.