The Atlanta Child Murders

1985
6.7| 4h5m| en
Details

The city of Atlanta, Georgia, is terrorized by a rash of child murders occurring in its black community. When a black photographer is arrested for the crimes, controversy erupts over whether he is the actual killer or a scapegoat offered up by the city's mostly black leadership. Based on actual events.

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Reviews

Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant
Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
robertgriffin35 I remember watching this movie, I was about 14 years old living in California at the time, and it still scared the hell out of me. Even to this day I don't know if I would or could watch it again due to that fact. Most people think that the killings stopped when Wayne was put behind bars but they didn't. The FBI, even the President of the United States knew that a race war could blow up in downtown Atlanta if the public knew what the FBI knew of certain members of the KKK's involvement. The FBI have phone taps of certain members of the KKK, one person more then any other knew a lot of those kids that had been killed, even telling an FBI informant that he was going to kill one of them. Guess what that kid ended up being killed.Now im not saying that Wayne is innocent of any of the killings, but things don't make since. A serial killer hardly ever changes his course. Ted Bundy loved brunettes with parts down the middle of their hair, Wayne Gacy loved white men who were gay. The Green River killer killed street walkers. Are we to believe that Wayne Williams went from killing little kids to full grown adults??? Are we to believe that Wayne Williams killed these adults by himself, strangled them even though some were bigger and stronger then he was and then toss them into a river.No murder weapon was ever found, stories have been changed to fit Wayne Williams must of been the culprit.Wayne Williams have recently tried to get DNA testing, which I do not know has been passed or denied, but why would it be denied? That one person the FBI had hard feelings about stated he had a Siberian Husky, Wanye Williams had a Shepard. EArly stories of some of the killings stated that Husky hair had been found, Later they to changed to Shepard hairs in changing of stories.5 of the kids that were found were found in a park where this person and his brother visited on a regular basis.Also most serial killers keep trophies, nothing like this was ever found at any spot where Wayne Williams lived or worked at? People say he hated black youths, but then the same people say he loved to seduce black teens.I don't think we will ever know what happened in Atlanta, so many witness have changed stories, people have died, Aids probably killed a lot of witness, or people close to the case. The victims were raped, and Aids being pretty much a fast death sentence at that time could of probably killed the killer(s) as well.I for one do not thing Wayne Williams was given a fair trial. The trial was rushed, his lawyers were buried with a mountain of evidence to sort thru in such a limited time. Witness changed their stories in mid trial. Williams' layweres were not allowed certain evidence that would help to release him.
goddessnoir I saw this movie as a young girl in the mid eighties and needless to say, especially being a young black child, it scared me. I just wanted to comment on what the previous commenter said. Though I am in no way claiming Wayne Williams is innocent, the murders and disappearances didn't stop with Williams' conviction as he stated, they actually continued until early '83 sparking talk that he may not have actually been the killer.The evidence used to convict him was flimsy at best and there were actually over 100 children and young adults declared missing and or found dead. Williams was described as a "very weird" individual and did he commit these murders? Who knows but, the majority of evidence did not point towards him, there were over 100 children and young adults killed about 30 of them AFTER he was in jail.
ericcody The Atlanta Child Murders, a 1985 CBS mini series of the week is a good movie, but not an accurate portrayal of the political establishment of this still growing city. Former Mayor Andrew Young tried to ban this movie from airing the city of Atlanta and the surrounding counties. I am a resident of Decatur, GA 10 miles outside of Atlanta. I was a seven year old boy when the first of 27 bodies of young Black teenage boys and two Black girls were found in 1979.As of this writing Dekalb County Police Chief Graham just five days ago announced that he has reopened the cases of five murders of Black teenage boys that was on the original list of the murdered children. Chief Graham believes Wayne Williams could not have committed these murders. The Atlanta Child Murders screenplay was written by Abby Mann. Mann was a strong supporter along with writer James Baldwin and Civil Rights attorney William Kunstler of Wayne Williams innocence. The Atlanta Child Murders film captures masterfully the fear and outrage that gripped the city (Atlanta) that eventually hosted the 1996 Olympics Summer Games. Mann attempted not to offend the politicians such as Former Governor Busby and Former Mayor Maynard Jackson whom were both in office at the time of the child murders and whom had the most to lose politically if these murders was not quickly solved. In my opinion Wayne Williams did not commit all of these murders. He would have had to been Superman to get around the city to commit all of these murders in the time frame the authorities was finding bodies. Wayne Williams was only convicted of killing two men who was considered the last victims of the list.I give this movie ***stars. Good, but not excellent. This movie is not on DVD.
SanFernandoCurt When the "Atlanta Child Murders" first aired in the mid-'80s, it didn't raise too many eyebrows - even though Abby Mann's script intimates in the concluding minutes of the miniseries that convicted culprit Wayne Williams may NOT be the murderer of dozens of young men and boys in a horrifying crime spree that held Georgia's biggest city spellbound with fear three decades ago. Given Mann's film-making track record - "Judgment at Nuremberg," "King," etc. - nobody was going to accuse him of being a conservative. In fact, most of his work has always seemed philosophically bound by a boilerplate leftism and a near-obsession with black/white race relations in America. It wasn't too much of a surprise that he would spring his unique - and frankly bizarre - theory on network television. For Mann, Williams was the victim of incompetent police work, corrupt city government and that old devil, racism. OK. Sure.But now, it's 20 years later. Wayne Williams is still in prison. While the serial killings of Atlanta's young have not continued (in fact, they stopped with Williams' arrest in 1981), Williams still maintains his innocence. So, where's Abby? Shouldn't he be working for William's freedom? Or, if he's changed his mind, repudiating his own theory? I mean: We're stuck with a 1985-vintage "J'accuse" that seems to have been conveniently forgotten by its own creator. Where's Abby? Is he sitting up in Beverly Hills with the rest of the Hollywood Chardonnay proletariat, reading the Daily Worker and ordering the Third World servants around?If Wayne Williams is innocent, shouldn't SOMEONE be trying to free this poor victim-of-the-system from prison? And if, indeed, he's guilty, why did Abby Mann ever say he was innocent? Real mystery, huh?

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