Lights, Camera, Execution! is an innovative and creative resource for those interested in better understanding the complexities surrounding society’s desire for vengeance and capital punishment. The authors, Knowles, Altschuler, and Schildkraut, pen an outstanding summary and assessment of historical and contemporary times related to the death penalty. Using filmmaking, the authors effectively persuade the reader that capital punishment in America should not be viewed as isolated to specific crimes or defendants.... Lights, Camera, Execution! cites all of the contemporary legal scholars researching capital punishment, most notably Austin Sarat. Like Sarat, Knowles, Altschuler, and Schildkraut provide context to the discussion on capital punishment in the United States. They use film to show the racial, class-based, moral, and democratic ideals that impact the historical and contemporary debates. While the death penalty remains a controversial issue and one oftentimes used in classes to spark conversation, it is a complex issue that legal scholars and Hollywood will continue to consider, if only to better understand notions of retribution and vengeance.

Law and Politics Book Review

“In this compelling examination of the death penalty on film the authors show that the success of those films depends on their capacity to draw their audiences into individual stories rather than their taking a pro or anti-capital punishment stance. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the culture life of state killing.”

Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

“Lights, Camera, Execution! fills an important void in our knowledge about how cinema engages with the important issue of the death penalty, and does so via fascinating, yet thorough, analyses of several films, including many that will be new to most readers. Everyone from new undergraduates to seasoned film buffs will find something of value in this groundbreaking work. Highly recommended.”

Justin Vaughn, co-editor of Poli Sci Fi: An Introduction to Political Science through Science Fiction

“And the award goes to… Lights, Camera, Execution! – an excellent book that dispels the myths and untruths associated with creative, profit-driven filmmaking about the death penalty while at the same time explaining how filmmakers and audiences grapple with the social and moral issues necessarily associated with this controversial topic. This book is not only ideal for courses on politics and film but would be a nice addition to classes centered around race and class, public policy, and popular culture. I can’t wait for the sequel!”

Artemus Ward, Northern Illinois University

Death penalty movies are windows into the way Americans think about some of our most profound concepts—justice, responsibility, violence. Lights, Camera, Execution! offers a thoughtful survey of the most important death penalty movies of the past forty years, from lesser known television movies like Murder in Coweta County, to blockbuster big screen hits like The Green Mile. Helen J. Knowles, Bruce E. Altschuler, and Jaclyn Schildkraut thoughtfully and effectively use nine films to illustrate the complexities of the political, legal, and cultural world of American capital punishment.

Daniel LaChance, Emory University