John Borowski is an American independent filmmaker and author. The focus of his work is late nineteenth and early twentieth century serial killers, initially in a trilogy of documentaries on American criminals. More recently, Borowski has focused on the commerce and culture that has grown around such crimes, and on other niche artists.

Early life

After receiving his B.A. from Columbia College Chicago's film program, Borowski freelanced as an editor and cinematographer. Director Willy Laszlo chose Borowski to edit every headlining film for the Chicago Short Comedy Film and Video Festival from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, Borowski's independently produced first film, ''H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer'', was distributed on DVD in North America by Facets Video. For the voice of the narrator, Borowski chose

Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive raspy ...

, the voice of villain Judge Claude Frollo in Disney's ''Hunchback of Notre Dame''. ''Holmes'' received an unprecedented amount of press, being covered by television (CBS News, Wild Chicago), print (Variety, LA Weekly, Chicago Sun-Times, Ain't It Cool News, Philadelphia Weekly, Chicago Magazine), and radio (Mancow Show, Deadpit Radio). The historical interest in Holmes was reflected in the lectures Borowski delivered to The Chicago Historical Society, Indiana State University, and St. Xavier University. ''The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes'' is an illustrated book published by Borowski containing three primary source books about the Holmes case and Holmes' complete confession. ''H.H. Holmes'' has been distributed to over a dozen countries worldwide.

Career

Film work

Borowski's films are distributed internationally on DVD, television, and streaming. His "historical horror" trilogy of documentary films focus on late nineteenth and early twentieth century serial killers. Borowski directed a trilogy, based on America serial killers, ''H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer'' (2004), ''Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation'' (2007), and ''Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance'' (2012) and ''Serial Killer Culture'' (2014) which examines the reasons why artists and collectors are fascinated by serial killers. Borowski received the 2003 award for Best Director for ''H.H. Holmes'' from the Midwest Independent Film Festival, and the film was voted the Best Horror Documentary at the 2004

Screamfest Horror Film Festival Screamfest Horror Film Festival is a horror film festival founded by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in August 2001. It runs over ten days during the month of October and is hosted at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Los Angeles, Ca ...

.Anon., 2004, "John Borowski, winner Best Documentary for 'H.H.Holmes'," at ''Getty Images'' (online), se

accessed May 15, 2015. The film has been featured on Public Broadcasting Station, PBS. ''Carl Panzram'' featured

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

as the voice of title criminal and murderer, Carl Panzram. Locations for the film included the maximum security prisons of

Leavenworth Penitentiary The Federal Correctional Institution, Leavenworth is a medium-security federal prison for male inmates in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. It also includes ...

and Clinton Correction Facility, and made use of Panzram's handwritten autobiographical papers at San Diego State University; ''Carl Panzram'' received the director's choice award at the 2012 Chicago Horror Film Festival. Borowski has produced and directed the short films: ''Mime Time'' (2013), ''Rough Crowd'' (2014), and ''The Portrait'' (2015). In 2014, Borowski released ''Serial Killer Culture'', a film which examines the reasons why artists and collectors are fascinated by serial killers. Through music, painting, filmmaking, writing, and collecting, thirteen individuals are interviewed about creating art and searching for murderous artifacts. As a follow-up to the film, ''Serial Killer Culture TV'' was released in 2017. The TV show explores the similar themes including a Jonestown Survivor and how Ripley's ''Believe It Or Not!'' acquired the head of German serial killer

Peter Kürten Peter Kürten (; 26 May 1883 – 2 July 1931) was a German serial killer, known as The Vampire of Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf Monster, who committed a series of murders and sexual assaults between February and November 1929 in the city of Dü ...

. In addition, Borowski served as an associate producer on the feature ''Toro Loco'' (2010), by Chilean filmmaker

Patricio Valladares Patricio Valladares (born 17 July 1982, in Chillán, Chile) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter and comic book writer, best known for his work in horror films, who mixes elements of both arthouse and grindhouse, with an emphasis on modern ex ...

. In 2024, Borowski produced and directed the mini-series ''The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago'' for

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

. The eight episode series is the first ever historical and chronological study on the life of

John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois, Norwood Park Tow ...

, featuring interviews with prosecutors, detectives, law enforcement, and attorneys who were directly involved with Gacy. It was released to critical acclaim and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray home media.

Author

Borowski has written and published the books: ''The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes'' (2005), ''Albert Fish: In His Own Words'' (2014), and ''The Ed Gein File'' (2016), which contain case files from the true crime cases.

Music videos

* ''Think I'm in Love'', by the Das Bruce. * ''Mr. Fish'', by the Swedish Band, Sparzanza., * The Sea/Cellophane, by Dubwitch

Projects in production

Borowski is currently in post-production on ''Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia'', to be released in 2017. '' Jesse Pomeroy: The Boston Boy Fiend'' is a feature documentary film in production, which focuses on the infamous 14 year old boy killer.

References in published works

Borowski's work was featured in ''The Documentary Moviemaking Course: The Starter Guide to Documentary Filmmaking'' by K.J. Lindenmuth, and in a self-published work, ''Murderabilia and True Crime Collecting,'' by S.F. Scouller. The Swedish band Sparzanza used the narration by

in the Borowski movie

Albert Fish Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish (May 19, 1870 – January 16, 1936) was an American serial killer, rapist, child molester and cannibal who committed at least three child murders between July 1924 and June 1928. He was also known as the Gra ...

in their song "Mr. Fish".

Guest appearances

Borowski was a special guest speaker at the 2012 Indie Horror Fest.

Personal life

Borowski currently resides in Chicago.

Filmography

As director

*'' H. H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer'' (2004). *''

'' (2007). *'' Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance'' (2012). *''The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago'' (2020) *Serial Killer Culture TV (2017) * ''Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia'' (2017)Inked Staff, 2015, "John Borowski's Inside Look at the Art of Vincent Castiglia," at ''InkedMag'' (online), February 26, 2015, se

accessed May 15, 2105.

Other roles

* ''Toro Loco'' (2010), by Chilean filmmaker

, as producer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borowski, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Film directors from Illinois American male screenwriters Artists from Chicago Screenwriters from Illinois