Timothy Spall,
Juliet Stevenson,
Cavan Clerkin,
Eddie Marsan,
Christopher Fulford
... see more 
The life and career of the last in a long line of highly praised British executioners is explored in this drama directed by Adrian Shergold and starring Timothy Spall in the role of Albert Pierrepoint... read more
DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007
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Stats: 349 reviews
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Flixster Reviews (349)
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December 24, 2010Insightful character study of one of Britain's last executioners. In his lifetime, Albert Pierrepoint hung over 600 people, including several Nazi war criminals and Ruth Ellis (see Dance With A Stranger). Though he seemed outwardly detached, this film suggests that Albert'... read more
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October 26, 2010Excellent performances, particularly Timothy Spall in the lead, highlight this story. A man of deep compassion who was able to perform the job of executioner, feeling that they had already been judged, by looking at it as a duty and providing the condemned with as quick end as po... read more
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October 1, 2009A great performance from Spall, everything else just seems like an afterthought! Would be a great theatre production!
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June 16, 2008[font=Century Gothic]"Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman" is about Albert Pierrepoint(Timothy Spall), the real life hangman who in over 20 years on the job starting in 1932 executed hundreds of people. Following in the footsteps of his father, Pierrepoint sought to best him by becom... read more
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August 30, 2011very slow but well acted and worth a look at this semi period piece semi bio-pic as its based on a real life person-don't know if he's still alive probally not since he's started in 1932.
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March 6, 2011This was a very intense bsed on true life movie. Pierrepoint was England's last executioner ending his career in mid 1950s. I think he was very professional and compasionate in doing his job.
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November 17, 2010Since it's a true story, it's sort of interesting, but there's no surprises here. The guy's a professional hangman, so guess what, he's got issues with his job.
THE BIG SPOILER: He actually ends up having to hang his drinking buddy.
RECOMMENDATION: Read the Wikipedia article in... read more -
August 5, 2009Excellent movie. A real surprise given the subject matter - and a great film to talk about afterwards. Its one of the few "based on fact" movies that is true to life.
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July 2, 2009A dark biopic on one of the last executioners in England, Timothy Spall gives a fantastic performance. Portraying Pierrepoint as a cold, calculating professional who takes pride in the precision and accuracy of his job but also a sensitive person racked by the worries and pains o... read more
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June 2, 2007Saw it in Britain, amazing film, very powerful, though I think its significance may be lost on most Americans.
Critic Reviews
November 2, 2007
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
June 22, 2007
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
Grim and disturbing yet perversely riveting. Full Review
June 21, 2007
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
The movie grows more compelling in the latter half as British public opinion turns against capital punishment and Pierrepoint begins to have his own doubts. Full Review
June 15, 2007
Susan Walker, Toronto Star
The very title of this movie seems to message its doom. What could possibly be dramatic enough about Britain's last hangman to carry our interest over a 90-minute film? A whole lot, it turns out. Full Review
June 15, 2007
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
[The film's] grittiness instantly adds to the historically and socio-economically convincing picture of working-class Yorkshire in the last century. Full Review
June 15, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Very much a bookend to Vera Drake in its mixture of post war British reserve and ugly reality. [Actor] Spall makes it work, creating a little man with big and terrible secrets. Full Review
June 8, 2007
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
It's Timothy Spall who really carries the film. Full Review
June 8, 2007
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
You have to wonder just how true to life the melodramatic depiction of these events is. Full Review
June 8, 2007
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Whether the real Pierrepoint, who died in 1992, had a clear conscience, the portly Spall creates the perfect impression of a quietly decent, proud man who is overwhelmed by unwanted celebrity and by o... Full Review
June 8, 2007
Stephen Holden, New York Times
As this sad, shambling antihero swings from one pole to the other on the issue of capital punishment, you are inclined to follow every step of the way toward his tragic enlightenment.
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Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman
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