Curse of the Elephant Man

Curse of the Elephant Man (2003)

*** (out of 4)

Joseph Merrick became known as The Elephant Man and is the subject of this documentary that tries to cover several grounds. It works best as a biography of Merrick as we learn about his family, his childhood and the various hard times he hit due to his appearance. We also learn about his time in the circus and how he ended up in a London hospital where he found some peace before his death. Also discussed were his current family members, others who suffer from the same disease he had and there's also some DNA research to try and find out exactly what he had.

For the most part this was a good documentary that works best when it's telling the story of Merrick. I'm sure most people will already know his story but if not then there's a lot of great information shared here. The stuff dealing with his family members weren't as interesting but the DNA stuff is certainly interesting, although I must admit that I thought it was a little creepy or sad that Merrick's bones are still being messed with after all these years. I'm not really a "rest in peace" person but he's obviously still being used for research.

A story that has always saddened me and so anything relating to him is an area of interest.

A modern day take on the examination in medical terms of what Joseph Merrick could have been suffering with and the knock on affect to future family members