Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalHispanic Heritage MonthIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Wisconsin Death Trip

  • 1999
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 16m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Wisconsin Death Trip (1999)
Dark ComedyBiographyCrimeDramaHistory

A series of grisly events that took place in the state of Wisconsin between 1890 and 1900 is dramatized as reported in the Black River Falls newspaper.A series of grisly events that took place in the state of Wisconsin between 1890 and 1900 is dramatized as reported in the Black River Falls newspaper.A series of grisly events that took place in the state of Wisconsin between 1890 and 1900 is dramatized as reported in the Black River Falls newspaper.

  • Director
    • James Marsh
  • Writers
    • Michael Lesy
    • James Marsh
  • Stars
    • Ian Holm
    • Jeffrey Golden
    • Jo Vukelich
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    1.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • James Marsh
    • Writers
      • Michael Lesy
      • James Marsh
    • Stars
      • Ian Holm
      • Jeffrey Golden
      • Jo Vukelich
    • 33User reviews
    • 33Critic reviews
    • 40Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 3 wins & 3 nominations total

    Photos13

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 8
    View Poster

    Top cast40

    Edit
    Ian Holm
    Ian Holm
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Jeffrey Golden
    • Editor
    • (as Jeff Golden)
    Jo Vukelich
    • Mary Sweeney
    Marcus Monroe
    • Young Anderson
    Marilyn White
    • Pauline L'Allemand
    John Schneider
    • Asylum Clerk…
    John Baltes
    • Undertaker
    Raeleen McMillion
    • Crying Woman
    Krista Grambow
    • Mourning Woman
    Clay Anton
    • Eloping Couple (male)
    Bobbie Jo Westphal
    • Eloping Couple (female)
    Scott Hulbert
    • Pouch
    Zeke Dasho
    • Edgar L'Allemand
    Kathryn Anderson
    • Mrs. Larson
    Kevin Anderson
    • Larson Child
    Liam Anderson
    • Larson Child
    Molly Nikki Anderson
    • Mrs. Larson
    • (as Molly Anderson)
    Nathan Butchart
    • Dead Boy
    • Director
      • James Marsh
    • Writers
      • Michael Lesy
      • James Marsh
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews33

    6.61.6K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    6mellowmike2000

    An unsettlingly stark look at the grim details of one small town's history.

    Unapologetically dark. Unashamedly morbid and moody. This documentary offers an alternative, more realistic, depiction of American life at the turn of the twentieth century. Mundane elements of work, love, marriage, and simple existence in the American North are swept up in an undercurrent of darkness that reminds the viewer that history is not all presidents, education, and industry. This documentary offers both sides of life, not just the common, brightly lit portion that is outlined in popular media and historical documents. This is all not to say, however, that the film is oppressive or grotesque: accounts of insanity, murder, and tragedy are intermixed with elements of black humor and sarcasm. Well worth the hour-and-a-half running time.
    7bmyatt_uk

    Morbidly Fascinating.

    Wisconsin death trip is not really a film that can be accused of being "entertaining." entertainment implies that you will sit their gripped by the story and enthralled by the narrative, and this can be applied to most documentaries, such as Bowling for Columbine or Spellbound.

    However, Wisconsin death trip is not most documentaries. there is no narrative or story. instead, we are given a litany of deaths and events in the life of a small town in Wisconsin, USA. obviously, this is not going to be the happiest of films.

    filmed in a soft black and white, with the exception of some shots of the town in modern times, we are given an insight into the strange events and deaths in the - whose name I forget ^_^;; - over the course of four different seasons.

    for some reason, I found this film to be strangely compelling. whilst not having a huge running time, it gave me a morbid curiosity that kept me watching. strangely enough, you do start wanting to see what could possibly happen next in this small town.

    In conclusion, whilst it is a slow-paced film, it can be compelling if you let it, and by the end you're wondering how many strange deaths one area can actually suffer.

    7/10.
    baselle

    Fellini meets Bergman

    Wisconsin Death Trip is a beautifully filmed, lyrical look at the underside of human existence in Black River Falls, Wisconsin during the late Victorian era, cross-cut with color images of Black River Falls one hundred years hence (1997). Told with still photographs, renactments, narrators, Wisconsin Death Trip will certainly shock moviegoers who long for the 'good old days' when we lived in close-knit small towns (or farms), life was simple, immigrants were hard working, family farmers were successful, and children always obeyed their parents.

    WDT shows us, often graphically, that murder, madness, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, arson, bad children, guns, superstitions, poverty, ignorance, adultery, and fears about old age have always been with us and perhaps will always be with us.

    The only negative comment I can make is about the veracity of the 'documentary'. Many of the events that were reported in the movie to have occurred in the pages of the Black River Falls newspaper occurred in other places - Beaver Dam and Poynette are much further south, Appleton is much further east, Eau Claire and Rhinelander further north, and the state mental hospital in Mendota is in Madison. The river and the sandstone bluffs are near the Wisconsin Dells; beautiful, in Wisconsin, but not near Black River Falls.

    Anyway, I think that for such a beautifully photographed film such as this, it is minor quibble. Wisconsin Death Trip is the movie you would get if Fellini, an absurdist and grandmaster of black and white film, had worked with Bergman, with his dour humanism and northern European sensibilities.

    Loved it. My family came from Wisconsin; wish they had used some of our family stories.
    8klg19

    Fascinating look at the "good old days"

    This gripping documentary looks at events, many of them dealing with homicide, suicide, and mental illness, in the life of the town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, during the nineteenth century.

    If you think we are presently living in an unprecedentedly violent age, it will be enlightening to see the number of husbands who shot wives, wives who shot husbands, lovers who shot each other, parents who killed children, and children who killed whomever, in this sleepy midwestern town, filled with hard-working citizens of German and Norwegian descent.

    Added into the mix is a remarkable number of mentally ill or drug-addicted people, notably Mary Sweeney, the "Wisconsin Window-Smasher," who destroyed tens of thousands of dollars worth of windows across the state, while taking cocaine to "steady her nerves."

    The film is a combination of still photographs from the era and black-and-white set-piece recreations of the incidents, narrated beautifully by Ian Holm. The viewer should be warned, however, that it is not until the very last frame of the credits that we learn that not all the photographs shown necessarily correspond to the people in the incidents described.

    A great work of social history, exploring a side of life many people prefer to ignore.
    gainax98

    lacks any emotional resonance at all

    The film is based on newspaper articles and photos, which is surely why it is so emotionally detached from its subjects, but it is simply not possible to have absolutely no emotional connection to any of the characters and remain interested in hearing about their deaths for two hours. It becomes tedious after the first 20 minutes and almost unbearable after 45. The main reoccuring characters -- a whispering mental hospital clerk and a woman who compulsively breaks windows -- are given no personality at all, only roles to perform, and only add to the problem. While well-shot, this movie is dull, plodding, and the worst kind of bad movie: it doesn't even attempt to entertain you, it just drags you along, waiting for the end.

    More like this

    Husbands
    7.1
    Husbands
    Winter Kills
    6.2
    Winter Kills
    The Vault of Horror
    6.5
    The Vault of Horror
    The Intruder
    7.5
    The Intruder
    Sightseers
    6.5
    Sightseers
    The Little Shop of Horrors
    6.2
    The Little Shop of Horrors
    The Blackout Experiments
    4.3
    The Blackout Experiments
    One Missed Call
    6.2
    One Missed Call
    The Devil's Bath
    6.6
    The Devil's Bath
    Ms .45
    6.8
    Ms .45
    The Cannibal that Walked Free
    6.3
    The Cannibal that Walked Free
    Snowtown
    6.6
    Snowtown

    Related interests

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sian Clifford in Fleabag (2016)
    Dark Comedy
    Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Geraldine James in Gandhi (1982)
    Biography
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (1993)
    History

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Broadcast in the U.K. as part of the BBC's prestigious Arena (1975) series.
    • Connections
      Featured in Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021)
    • Soundtracks
      Barcarolle
      Written by Jacques Offenbach

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ17

    • How long is Wisconsin Death Trip?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 9, 2000 (Denmark)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Hands On Productions, Inc.
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Висконсин: Путешествие к смерти
    • Filming locations
      • Black River Falls, Wisconsin, USA
    • Production companies
      • BBC Arena
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
      • Cinemax Reel Life
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 16m(76 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.