Name: Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2005-10-31
Duration: 2 h
Rating: 7.5
Cast: Lance Burton, David Copperfield, Mary Corey

A pretty much straight forward documentary, telling the story of Houdini's life, from his poor upbringing, to world renowned superstar. It features some interesting interviews by family of Houdini himself, the last living assistant who helped perform some of his tricks, as well as famous magicians like David Copperfield and Teller (from Penn & Teller) praising Houdini's influence on the world of magic. The whole thing is inter-cut with shots from an auction where some of Houdini's possessions are sold for startling amounts, before going into back story about why the items are considered valuable. Especially the later parts of the documentary is interesting, in that it tells Houdini's personal crusade on spiritualists who prey on the grief of those who have lost someone they held dearly. There are a couple of rather strange segments, like the fact that a group of magicians keep on holding séances to contact the spirit of Houdini to this day, when the man was so outspoken against such things, and that Teller wanted to have his face blacked out by shadows for some interviews, while still being credited as himself, so that everyone knows who he is. Maybe it's part of his whole "nobody shall ever see me talk" mystique, I don't know. But overall an interesting and insightful film.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

A look back at the life of Harry Houdini, including an auction of his most prized trick props and possessions.

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

See who dazzled on the red carpet and took home gold at the 78th Primetime Creative Emmy Awards.

Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery

Photos1

Top Cast13

User reviews1

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed