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A compelling and atmospheric documentary by acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker Terry Carlyon. From the ABC website...

"Dead Famous lifts the lid on the slaughter that resulted when two underworld tribes went to war over drug profits during Melbourne’s infamous gangland killings.

This one-hour documentary takes viewers behind the frenzied headlines to put the killings in their true perspective.

Leading crime writers John Silvester and Andrew Rule analyse the causes and effects of the decade-long war. They investigate the reasons it began, why it was allowed to escalate and flourish for so long and point to what lessons, if any, have been learned by law makers and breakers alike.

It was a unique combination of circumstances that allowed the gangland wars to flourish – and saw so many criminals turn the underworld into a glitzy public soap-opera, played out on the front pages of newspapers, nightly television news bulletins and popular magazines for months on end.

Using a mix of archive and actual event footage, subtle dramatic recreation in actual locations, interviews with major players from both sides of the law and incisive and entertaining comment from Silvester and Rule, Dead Famous traces the history and character of this brutal episode that has become such a part of our recent social history."

• Broadcast on the ABC (2009)

What the Critics Have Said

“Handsomely made documentary. While there's a faint taste of The Night Stalker in the moody shots of Melbourne's mean streets and the gritty voice-overs, Rule and Sylvester look suitably grizzled and unglamorous and do their best to strip the romance from this oft-told tale.” - Melinda Houston, The Age, 1 October 2009

"A compelling documentary..." - Steve Meacham, Sydney Morning Herald Online, 5th October 2009

"This documentary strips away the dramatisation to give a realistic account of Melbourne's underworld war. With interviews from members of the police force (who at the time were under investigation for corruption), lawyers and associates of the key figures of the time, Dead Famous is a gripping and intriguing glimpse into this world of crime, even without the Hollywood script." - Kashmir Brummel, Citysearch, October 2009

"Terrific doco that manages to make the well-worn material feel fresh again." "...this amounts to a stylish, compelling summation of Melbourne's underworld ugliness" - M Magazine, Sunday Age, 4 October 2009

"Dead Famous is in many respects a necessary and timely corrective to how the leading figures have made their way into the public's consciousness...that peels back the veneer of glamorous gangsters as well as a police force that was above corruption within its own ranks" - Paul Kalina, Green Guide, 8 October 2009

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