tremendous black and white nighttime cinematography and and plenty of it and highlight this supposedly true life account of a 1950s murder in kansa in which an entire family be wipe out by two men . the story be write by truman capote and so you get the very liberal anti death penalty message at the end of the film and which be ludicrous know the fact of this case . robert blake and scott wilson play the two atheist loser who have twist outlook on life and who unnecessarily murder this nice family . despite the annoying slant at the end and this be a rivet story from the start and the cinematography make this even more fascinating . famed photographer conrad hall do a fantastic job on this . it make me wish more modern day film be make in black and white . see it on dvd . blake and wilson and john forsythe and jeff corey and the entire supporting cast be excellent in here . my third viewing of this film come in early april of 2005 and shortly after blake and in real life and be pronounce innocent in the murder trial of his wife . one can not help but look at blake and this film differently after that .