The guy was and is a horrible human (although the movie was released in 2007 so he is likely dead now). He shows no remorse for the horrific crime he orchestrated and acts as if he didn't do anything. Further, he seems incredulous that he would be convicted and sent to prison. He is self absorbed, arrogant and disgusting. He treated his first wife like dirt and didn't care about his disabled daughter. These two didn't have a "crazy" love. They had a very sick, dysfunctional love (if you can even call it love). He was obsessed with her and his plan was for her to be injured and scarred for life so she would depend on him and no other man would want her. Sadly, his plan worked. This movie is not lighthearted or funny. It is sad and depressing. As a footnote, some of the people ("friends") interviewed are racist and misogynistic. And not the least bit apologetic for their comments.

Not too much shine factor in this documentary because the subject tended on the shallow side. The abusive man, after blinding his girlfriend for life, talks like nothing happened. And then they get back together after him in prison for 14 years, I am suspecting this couple discovered, not absolute forgiveness, perhaps something more like a lot of money being in the public eye. I could be wrong. This doc is good for one watch simply because of the insane story, but no second watch.

You can't believe what you're watching, and read abiut what happened to them after the movie. Just incredible.

this is one of the best documentaries i've ever seen. It's almost hard to believe it actually happened

Definitely crazy, love had nothing to do with it though.

Fascinating, stranger-than-fiction story. Very well-done doc as well.

What a fucking disgusting creep this guy is. I hope he gets hit by a fucking car. A portrait of misogyny and ego. Also telling of how easy it is to fuck people up forever, especially women with no self esteem.

a pretty insane story, i had never heard of any of these people before, but now i cant believe that i hadnt, it starts out as a traditional romance between 2 young people, but then theres 2 major events that occur in the documentary, and both were equally shocking, so much so that i doubt it could ever work in a fiction film cuz it would be too crazy, its not a long documentary, but id recommend it for anyone with netflix

You won't believe what comes of these two when they get together - fascinating as all get-out, this is truly sick and twisted stuff, but handled well. The filmmakers only need to roll out the shocks of the story in bits and pieces - and they do it perfectly. Very compelling. If you are up for something really off kilter, here's ur sign. 3.5 out of 5

who says love in the 1950's was clean cut and wholesome? i was knocked for 6 by the bizarre twists and turns this story took. a perfect watch for those who want to reassure themselves that their love life isn't THAT messed up.

An absolutely incredible but true story. It's also brilliantly told and brilliantly edited by Dan Klores, Fisher Stevens and David Zieff. Rather than splash the elements of sensational story up against the wall, they build a story of character, intrigue, shock, humor and even heart. And that they do all it with a wry understanding about how crazy this story truly is. Plus they have impeccable taste in music selection as evidenced by one great soundtrack. I was amazed as much as I was amused. Brilliantly bizarre.

Guess I'm used to the crime stories. This is quite boring.

The title is apt. Fascinating like a train wreck.

This documentary teaches us that sometimes love hurts.

A lighthearted romp about...physical abuse?! Millions of women stay with abusive men because of Stockholm Syndrome as well as lack of financial independence. It is unconscionable for this movie to portray such a toxic 'relationship' as consensual, quirky, or even unusual.

Ultimately boring, but definitely interesting.

Bizarre, wonderful story. Very good doc, although the tone gets a little weird towards the end. Not because of the story, just because of the editing.

Not Such a Catch After All When Jimmy Breslin thinks you're one of the biggest scum he's ever met, you've got problems. Breslin has been around the block a few times, after all. He got letters sent to him by David Berkowitz. He knew Henry Hill. He has been a reporter in New York for decades. This is a guy who knows scum when he encounters it. He thinks that Burt Pugach, the theoretical hero of today's film, is scum. He says everyone deserves a second chance, but Burt has burned through his. And I have to tell you, I'm pretty well on his side about it. A psychiatrist gets a brief interview in the film, and he insists that Burt Pugach isn't psychotic, and that may well be true. On the other hand, I'd like to know how much time that psychiatrist has spent interacting with Burt, because there's obviously something wrong with him. His total and callous disregard for the harm he's done is evident in both his interviews here and his actions. Even back in the '50s, Burt wasn't what you'd call a looker. However, one day, he spotted Linda Riss, and she was. When they met, he was thirty-one and he was twenty-one. He was crazy about her--I use the term advisedly, as you'll see--but he was also married with a kid, and Linda wasn't going to fool around with a married man. Burt kept lying to her, and finally, she decided that she wasn't interested in putting up with it anymore. She broke it off with him. While on a trip to Florida with a friend, she met a man called Larry Schwartz, and after he got out of the military, they became engaged. Burt swore that, if he couldn't have Linda, no one could. He hired three guys to throw acid in her face--no, I don't know why it took three guys, either. Naturally, he ended up in prison for it. Linda didn't feel she could marry Larry afterward, and she broke off the engagement. All the time he was in prison, Burt kept writing her letters, and eventually, he even began sending her money. And then, he got out. One of the things I liked about this documentary was how certain of the wilder revelations weren't telegraphed at all. I'm leaving out several important details of the story in the hopes that anyone who isn't aware of them can have the same kind of revelations that I did. I will merely say that there's a reason she's wearing the big, ugly sunglasses, though I can't say the same about the wig. Of course, it's hard to discuss the movie in any kind of detail without giving it away, and indeed, one of them is not difficult to guess with the information I've provided. However, with each twist of the story, you think you've gotten a handle on how far the crazy goes, and you're not all the way there until the end. Even then, I'm not sure we've gotten all the way into the depths of the crazy. I think it would take considerably longer to discover how far down it goes, and I don't think the movie gives us all the details the filmmakers learned, either. The thing I didn't like, I must admit, was the soundtrack. There were places I liked it okay, but sometimes, it was pretty jarring. I'm not sure all the period music selections entirely were, and I wasn't fond of the music written expressly for the documentary. I felt that it distracted from the strange power of the story itself. Burt and Linda are weirdly fascinating, and the greatest relief I felt was Linda's reference to the fact that she never had any children. There are some genes I don't particularly want passed on, and there are some people who would only perpetuate bad attitudes toward relationships by demonstrating their own to their children. But every time I got to thinking about that, or about the importance of stalking laws, or what have you, the music would get in my way. I mean, I hadn't until just this moment thought about the serious question of why Burt was allowed and able to send Linda letters while he was in prison in the first place--aren't prisoners' letters subject to censorship? And was she still living in the same place? I think it is hard to get the true oddity of this story onscreen if you're relying so heavily on interviews to tell it. For one thing, neither Burt nor Linda seem aware that there's anything strange about the story they have to tell. They know that other people seem to think so, but they do not themselves see anything weird about it. All the interviews are so matter-of-fact that you can miss how truly strange it is. This includes Linda's friends, who don't reveal the anger I feel sure they must still harbour--except the one who says that she doesn't believe in the death penalty except for Burt, and she only lets that anger out a few minutes before the end. Oh, I'm sure that it's hard to maintain any sense of rage after fifty years, especially given how things have turned out, but even they have had the sense of oddity worn out of them, leaving little to share with us. It's not that I expect a freak show, but I'd like a little more than we have.

Unbelievable true love story of a Burt and Elizabeth Pugach

The second half made it worth the watch. The story is pretty unbelievable. It was interesting. The one thing I didn't like was that half of the people who talk in this film are scary looking, lol. I think too much smoking had something to do with how they looked. A lot of old people who did not age well. Other than the old and ugly people the story was very bizarre and that made it worth watching.