Clint Eastwood wants the death penalty for child murderers.

The former movie vigilante and director of new Angelina Jolie flick The Changeling was horrified after researching the heinous nature of such crimes.

Eastwood, the former mayor of Carmel California is adamant about the death penalty for offenders in child abduction and murder.

"Crimes against children are the most hideous of all," Clint told The Los Angeles Times. "I think they would be on the top of my list of justification for capital punishment."

In new film Changeling, based on a true story, Jolie plays the mother of a small boy who is believed to be the victim of a notorious serial killer.  Gordon Stewart Northcott was executed in 1930.   The boy's body was never found. 

"It's hard to think about," Eastwood said. "When you're doing the movie, you're just using your imagination to figure out what the trauma was like.

"I never cease to be amazed how blasé people can be about the victims of crime."