WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I may have a mild obsession with serial killers, which probably all started when I learned about Jack the Ripper. Give me a true crime documentary on any of them, and I’m hooked. So, I thought it would be fitting to cover some of the films based around my favourite subject and some serial killers that may not be so famous to those of you reading this…
Monster
Is it weird to feel sorry for a serial killer? Because that’s genuinely how I felt watching this film. Everybody has their breaking point and for Aileen that was the attempted rape on her by Mallory. She was only back prostituting herself at that point to get the money to be with Selby – ahhh, a serial killer love story! The story is actually a little out of sync but I think that’s because they wanted to make more of the relationship between Aileen and Selby (who is actually based on Tyria Woods, Aileen’s real life partner). They had actually already moved in together before the murder of Mallory instead of just planning to go on a date as the film depicts. By the end of the film, in my opinion, it’s like Aileen is only killing people because Selby wants her to.
Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield
This film is about the killer that supposedly both Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface and Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs are based on. I’ll be honest, it’s hard to tell quite how accurate this film is because names are clearly changed and he only ever confessed to two murders in the first place – Bernice Worden (who I assume is supposed to be represented by Vera Mason) and Mary Hogan (Sue Layton for the purposes of this film). As far as I can tell, there is no mention of him killing any men – especially as he supposedly only killed women that resembled his mother.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
This film is a little different to the others. I think because it’s based on the book by the woman Bundy was dating and living with while the murders took place – it focuses more on them as a couple and Bundy himself, rather than the murders. I never thought I would say this, but this is actually a role that Zac Efron is too good looking for. The main draw of Bundy from what I understand was his charisma and charm rather than him being genuinely attractive. I’ll say this much though, they made him look a lot more like Bundy for the TV interview. I think the point that was trying to be made with this film/book is to show how persuasive he was and how easy it was for him to make her believe he didn’t do it. Even though it turns out she was the one to call the police on him the night they met (not overly sure how true that actually is). What I love however is that you realise how right they got the film when you see the clips from the actual court case during the credits – the fact that they had taken actual lines from real life including the actual title of the film. Efron has Bundy’s arrogance down to a tee.
Charlie Says
Some people may think that using this film would be inaccurate as Manson technically isn’t a serial killer. However, it is his ideology that inspired the killings committed by Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkle, Susan Atkins and Tex Watson. Obviously there were others of the Manson Family involved but this film seems to focus on these four – the girls in particular (possibly because they were involved in the death of Sharon Tate and her house guests which was possibly the most famous of the Manson Family Murders). I spoke about charm when it came to Bundy but Manson’s charisma was something else and had to be in order to inspire people to kill. Matt Smith plays him as an egotistical, controlling character but, no matter what, the members of the Manson Family will still do anything for him.
Snowtown Murders (bodies in barrels murders (Australia) – John Justin Bunting, Robert Joe Wagner and James Spyridon Vlassakis)
This film goes from lovely and sedate to ‘what the f***’ very quickly! How can you go from a casual family dinner to taking naked photos of your step-sons? Along with that, he is also their neighbour. This isn’t even the worst of it – but I’m so mortified that I can’t even explain it because I really don’t want to relive what I saw. However, having read up on the murders, I can’t find out if any of what we actually see is what genuinely happened. There’s a scene in the kitchen when they are listing names of the people they want to, I guess, punish is the right word – none of them match the names of those that I found, so maybe some names of the victims were changed for the film, expect for Jamie’s half-brother Troy. I don’t know if it’s the way this film is shot or just the overall plot but it’s dark! Especially Troy’s death scene.
10 Rillington Place
Richard Attenborough is so damn creepy! I don’t know if it’s the voice he’s adopted for John Christie or the fact that he pops out when you least expect him to. Truthfully, having watched this and then seen pictures of Christie to compare likeness – he didn’t half suit the role and Christie looked like a creepy bastard anyway! It looks like the film focuses mainly on two of his eight murders – Beryl and baby Geraldine Evans. Yes, I said baby! Obviously you don’t see the death of Geraldine. I’ll say this much, I think if this film was made now it would focus a lot more on him being a suspected necrophile than this film does.
