There's an interesting premise behind this show- the relative of a renowned killer meets with the family of one of their victims, mediated by Melissa G. Moore, the daughter of a serial killer. This could have gone wrong in so many ways.
The basics of the John Wayne Gacy case and capture are trotted out again, but this time Gacy's sister Karen Kuzma and her daughter Sheri Hockenberry are meeting Patti Szyc Rich, sister to victim John Szyc. Kuzma's memories of her brother, and the aftermath of his killings, takes up the majority of the time in the episode, culminating in the emotional meeting.
I am thankful that the show runners brought Moore aboard, and didn't turn this into a Jerry Springer-style nightmare of screaming and fisticuffs (at least from this lone episode). Kuzma is a damaged woman, and she is obviously as much a victim as other survivors of her brother's terror. We don't get as much time with Patti Rich, I would have liked to see more about her brother, even if it was boring minutiae. We're so used to hearing the story of the killer, I wish someone would do mini-biographies of any of these victims, and let us get to know these young boys and men.
This episode of "Monster in My Family" still presents some new information, and Rich, Kuzma, and Hockenberry display a strength that I don't know if I would have in the same situation. Also subtitled "Killer Clown: John Wayne Gacy" and "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", and I've seen this numbered as Episode #5 of the first season.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
"Making a Monster" {"Rose West" Episode #1.1} (2020)
Concentrating more on United Kingdom serial killer Rose West instead of her husband Fred West, this documentary episode is full of information and salaciousness.
The series covers infamous killers from a more cerebral angle, looking into their upbringing since serial killers aren't just born. Rosemary Pauline Letts was the fifth of seven children. Her father was a paranoid schizophrenic who had sexual relations with his daughters, and she in turn molested her younger brothers. She took this hyper-sexualization to her new home after she met and married Fred West, and her first murder was Fred's daughter by another woman. The couple would go on to kill at least twelve people combined, including another daughter, as Rose was willingly prostituted out. Something I did not know is that some of the Wests' children were fathered by the johns who the killer couple would entertain. The house became a home of depravity, anonymously sitting in the middle of Cromwell Street. It wasn't until suspicions were raised with the disappearance of their oldest daughter that the Wests would finally be caught. Fred committed suicide in 1995, and Rose was sentenced to prison for life without parole.
I've always been interested in the childhood and upbringings of these serial killers because of the fact that "born to kill" is a rare phenomenon. Reading about the childhoods and parents of today's infamous murderers confirms that they weren't born, but made, with some of these parents doing things that are almost as bad as the murders the adult children would later commit. The reenactment scenes are dark and scary, and while listening to Rose's story, you can see why the fates of their victims were sealed as soon as she met the equally disturbed Fred West. Imagining what their large brood of children went through while in the house is horrifying to think about, witnessing the degradation and killings of their own siblings. I would be very interested to see if any of the johns' children ever found out who their biological father was, and how that man feels about what he knowingly or unknowlingly created. As time goes on, we may not find out. While the professional mental health personnel add gravitas, some of director Howard's shots and writing border on the sleazy. The truth is ugly enough without some of the scenes- including a very fake looking beating.
Also subtitled "Matriarch of Cromwell Street," this episode dares to discuss the guilt of Rose West's upbringing (was she controlling Fred all along?). It's not a "fun" watch, but an informative one.
The series covers infamous killers from a more cerebral angle, looking into their upbringing since serial killers aren't just born. Rosemary Pauline Letts was the fifth of seven children. Her father was a paranoid schizophrenic who had sexual relations with his daughters, and she in turn molested her younger brothers. She took this hyper-sexualization to her new home after she met and married Fred West, and her first murder was Fred's daughter by another woman. The couple would go on to kill at least twelve people combined, including another daughter, as Rose was willingly prostituted out. Something I did not know is that some of the Wests' children were fathered by the johns who the killer couple would entertain. The house became a home of depravity, anonymously sitting in the middle of Cromwell Street. It wasn't until suspicions were raised with the disappearance of their oldest daughter that the Wests would finally be caught. Fred committed suicide in 1995, and Rose was sentenced to prison for life without parole.
I've always been interested in the childhood and upbringings of these serial killers because of the fact that "born to kill" is a rare phenomenon. Reading about the childhoods and parents of today's infamous murderers confirms that they weren't born, but made, with some of these parents doing things that are almost as bad as the murders the adult children would later commit. The reenactment scenes are dark and scary, and while listening to Rose's story, you can see why the fates of their victims were sealed as soon as she met the equally disturbed Fred West. Imagining what their large brood of children went through while in the house is horrifying to think about, witnessing the degradation and killings of their own siblings. I would be very interested to see if any of the johns' children ever found out who their biological father was, and how that man feels about what he knowingly or unknowlingly created. As time goes on, we may not find out. While the professional mental health personnel add gravitas, some of director Howard's shots and writing border on the sleazy. The truth is ugly enough without some of the scenes- including a very fake looking beating.
Also subtitled "Matriarch of Cromwell Street," this episode dares to discuss the guilt of Rose West's upbringing (was she controlling Fred all along?). It's not a "fun" watch, but an informative one.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till (2012)
The senseless 1955 murder of teenager Emmett Till marked a turning point in the civil rights movement in the Southern United States.
Mike Wiley turns the story into a one man show, literally, playing almost two dozen speaking parts, male and female. Till was a fourteen year old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in the small town of Money, Mississippi. While hanging around with some cousins, the boy was dared into talking to a white store owner, and either made some inappropriate comments and touched her, or what he said to her was misinterpreted (he had a stutter he sometimes solved by whistling). The woman's husband and his half-brother kidnapped Till a few days later, beat and murdered him, and dumped his body in a local river. His mother famously held an open casket funeral, showing the world the torture Emmett went through, but the two men responsible for his killing were found not guilty, and later told a reporter about how they did, in fact, murder the child. They could not be retried thanks to double jeopardy.
According to the end credits, this film is an adaptation of a play written by Mike Wiley, and I assume it was also a one-man show. Director Underhill opens up the story, and through the use of some unobtrusive special effects, and well-done editing by Larry J. Gardner, Wiley is able to trade dialogue with himself in scenes from Till's life, and the aftermath of his death. This is not a photographed stage presentation, Wiley puts on costuming to play all the characters on location. Watching a man in drag play a woman in such a serious film is disconcerting at first. Also, Wiley portrays the white murderers without any makeup to look Caucasian, thank goodness. He is a versatile performer, slightly changing his voice to fit the role without too much effort. His best scene is as Emmett's mother Mamie, as she describes examining the body of her dead son. You forget this is a man telling the story, as the mother's love comes through.
While not perfect, "Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till" is a very good telling of those sad, stupid events, done with a passion for the subject and for the craft of acting and film making in general.
Mike Wiley turns the story into a one man show, literally, playing almost two dozen speaking parts, male and female. Till was a fourteen year old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in the small town of Money, Mississippi. While hanging around with some cousins, the boy was dared into talking to a white store owner, and either made some inappropriate comments and touched her, or what he said to her was misinterpreted (he had a stutter he sometimes solved by whistling). The woman's husband and his half-brother kidnapped Till a few days later, beat and murdered him, and dumped his body in a local river. His mother famously held an open casket funeral, showing the world the torture Emmett went through, but the two men responsible for his killing were found not guilty, and later told a reporter about how they did, in fact, murder the child. They could not be retried thanks to double jeopardy.
According to the end credits, this film is an adaptation of a play written by Mike Wiley, and I assume it was also a one-man show. Director Underhill opens up the story, and through the use of some unobtrusive special effects, and well-done editing by Larry J. Gardner, Wiley is able to trade dialogue with himself in scenes from Till's life, and the aftermath of his death. This is not a photographed stage presentation, Wiley puts on costuming to play all the characters on location. Watching a man in drag play a woman in such a serious film is disconcerting at first. Also, Wiley portrays the white murderers without any makeup to look Caucasian, thank goodness. He is a versatile performer, slightly changing his voice to fit the role without too much effort. His best scene is as Emmett's mother Mamie, as she describes examining the body of her dead son. You forget this is a man telling the story, as the mother's love comes through.
While not perfect, "Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till" is a very good telling of those sad, stupid events, done with a passion for the subject and for the craft of acting and film making in general.
The Underground Comedy Movie (1999)
TV pitchman Vince Offer brings his cable access "The Underground Comedy Show" to the big screen, complete with a ton of recognizable faces, and not a lot of laughs.
Offer goes the "Kentucky Fried Movie" and "Amazon Women on the Moon" route by sending up all sorts of television shows. He warns the viewer in the first couple of seconds that this will offend everyone, a bad sign since offensive material usually takes precedence over funny. Offer starts things off with a terrible spoof of "Batman" (a baseball player) battling the Rhymer, who has robbed a sperm bank. This skit goes on forever. Michael Clarke Duncan has a few laughs as a virgin fighting off the advances of Ant. Randy Newman is parodied well in the song "I Hate L.A.," but Joey Buttafuoco and dumb writing ruin "The Godmother." Slash hosts the Miss America Bag Lady Pageant, which might have worked if he knew how to read lines. "Psychology Today" goes nowhere, as does "Flirty Harry," where an eye-rolling catch phrase is introduced. "The Porno Review" showed some promise, but goes on too long. The O.J. Simpson trial is hit on often, as well.
The main problem is Offer's inability to edit some of the segments down so he could keep the jokes going. I was bored through much of this, after the "shock" wore off. It was a kick to see Karen Black, Angelyne, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Gena Lee Nolin, but it was not enough.
"The Underground Comedy Movie" is an inside joke made for a small audience who might get this, while the rest of us wonder what all the fuss about the original television show was about.
Offer goes the "Kentucky Fried Movie" and "Amazon Women on the Moon" route by sending up all sorts of television shows. He warns the viewer in the first couple of seconds that this will offend everyone, a bad sign since offensive material usually takes precedence over funny. Offer starts things off with a terrible spoof of "Batman" (a baseball player) battling the Rhymer, who has robbed a sperm bank. This skit goes on forever. Michael Clarke Duncan has a few laughs as a virgin fighting off the advances of Ant. Randy Newman is parodied well in the song "I Hate L.A.," but Joey Buttafuoco and dumb writing ruin "The Godmother." Slash hosts the Miss America Bag Lady Pageant, which might have worked if he knew how to read lines. "Psychology Today" goes nowhere, as does "Flirty Harry," where an eye-rolling catch phrase is introduced. "The Porno Review" showed some promise, but goes on too long. The O.J. Simpson trial is hit on often, as well.
The main problem is Offer's inability to edit some of the segments down so he could keep the jokes going. I was bored through much of this, after the "shock" wore off. It was a kick to see Karen Black, Angelyne, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Gena Lee Nolin, but it was not enough.
"The Underground Comedy Movie" is an inside joke made for a small audience who might get this, while the rest of us wonder what all the fuss about the original television show was about.
Scrooge in the Hood (2011)
The tried and true Charles Dickens story, "A Christmas Carol," which has been produced thousands of times on stage, film, and television, gets another treatment courtesy of writer/director Richard Chandler.
Scrooge is a gangsta pimp played by George Raynor- who fails to take advantage of his Redd Foxx-style delivery. In addition to the three ghosts (an okay Seregon O'Dassey, a less-than-okay Todd Thierren, and director/writer Richard Chandler) who take Scrooge through his past, present, and future, Scrooge is also being hunted by the Jewish Mafia, who play on both Jewish and Italian stereotypes.
The film is foul-mouthed, appealing to the lowest humor denominator it can muster. It is also shockingly violent, with gunshots to the head and tongues being cut out. That is all well and good, the Dickens story needs a good edgy treatment since the treacly "Scrooged" wasn't exactly hard satirical fare. However, "Scrooge in the Hood" cannot seem to decide what it wants to be. A grindhouse throwback? An old "blue" stand-up routine come to life? Some men play women's roles without any explanation. The sets are obviously actual apartments and basements. The video effects are okay considering the budget. Actors trip over each other's lines, the editing is a little spotty, and once it blows its wad over its own dangerousness, it bogs down thanks to the overly familiar story. I wanted to like "Scrooge in the Hood." From the preview, I was ready to laugh out loud. Instead, I was bored.
There is a great comedy that should be made from old story, but this film is not it. Also known as "Silent Night Dead Night."
Scrooge is a gangsta pimp played by George Raynor- who fails to take advantage of his Redd Foxx-style delivery. In addition to the three ghosts (an okay Seregon O'Dassey, a less-than-okay Todd Thierren, and director/writer Richard Chandler) who take Scrooge through his past, present, and future, Scrooge is also being hunted by the Jewish Mafia, who play on both Jewish and Italian stereotypes.
The film is foul-mouthed, appealing to the lowest humor denominator it can muster. It is also shockingly violent, with gunshots to the head and tongues being cut out. That is all well and good, the Dickens story needs a good edgy treatment since the treacly "Scrooged" wasn't exactly hard satirical fare. However, "Scrooge in the Hood" cannot seem to decide what it wants to be. A grindhouse throwback? An old "blue" stand-up routine come to life? Some men play women's roles without any explanation. The sets are obviously actual apartments and basements. The video effects are okay considering the budget. Actors trip over each other's lines, the editing is a little spotty, and once it blows its wad over its own dangerousness, it bogs down thanks to the overly familiar story. I wanted to like "Scrooge in the Hood." From the preview, I was ready to laugh out loud. Instead, I was bored.
There is a great comedy that should be made from old story, but this film is not it. Also known as "Silent Night Dead Night."
The House with 100 Eyes (2012)
Once again, a serious opening credits crawl tells us that this film was assembled from "found footage"- damn it.
Ed (Jim Roof) and Susan (a pretty good Shannon Malone) run a fringe DVD production house called Studio Red. They concentrate on videotaping snuff films out of their specially built home. This time around, Ed is determined to get his masterpiece- three kills in one night. The "100 Eyes" of the film's title refers to all the cameras they have installed around the house to capture the action. The couple goes trolling for two females and one male in Hollywood, then Skid Row, eventually coming home with Crystal (Liz Burghdorf), Clutch (Andrew Hopper), and Jamie (Larissa Lynch). The three teenagers were promised $500 to shoot a porno movie, but Ed and Susan's perfect night begins to unravel when Crystal gets cold feet and wants to leave. Eventually, the blood and mayhem begins, but Ed and Susan may finally be in over their heads with such an ambitious task, all of which is captured for our viewing pleasure.
Roof also wrote and co-directed the film. His performance as Ed is alright, he is most of the reason this is labelled as "darkest comedy." Ed narrates mundane events as he and Susan prepare for the murders, and throws a tantrum the minute things don't go his way. I don't know if it was scripted or not, but I liked how Susan was necessary to Ed's life, finishing his sentences and making sure her husband is happy. Ed doesn't seem to be as into this sick marriage as Susan is, as we will find out, and I think the strongest scenes were between Roof and Malone interacting as a marital unit- whether it be eating dinner, or hunting people in the house. A huge problem with the "found footage" idea is that out of the fifty-plus videotapes and DVDs "found," the "unsuspecting" film makers edited this massive amount into a story that runs an hour and fifteen minutes. Much like the terrible "Amber Alert," why is anyone who is "finding" this footage editing it to begin with? If this had been passed off as a Studio Red production, that might have made more sense. The gore effects are very good, the violence is brutal, but even at seventy-five minutes, I was checking the running time and wondering when the extreme violence and dark humor was going to begin. Co-director Jay Lee does a good job of editing what must have been a large amount of footage thanks to so many cameras. I have seen much worse found footage/point of view horror, and I really wish this trend would go ahead and die out. So many of these stories, including this one, would be much scarier if it was shot as a straight, linear horror film.
"The House with 100 Eyes" delivers some good gore and performances, but little else.
Ed (Jim Roof) and Susan (a pretty good Shannon Malone) run a fringe DVD production house called Studio Red. They concentrate on videotaping snuff films out of their specially built home. This time around, Ed is determined to get his masterpiece- three kills in one night. The "100 Eyes" of the film's title refers to all the cameras they have installed around the house to capture the action. The couple goes trolling for two females and one male in Hollywood, then Skid Row, eventually coming home with Crystal (Liz Burghdorf), Clutch (Andrew Hopper), and Jamie (Larissa Lynch). The three teenagers were promised $500 to shoot a porno movie, but Ed and Susan's perfect night begins to unravel when Crystal gets cold feet and wants to leave. Eventually, the blood and mayhem begins, but Ed and Susan may finally be in over their heads with such an ambitious task, all of which is captured for our viewing pleasure.
Roof also wrote and co-directed the film. His performance as Ed is alright, he is most of the reason this is labelled as "darkest comedy." Ed narrates mundane events as he and Susan prepare for the murders, and throws a tantrum the minute things don't go his way. I don't know if it was scripted or not, but I liked how Susan was necessary to Ed's life, finishing his sentences and making sure her husband is happy. Ed doesn't seem to be as into this sick marriage as Susan is, as we will find out, and I think the strongest scenes were between Roof and Malone interacting as a marital unit- whether it be eating dinner, or hunting people in the house. A huge problem with the "found footage" idea is that out of the fifty-plus videotapes and DVDs "found," the "unsuspecting" film makers edited this massive amount into a story that runs an hour and fifteen minutes. Much like the terrible "Amber Alert," why is anyone who is "finding" this footage editing it to begin with? If this had been passed off as a Studio Red production, that might have made more sense. The gore effects are very good, the violence is brutal, but even at seventy-five minutes, I was checking the running time and wondering when the extreme violence and dark humor was going to begin. Co-director Jay Lee does a good job of editing what must have been a large amount of footage thanks to so many cameras. I have seen much worse found footage/point of view horror, and I really wish this trend would go ahead and die out. So many of these stories, including this one, would be much scarier if it was shot as a straight, linear horror film.
"The House with 100 Eyes" delivers some good gore and performances, but little else.
Saturday, July 12, 2025
"Born to Kill?" {"Fred West" Episode #1.1} (2005)
For many decades, the United States seemed to corner the market on horrific serial killers. Then, Fred and Rose West were arrested.
The premise of the British series "Born to Kill?" asks if notorious murderers are born or bred? In the Fred West case, there seems to be a little bit of both. West was born in a tiny English village in 1941. Both of his parents were physically, mentally, and sexually abusive to their children. West carried this trauma throughout his life, exacerbated by head injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. His first victims were his pregnant nanny, and then his first wife. After he married his co-conspirator Rose, they murdered ten more girls and women, including another pregnant woman and their own daughter. The victims' remains were found in a field near Fred West's hometown, in their house's garden, and underneath their cellar and patio. After his arrest, Fred West hanged himself on New Year's Day 1995, and Rose was sentenced to life in prison. Their remaining children have little to do with each other, not wanting to relive the trauma of what they went through, and some have had their names changed and live anonymous lives (according to some online research).
These were not "movie serial killers," the documentary mentions the couple's depravity without going into the grisly details too much. The documentary itself has many of the early 2000's cable true crime series tropes- talking heads, artsy lighting, and so on. The most compelling footage is the interview with Owens, perhaps the only person to survive an attack from the Wests. Their punishment for what they did to her is infuriating. Reenactments are kept to a minimum, but the film makers do present chilling footage of the quiet, normal-looking field where West buried his first victims, as well as bringing Owens to the site where the Wests' house stood and the remaining victims were found (now a walkway). One of their children wrote a book about their life with the Wests. The episode, the first of a very popular series, does not delve too deeply into the actual psychology in answering the series' question, despite the impressive experts. The Wests are as infamous in the United Kingdom as all the one-name serial killers in the United States today- Bundy, Gacy, Dahmer, Wuornos, etc., and this episode provides a good introduction to the case.
The premise of the British series "Born to Kill?" asks if notorious murderers are born or bred? In the Fred West case, there seems to be a little bit of both. West was born in a tiny English village in 1941. Both of his parents were physically, mentally, and sexually abusive to their children. West carried this trauma throughout his life, exacerbated by head injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. His first victims were his pregnant nanny, and then his first wife. After he married his co-conspirator Rose, they murdered ten more girls and women, including another pregnant woman and their own daughter. The victims' remains were found in a field near Fred West's hometown, in their house's garden, and underneath their cellar and patio. After his arrest, Fred West hanged himself on New Year's Day 1995, and Rose was sentenced to life in prison. Their remaining children have little to do with each other, not wanting to relive the trauma of what they went through, and some have had their names changed and live anonymous lives (according to some online research).
These were not "movie serial killers," the documentary mentions the couple's depravity without going into the grisly details too much. The documentary itself has many of the early 2000's cable true crime series tropes- talking heads, artsy lighting, and so on. The most compelling footage is the interview with Owens, perhaps the only person to survive an attack from the Wests. Their punishment for what they did to her is infuriating. Reenactments are kept to a minimum, but the film makers do present chilling footage of the quiet, normal-looking field where West buried his first victims, as well as bringing Owens to the site where the Wests' house stood and the remaining victims were found (now a walkway). One of their children wrote a book about their life with the Wests. The episode, the first of a very popular series, does not delve too deeply into the actual psychology in answering the series' question, despite the impressive experts. The Wests are as infamous in the United Kingdom as all the one-name serial killers in the United States today- Bundy, Gacy, Dahmer, Wuornos, etc., and this episode provides a good introduction to the case.
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