MOVIES I WATCHED BECAUSE I GOT A SUBSCRIPTION TO NETFLIX AND THEY WERE IN THE 1001 MOVIES YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE BOOK MONTH
(Post 9 of 10)
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| HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER |
I decided since Netflix had three films with serial killer in the title that were also in the 1001 book that it was time to tackle a fun, fun triple feature!
After the brightly glowing glee that exuded from the screen from The Young Girls of Rochefort, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer brought me back into the abyss very quickly. Henry is a low budget fictional account of a girl who moves in with her no-account brother and his roommate named Henry, who just happens to be a murder! Though for the record, I disliked the no-account brother much more than Henry.
The fact that it is low budget actually helps with the effectiveness of the film. The characters seem real (which is disturbing in itself.). Some movies I'm glad I saw once and never plan to watch again. I don't plan to watch Henry again and I'm not even sure if I'm glad I saw it at all! But I can't argue that it effected me as a viewer... Even if that effect was to make me feel really depressed...Maybe I'll cue up The Young Girls of Rochefort again before I move on.
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| Director Nick Broomfield buys information from Aileen Wuornos's attorney, Steve Glaser in AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER |
Well, it looks like The Young Girls of Rochefort isn't on Netflix anymore, so I guess I'll just have to dive into Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer. Nick Broomfield's documentary is not so much about Aileen Wuoronos as it is about how those around her such as her ambulance chaser lawyer, her born-again friend who wants to "adopt" her and the police department who all use the situation of the seven (known) murders that Wuornos committed to forward their own agendas. Broomfield also puts himself squarely in the middle of the movie, and at times it seems it is a documentary about making a documentary, which is a slant that I did find rather interesting.
I also must admit I did kind of like Wuornos's pot-smoking, guitar playing, TV lawyer, Steve Glaser. Seems like a fun guy to hang out with. Though if I needed actual legal help, I would look elsewhere.
Wuornos comes across as being very self-serving and the contradictory nature of her personality is pretty frightening. Broomfield gets to interview Wuornos at the end of the movie and she actually claims that she killed in self-defense on seven different occasions!
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| Director Nick Broomfield listens to yet another confession from Wuronos in AILEEN WUORNOS: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER |
Aileen Wuornos: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer is Broomfield's follow-up to his first film, where we see the the events leading up to the death sentence carried out on Wuornos in 2003. We learn everything we need to know about the background of Wuornos (frankly, more than we might want to know). Yes, she had a hard life. The way she had to live growing up certainly didn't bode well for her being anything but trouble. The film is quite a forum for her rants and she can't seem to decide if her confessions of self-defense are what she believes or if she wants to die or not. But as we know by the title of the film, she is executed. Bromfield questions her quickly passing a psychiatric test before being executed as to what one could possibly do to fail such a test if someone so mentally unhinged as Wuornos passed it. Those who see her last rant would have to agree.
Though it was critically acclaimed, I can see why the dramatized film about Wuornos called Monster with Charlize Theron was left off the 1001 list. I mean, just how many movies about this person should you really have to watch before you die?
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