Review of Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) by Dillinger P — 02 Jan 2015

Nick Broomfield provides us with such a compelling and thought provoking look at Americas first Female Serial Killer, Aileen Wurnoss, as she prepares to enter death row and tries to set the record straight about her killings before moving on to the afterlife.

It is nerve shreddingly hypnotic as we witness what appears to be a severely mentally unstable woman undergo controversey from the police, hollywood and even former lawyers. Here Broomfield has a proper friendly relationship with Aileen, meaning that we really get a good cunk of personal interview footage of her state of mind and the conspiracies she believes to be going on around her.

Nick also, as a friend, tries to help her appeal, as he believes she was not given a fair trial to begin with. Something Nick says at the begining of this film sticks with you to the very end, out of everyone involved with this case, he believes Aileen is the only one speaking the whole truth throughout.

It isnt until some shock twist and turns closer to her death, where we find out this troubled soul really was beyond saving from the outset. the contributers are all perfect and the insight we recieve into this story is both personal and highly researched.

It is very hard to execute a film like this, in the way Nick has, but by god is it jaw dropping and eye glueing stuff. A must watch for all fans of documentaries.