Review of Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) by Stephen M — 02 Oct 2009

Subpoenaed as a witness at a late appeal by Aileen Wuornos against her death sentence, filmmaker Nick Broomfield received a heaven-sent opportunity to improve upon his disappointing documentary The Selling of a Serial Killer.

Having watched both films in close succession, the most disturbing thing about Life and Death... is Wuornos' very evident mental deterioration in the intervening years. When Broomfield first met Aileen she was angry and defiant, slightly delusional perhaps, but perfectly lucid; here, after a decade on death row, she is still angry and defiant but there are times when she can barely follow a thought to its conclusion or string a coherent sentence together.

She resembles one of those caged animals that has been held in captivity too long, going round in circles, dreaming up ever more paranoid fantasies of police corruption and her own persecution. Even if you manage to convince yourself that the act of executing a person who is mentally ill is not in itself unconstitutionally cruel, dangling the hangman's noose in front of a sane person for so long that she becomes, by her own admission, "so fucking mad I can't see straight" surely is.

Very depressing but utterly riveting.