Film Review: Aileen – Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)

Rate This Movie

SYNOPSIS:

Nick Broomfield’s second documentary on Aileen Carol Wuornos, a highway prostitute who was executed in 2002 for killing seven men in the state of Florida. This second installment includes the filmmaker’s testimony at Wournous’s trial.

REVIEW:

Directed by: Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill
Starring: Nick Broomfield, Jeb Bush, Steve Glazer, Joan Churchill and Eileen Wournos

Hell-o, everyone with a taste for True Crime. This is an awesome source of information and put together in a film approach with almost movie quality. It is right under the Paradise Lost series and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (the film itself, awesome film making). There is even a Hollywood Blockbuster movie that is somewhat based on the information within. For those of you that have seen the film Monster (Starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci), you know exactly who I’m talking about… The United States’ first female Serial Killer, Aileen Wournos. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer is the documentary made on her in 2002, which is actually a sequel to Aileen: The Selling of a Serial Killer (also by Nick Broomfield) The continuing saga (and conclusion) of Aileen won two awards and has been highly regarded within the hands of True Crime information sucking maggots, such as myself. This film is the real thing, the real story… the real woman. There are no actors, no special effects and no holding back on emotions. She lets them fly.

The film Monster, in my opinion, was a great film. One thing it lacked (not Charlize’s fault by the way, she did amazingly wonderful as Aileen. It just wasn’t written in the script) was more of her hateful side. That side is shown, from the woman herself in this documentary. She had more anger in her than portrayed in the Hollywood adaptation of her life. The court scenes in the film could have been a little more brutal, as Aileen was herself. That too, is shown in this film. Not only Eileen’s twisted antics, but her lawyer’s as well. He says “f*ck you” to the Director of the film as he shakes his hand in court with a smile on his face. It’s quite amusing to watch.

There are interviews with Aileen’s best friend growing up that takes the viewer on a tour of her old neighborhood and shows us the house that she lived in as a child and the houses that she hung out at growing up as well. They visit her friend’s home in Michigan as well and go through Eileen’s old drawings (awesome eagles that glow when put up to a light as if the picture were shining, itself) and pictures of her when she was very young (and quite pretty, I might add). This is the home in which Aileen’s ashes are scattered upon right now.

There is a sad interview with Eileen’s mother where she talks about her birth. Her mother asks if the execution date has been set. She says she’ll be a lot happier when everything is finally over with. Eileen shares the same belief as she talks about joining the angels and earning her wings. Her mother, on the other hand is no angel to her. She wished upon her to burn in Hell. Remorse was not in the building at the moment.

Then, it’s off to Florida where Eileen spent a lot of time as she hitch-hiked across the country. They stop at her favorite bar and begin to interview a personal friend of hers’ called the Human Bomb (watch and find out why). The interview is cut short with no reason explaining it. The bar is the actual one in the movie Monster, where Aileen was arrested.

There are many interviews with Aileen in prison. Some she is happier to give than others and some, she does not know she was giving at all. The camera was turned on when she thought it was not. She reveals different answers about her trial while she is unaware. This is another thing that Monster did not portray the way it happened. Aileen did not want you, the viewer, to know that these occurrences did not really happen.

She also talks about how the prison has poisoned her food and bugged the monitor in her cell. This gives her headaches and the police force is messing with her mind. She is a very interesting person and this documentary shows it all. Pure Aileen… bare bones and in your face.

There are news clips spiced within, almost in a Paradise Lost kind of fashion (which was made nine years prior to this). At the end of the film is Aileen’s best friend spreading her ashes in her back yard. I usually don’t give endings away, but come on… Most of you know what happened. It was explained in Monster. This film closes with the song Carnival, by Natalie Merchant. It is the song that Aileen requested at her wake. Personally, I think Carnival should have taken the place of either the Journey song or Crimson and Clover in Monster. It would have been more symbolic and meaningful. I highly recommend this film to any fan of Monster. Again, I love Monster as a movie, don’t get me wrong… but that is a film based off of a true story… This is the true story as it happens right in front of the camera and before your very eyes. I give this True Crime documentary, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, FOUR HORNS UP.