The notorious "Moors murders" committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s have been immortalized in books, songs, and even modern art. But it wasn't until 2006 that Britain saw the story on film (and there were actually two that year, the other being See No Evil, which covered the crimes themselves). Directed by Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), Longford is about the attempts by devout Christian conservative Lord Longford (Jim Broadbent) to secure the release of Hindley (Samantha Morton), and his gradual realization that she may not be the model of reform and repentance she appears to be. Focusing on this facet of the story was an inspired choice: instead of a familiar police procedural or courtroom drama, Longford is a queasy, slow-burning portrait of sociopathy. Broadbent captures Longford's essential decency and Christian compassion—which make him into an easy mark for Morton's Hindley, as manipulative and insidious as the snake in the Garden of Eden. Watch for Andy Serkis (best known for playing Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings) in a brief cameo as Brady. The DVD is only $6.99 on Amazon.
The Snowtown Murders is based on the most notorious serial murder case in Australian history, where a charismatic psychopath named John Bunting talked a group of friends and relatives into helping him kill eleven people, mostly by claiming that they were pedophiles. The film (originally titled simply Snowtown, as Australian audiences didn't need to be told what it was about) is a haunting depiction of how easy it is for regular people to be drawn into committing previously unimaginable crimes. It reminds me a lot of Larry Clark's Bully: aside from the plot similarities, the warm, naturalistic look of Snowtown recalls Clark's visual language going all the way back to Tulsa, and both films depict relaxed suburban idylls splintered by cruelty, violence, and terror. At the core of the film's expanding nightmare is Daniel Henshall, whose Bunting moves through the film with the cold, dead-eyed menace of a great white shark. Snowtown isn't always easy to watch, but it's a masterpiece of Australian cinema, and an uncompromising vision of evil.
Set in 1950s New Zealand, Heavenly Creatures tells the true story of Pauline Rieper and Juliet Hulme (Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet), two teenage girls whose obsessive relationship leads them to brutally murder Pauline's mother for trying to keep them apart. In the wrong hands this could've ended up a dryly fascinating period piece, but Jackson gives the proceedings a crackling, hallucinatory energy, with Parker and Hulme's vivid fantasy world blooming into life around them. The film's strongest asset are its two leads: Lynskey is a bundle of sullen teen resentment and frustrated longing, while Winslet (in her film debut!) rips into her part with manic, hormonal fury. It's a classic homicidal dyad that's firmly rooted in its time and place (conservative, postwar New Zealand), but also oddly timeless. Still my favorite Peter Jackson film, and a treasure of true crime storytelling. One detail left out of the postscript is that after being released from prison, Hulme became celebrated mystery author Anne Perry!
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