The Horrific Serial Killer Documentary That's Blowing Up On Netflix

Netflix has made a name for itself in the true crime genre, with many documentaries and docuseries to keep all true crime aficionados busy watching for months on end. The streamer covers a wide range of perspectives, with past series like "Trial 4" and "Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story" taking on major cases of injustice against people of color, which have run rampant throughout the history of the justice system, while it also has plenty of general serial killer documentaries that are always popular. 

In early 2019, Netflix released the docuseries "Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes," which revealed audio from over 100 hours of interviews with the prolific serial killer Ted Bundy, along with interviews with law enforcement, survivors, friends, and others directly involved with the criminal. The series presents a look at Bundy's life in his own words, from his biased perspective of how he saw himself. 

Now Netflix has a new movie in a similar vein called "Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes," telling the story of British serial killer Dennis Nilsen through audio interviews with the man himself. The film comes from the creators of another Netflix true crime project, "Don't F**k With Cats," and it was released on August 18, 2021 on the streaming platform, quickly gaining the attention of many viewers.

The new Netflix documentary focuses on one of the worst serial killers in the history of the UK. Dennis Nilsen was from Scotland, born in 1945 to a lower class family with a father who was never home, but his crimes took place years later in London, England. In total, Nilsen murdered at least 12 boys and young men until he was caught in 1983. One of the officers who directly worked on the case, Steve McCusker, plays a prominent role in the documentary. As the tapes reveal the murders based on Nilsen's image of his own life, McCusker adds to the conversation by recounting his own memories of what happened. McCusker was there for the discovery of the first bodies in Nilsen's apartment, the subsequent investigation to find all of the other bodies, and Nilsen's detailed confession. The movie features interviews with other people connected to Nilsen and his crimes as well.

"Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes" is reported to have used audio from over 250 hours of previously unreleased recordings with Nilsen, compacted to tell the hour-and-a-half story on Netflix. Along with going deep into Nilsen's twisted crimes, the documentary also explores how society made it so easy for him to get away with it for so long, with barely anyone noticing that the young men and boys even went missing in the first place. It's a very intriguing, in-depth look at the psychology of Nilsen and the social landscape of London in the early 1980s, and it's a must-watch for any true crime fans out there. With "Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes," Netflix adds another tense, morbid serial killer documentary to its ever-growing collection.