Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes premiered on 18th August 2021 on Netflix. The 85-minute long true-crime documentary is directed by Michael Harte.
– Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes review does not contain spoilers –
Des Nilsen
Murders are horrifying enough already but to imagine a killer fearless owning up to their murder makes everything even worse! Set in the 1980s’ Britain, Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes revolves around a serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen who over a period of five years picked up vulnerable, destitute men who were in their 20’s and were easy prey. He enticed them back to his house, strangled them, and buried their bodies beneath the floorboards till there was no place to keep more bodies. For the first time, the killer’s own voice is heard in any documentary or report whatsoever, where he explains everything about his crime and himself.
The documentary delves into over 250 hours of never-before-published cassette tapes of his private recordings and its horrifying. Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes is as intriguing and amazing as it gets, from the very beginning the documentary will keep you hooked with chills running down your spine. Nilsen states in his posthumous memoirs that he was molested by his grandfather and that when his grandfather passed away when he was a boy, he associated the ideas of love and death.
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Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes explicitly talks about what Nilsen did to his victims and his dead bodies. What’s intriguing is how this killer, who was a former police officer and managed to escaped authorities for 5 years, was finally caught. In 1981, when Nilsen finally moved to his new apartment and his old apartment was up for renovation and he could no longer access the floorboards or the garden and made a mistake that cost him his freedom. This part is chilling in and of itself and will give you goosebumps.
Every now and then, Netflix keeps on adding to its true-crime documentary troop, and Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes is an amazing addition to it. The documentary is well-made and will keep you at the edge of your seat. With a runtime of approximately 80-minutes, the documentary is well crafted and gives a nuanced outlook to the killer’s story that was never heard before. We also hear from cops involved in the case during The Nilsen Tapes. They provide vital insight into both the press’s impact (which was fueled by the police) and the mistakes made by the police. The worst mistake was not listening to victims who managed to flee Nilsen.
Stream It or Skip It
STREAM IT! Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes is worth your time and provides substantial and apt information about the entire case. I did not expect that by the end of the documentary I would be so invested in the victims and Nielsen’s story and life but well, oh well.
Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes is streaming now on Netflix.
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