Where to Get Your Vintage True Crime Fix
If you’re a true crime fan you probably already have a favourite podcast. We’ve mentioned some of our favourites in a previous article. However, if you’re looking to branch out to other forms of media while slaking your appetite for true crime, I have a few suggestions below that might tickle your fancy.
Films
Changeling (2008)
This film recounts the tale of Christine Collins, played by Angelina Jolie, who’s missing son is returned to her – but it’s not her son. It’s set in 1928 L.A., and is based on the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. Not only is it a story of a horrific true crime case, but also touches on the mislabelling of “difficult” women as hysterical, the poor treatment of mental health patients during this time and how a persistent mother was able to expose police and local political corruption. Plus, the costumes are lovely.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Arguably one of the most famous American criminal duos, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Darrow were immortalized by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. The story is simplified and not entirely accurate (when is it ever?), and director Arthur Penn used a comic tone in an attempt to temper the graphic violence. However, it remains a classic of 1960’s American cinema and the costumes had an immense impact on the course of fashion.
Zodiac (2007)
While not quite vintage-vintage, it’s a great film about obsession with an unsolved case. Because the Zodiac Murders were never solved, you wouldn’t think it would make for a good film. However, the cast is excellent, as is the portrayal of the shift in American culture during the Zodiac’s reign of terror.
Series
Murder Maps (2015-)
If you love a dramatic reenactment (and I do – the worse, the better) then this is a good show for you. This docu-drama series features notorious cases in the UK, from Mary Ann Cotton to Ruth Ellis. It’s not as detailed as some true crime shows because the facts are interspersed with those reenactments, but they use a lot of archival sources, which is great for those who love old photos and documents and absorb information visually.
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (2020)
If the second season of Mindhunter on Netflix introduced you to Wayne Williams and the Atlanta child murders and you want to know more, I highly recommend this five part documentary from HBO. Told through interviews with community members and family members of the victims, as well as archival news footage, it provides a better perspective of how the case was mishandled by authorities. The series features previously unreleased documents and addresses unexplored leads in a case that has been reopened 40 years after political pressure to close it.
The Keepers (2017)
This is a tough one, and comes with content warnings about the Catholic Church and childhood sexual abuse. The series explores the unsolved murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik in 1969, and follows the investigation by her former students. It deals with long-buried secrets, potential coverups, and shows a great deal of respect to the victim in the examination of the facts surrounding her death.
Books
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (2017)
In the early 1920s, at least 20 Osage people were killed after oil was found on their land in Oklahoma. A complex tale of greed and racial injustice, this book reveals more than a straightforward murder plot to obtain oil rights. It is an incredibly awful period of American history, but it’s important that it is not forgotten.
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (2019)
Don’t expect this to be another investigation into the potential identity of Jack the Ripper. This book is about the full and very difficult lives of the women he killed. It is also a dark portrait of Victorian London leading up to those two notorious months in 1888. Rubenhold humanizes these women beyond their status as infamous victims and their misnomer of sex workers.
Anne Perry and The Murder of the Century by Peter Graham (2016)
This case has always fascinated me. For those who are unaware, Anne Perry is a historical detective fiction writer who was imprisoned for the murder of her friend’s mother at the age of 15. This book recounts the crime, the sensational trial, and delves into the close friendship that drove two young women to kill. The subject was the basis for Peter Jackson’s film, Heavenly Creatures (1994).
Do you have any other true crime book, series or film recommendations? Let us know in the comments!