I’ve always been intrigued by true-crime documentaries. Especially serial-killer documentaries.
Not because I admire these people or because I want to glorify what they did. It’s actually the complete opposite. What fascinates me is trying to understand how something so dark can exist right underneath everybody’s nose.
How does somebody live what appears to be a normal life while hiding something unimaginable? How do families, neighbors and sometimes even police miss the warning signs? And how does somebody get away with murder over and over again?
That’s what pulls me into these stories.
Netflix has figured out how to tell them better than almost anybody.
Dahmer Had Me Hooked
I watched the Netflix projects on Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, and while I thought both were good, the Dahmer story pulled me in more.
Maybe part of it is that Dahmer’s story has so many layers.
The crimes themselves were horrific, but the story also raises questions about police failures, missed opportunities and how someone could continue killing for so long without being stopped.
Dahmer murdered 17 people between 1978 and 1991. Netflix’s DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story doesn’t just focus on Dahmer. It also spends significant time on the victims, their families and the community around him.
That made the story feel bigger than just another serial-killer show.
Evan Peters was also incredible in the role. There were moments where you almost forgot you were watching an actor.
The series was disturbing, uncomfortable and difficult to watch at times, but I couldn’t stop watching.
Gacy Was Fascinating Too
John Wayne Gacy’s story is just as unbelievable in a different way.
Here was a man who was a businessman, involved in his community and even performed as a clown at events. Meanwhile, he murdered 33 young men and boys.
Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes uses previously unreleased audio recordings between Gacy and his defense team, along with interviews and archival material.
That’s the kind of stuff I like in documentaries.
Give me the real recordings. Give me the old newspaper clippings. Give me the interrogation footage. Give me photographs from the actual time period. Give me the investigators explaining what they saw and how everything unfolded.
That makes a true-crime documentary hit differently for me.
The Gacy series was good. I just thought Dahmer’s story was presented in a way that pulled me deeper into it.
The Real Footage Is What Gets Me
I’ve always liked documentaries that use the actual files and evidence from a case.
There is something different about seeing a real photograph instead of a recreation. Hearing somebody’s actual voice instead of an actor reading their words changes everything.
Old news footage immediately takes you back to that period. You start seeing what the public knew at the time instead of looking at everything through what we know today.
That’s probably my favorite part of a good true-crime documentary. I don’t need everything dramatized.
Sometimes the actual material is more powerful than anything Hollywood could recreate.
Netflix Understands the Format
Where I give Netflix a lot of credit is presentation.
They know how to take a complicated case that might span decades and turn it into episodes that make you want to immediately watch the next one.
They give you enough information without dumping everything on you at once. They introduce the victims. They show the investigation. They give you the historical context. They use archival footage and recordings. And when they do dramatize these stories, the production quality makes them feel more like movies than traditional television.
That’s why Netflix has become one of my favorite places to watch true crime.
There’s Also a Responsibility
There is another side to all of this that I think matters.
These weren’t fictional horror stories. Real people died. Real families lost sons, brothers, friends and loved ones. So there is a fine line between telling an interesting story and turning a murderer into some kind of celebrity.
That’s why I think the best true-crime documentaries aren’t just about the killer.
I want to know about the victims. I want to know what investigators missed. I want to understand the era. I want to know how the system failed.
And most importantly, I want to understand how something like this was allowed to continue.
Dahmer Gets My Vote
If you ask me which Netflix serial-killer story I enjoyed watching more, I’m going with Jeffrey Dahmer.
Both were good. Both were disturbing. Both made me want to learn more after I finished watching.
But the Dahmer series had me more locked in.
Maybe that’s ultimately why true crime continues to fascinate so many people. You’re watching something that seems impossible. Except it actually happened.
And sometimes the truth is more disturbing than anything somebody could make up.