This is a documentary dealing with the appeal of Aileen Wuornos murder convictions . Don't worry I have no idea who she was either and it's only when I'm told that Charlize Theron played her in MONSTER that I discovered who she was . Try asking someone who Aileen Wuornos was and they'll give a similar blank response , and it's only with the words " Charlize Theron - Monster " that their memory will be jogged . Somewhat sad that an acting performance is better known than a series of real life crimes

Nick Broomfield's documentary is black comedy of the highest order , he's worth a myriad of Michael Moores' and lets the facts speak for themselves . Wuornos employed " Dr Legal " at her original trial , a man , or rather spaced out hippy , with no legal experience and no office who attended court after smoking as many as seven joints . I can respect Dr Legal as a toker but how on Earth was someone like that able to defend someone on multiple murder charges ? We're later shown someone claiming being gay is a very modern invention :

" Where were the gays years ago ? "

" In the closet ? "

" No there weren't any gays years ago , they didn't exist back then . Were there any gays when you were at school ? "

" I went to a British public school . We invented it along with the Greeks "

Broomfield is very much anti death penalty and he's also very much against the cheque book circus that surrounded the case , but perhaps the beauty of this documentary is that despite being biased Broomfield doesn't feel the need to twist facts into lies or treat the audience as retarded schoolchildren , if you agree with the death penalty this documentary won't change your mind but does raise serious questions about the American legal system

I first saw the Oscar winning performance of an unrecognisable Charlize Theron in Monster, and then I saw the original 1993 documentary film from British filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Biggie & Tupac),I was looking forward to this second documentary that also featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Whereas the first film focused on interviews with all the people that knew and had acquaintance with Aileen Carol Wuornos, the former prostitute and America's first female serial killer, and ending of course with the interview of the woman herself, this film focused on the last days of her life before her execution, sentenced for seven counts of murder in the state of Florida. There is much more explanation of the life Wuornos had before turning to prostitution and of course becoming the savage murderer, including her troubled childhood where her father Leo Dale Pittman may have abused her, becoming homeless and forced to live out in the open, becoming a prostitute and spending most of her time on the road, and information about the seven men she killed, she claimed it was all in self defence, but there is no evidence to suggest this being true. The big difference with this followup film is the Broomfield gets to have much more time with Aileen, and it is obvious that her mental state is declining, with her twisted theories that the authorities are trying to mess with her in her cell, and her deluded reasons for killing the seven men, she did not want to talk all details on camera, but her true feelings were caught without her knowledge. Aileen was getting especially angry that her execution was constantly being changed and delayed, because she had to keep waiting to die which she apparently wanted to happen, she had already been sentenced to death seven times, but eventually a date was confirmed in 2003, when the judge ruled her mentally stable to go ahead (this is debatable). Broomfield does get to talk to her once more time, the day before her death, asking how she was really feeling and what she would be thinking about before the lethal injection would be carried out, and he also mentioned interviewing her mother Diane who asked for her forgiveness, she refused to do so and left the final interview angry, not necessarily with him, but with the authorities and stuff. With interviews and footage from Jesse 'The Human Bomb' Aviles, Cannonball, Sgt. Brian Jarvis and Mike Reynolds. This documentary is much more close and personal than the original, especially with having more interview time and footage of Wuornos, she was clearly insane and demented with her views on the world, and showed no remorse for the murders, with disgusting verbal insults to the authorities and opinions, she did at least open up more, but she deserved what she got, and this is a terrificly engaging documentary film about her. It was number 22 on The 50 Greatest Documentaries. Good!

This documentary by Nick Broomfield is a follow-up to his earlier piece AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER. This one was made ten years down the line, when Wuornos herself was about to be executed by lethal injection for her crimes. I haven't seen the earlier film but I know the case well from both the film MONSTER as well as various true-crime books on the subject. And what an eye-opener this is. Broomfield uses the case to shine a light into some of the darkest corners of American society. Wuornos turns out to be perhaps the biggest victim of them all, a victim of neglect, abuse, exploitation and patriarchal dominance since childhood. The psychology is in-depth and the documentary never less than compelling, albeit highly depressing and upsetting with it.