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6 Degrees Entertainment

'See No Evil: The Story of The Moors Murders'
(George Costigan, Sean Harris, et al / DVD / NR / (2006) 2008 / MPI Home Video)

Overview: This is the chilling story of child killers Ian Brady (Sean Harris) and Myra Hindley (Maxine Peak) and how they were finally brought to justice. Convicted of the torture and killing of five youngsters the Moors Murderers remain two of the most hated figures in Britain. See No Evil reveals the untold story and is based on two years of intensive research and interviews with detectives and the key trial witness.

DVD Verdict: Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are two of Britain's most infamous murderers. From 1963 to 1965, they tortured and murdered five (known) people between the age of 5 and 20 and buried their bodies on the local moors, returning to take pictures on the graves.

Don't worry ... a set of title cards gives away all of this up front, so that you go into the movie knowing "whodunit" but not the why or the how and come out at the end of the two hours none the wiser. Made in cooperation with the victims' families, 'See No Evil' is the exact opposite of sensational. In fact, it goes so far out of its way not to offend anyone, that it winds up not saying much at all.

Indeed, most of the two-part movie is downright dull! Because it refuses to show anything of the crimes, and Brady and Hindley are turned in by their family in rather than caught by the police, there's nothing for anyone to do until that happens. For some reason, though, scriptwriter Neil McKay decides that moment should end Part One instead of kicking off the whole drama. The entire first half is just snapshots in the life of the Hindley sisters and their respective mates; picnics on the moor, sisterly bonding, and male boasting.

A police inspector pokes up every now and again to let you know a killer is afoot and makes deductions so the director can cut away to scenes proving the exact opposite. Apparently, the judicial process isn't all that interesting or difficult, because there are so few hurdles after David and Maureen go to the police that the killers are questioned, arrested, tried, and convicted in the second half, with 20 minutes left for yet more relationship drama with Maureen and David.

With some nuanced characterization, the drama might have carried it off, but every part is a one-note role. Characters are just paper dolls being moved around a set, and you can't understand or identify with them. The police are all uncaring idiots, except for the inspector who reopens one case and discovers a pattern. He's an impossibly righteous caricature who can magically tell when other people accused of the crimes are innocent.

In an apparent effort not to glamorize the pair, Brady's Nazi sympathies, the couple's S&M practices, and the horrific aspects of the crime are all missing. There's nothing to paint Brady and Hindley as calculating monsters or sick human beings, and the movie is so anxious not to step on survivors' toes that even the victims get caught up in this approach. In closing, 'See No Evil: The Story of the Moors Murders' is a listless treatment of a shocking moment in criminal history. The movie may throw out tidbits of the full case, but it never connects the dots within the script. This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs, but does not come with any Special Features.

www.MPIHomeVideo.com





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