Last year, the film “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” was released and quickly garnered a reputation as one of the worst films of 2019. Directed by Daniel Farrands and starring Hilary Duff as the titular character, the film was jeered for poor acting, a dull and often idiotic script, and a general lack of respect for the tragic actress. I personally loathed the film, and I was appalled when I learned he was attempting a similar theme for his next film, “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson”.
A part of me did not even want to give my time to another film in this mold. After all, I despised the last film, why subject myself to more of the same? Well, in all honesty, director Daniel Farrands had done some work I enjoyed in the past. He directed “Never Sleep Again”, a documentary about the “Nightmare On Elm Street” franchise that is still one of the most thorough and satisfying explorations of a horror franchise’s history. A year or two later he did a similarly themed documentary on “Friday the 13th”, dubbed “Crystal Lake Memories”, also worth a viewing for fans and casual viewers alike. This was a filmmaker who clearly had a real and authentic adoration for the horror genre, and as a lifelong horror nerd myself there was a part of me hoping to see some measure of growth in his work with “Nicole Simpson”. Wishful thinking perhaps, but it was enough to pique my curiosity.
I also have to admit the inherently engrossing nature of the Nicole Brown Simpson murder and the story that unfolded as a result was a factor. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it is clear many people echo this sentiment. The documentary “Made in America” about the murders won the Academy Award; the hugely successful season of Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” about the murders won multiple Emmys. This is a story that is inherently interesting, and I couldn’t deny the idea of exploring a new aspect of it was provocative. I decided to rent the film on Amazon and see for myself.
What I saw honestly surpassed all expectations I could have had. I didn’t dislike this movie. I can’t even say I merely hated this film. This is one of the few moments in my life where I can recall having contempt for a film. This movie is disrespectful, it is ugly, it is atrociously executed, and the film’s mere existence is shameful. Some of you might be hearing this and are eagerly renting this dumpster fire for your next “Bad Movie Night”. Don’t. I have a twisted love of trash cinema as well, especially viewing them in a social setting. This film is even beneath that type of presentation.
What is about to follow are spoilers, and I want you to read them whether you want to be spoiled or not because I want any steps taken that prevents more people from renting this pile of shit. The film, as you would expect, follows the story of Nicole Brown Simpson (Mena Suvari of “American Beauty” fame) and the days leading up to her murder. Only this time the film theorizes the killer was not the husband of Nicole, O.J. Simpson, but instead was a serial killer named Glen Rogers, a.k.a. The Casanova Killer. Rogers is played by Nick Stahl, and while Stahl and Suvari are both awful in this film, the fault shouldn’t be placed on their shoulders. You can see scenes where they are trying to add nuances and life to the material they were given, but it becomes apparent as the film goes on it would take an Act of God to accomplish that.
The first 20 minutes of the film provide a clear indication of how low this film will go. We see Nicole Simpson gossiping with her friends Faye Resnick (Taryn Manning) and Kris Jenner (Agnes Bruckner), both of whom are wearing two of the least convincing wigs a wardrobe department could find. There’s a tongue-in-cheek statement about Bruce Jenner that is clearly meant to be a wink to the audience about his future gender reassignment. Faye Resnick tries to engage in a romantic liaison with Nicole Brown, something the notoriously troubled Resnick alleged but few see as having any merit. And to top it all off, during her first meeting with Glen Rogers, they share a drink together: a glass of orange juice. That’s right, “OJ”. This film has the subtlety of a brick to the face immediately after someone would exclaim “IT WOULD BE PRETTY LOUSY IF SOMEONE HIT ME WITH A BRICK TO THE FACE”.
The lack of subtlety in particular is a huge issue. There’s countless times where the film makes reference to Simpson’s death in a “what if” context, clearly trying to provide foreshadowing. Yet it happens so much and in such a campy manner it feels less prophetic and more obnoxious. In fact there are little “Easter Eggs” referencing details of the murder throughout the film. Hidden treasures for fans is certainly amusing and even fun in something like a Marvel movie, but in a film about a real woman and a waiter who were viciously murdered it is quite tone deaf.
The film’s laundry list of issues does not end there. There’s a deeply misogynistic tone throughout the movie, and even an implication some of Nicole’s actions are to blame for what happened that horrific night. There’s a criminal overuse of drone shots, so many that you feel like the director just bought one and was really excited to show it off in his own film at every turn. And when the film isn’t shamefully depicting a real woman’s harrowing final days in the trashiest, most exploitive manner possible it is straight up plagiarizing other far superior films. There’s one scene in particular that is such a straight up theft of an iconic scene from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” that calling it an “homage” sounds naive.
Even with all of these marks against the film, it leaves out by far the worst element of it: the actual murder itself. Not only does this film show it in graphic and tasteless detail, and does so in a poorly choreographed and sloppily edited fashion, but it includes ACTUAL CRIME SCENE FOOTAGE of the murder. It is further hindered by the fact that the way Suvari was directed to act while she is dying is simultaneously reprehensible and laughable. I understand Farrands is a horror fan and clearly this element of the film would be of particular interest to him. But the film’s choices are in such poor taste (and not in that amusing, campy manner us horror fans usually enjoy) that it is clear the director has no understanding of the genre or what makes it effective. And as if to add one more insult to injury, the film has several scenes after the murders that feel like the conclusion of the movie…only to cut to another scene and extend the run time just a little bit more. If you only have a month to live, only then should you ever watch this film because every second feels like an eternity.
I still enjoy the documentaries Daniel Farrands has made in the past. However, after this movie and “The Haunting of Sharon Tate”, I question the integrity of anyone who would finance another narrative film for him. It is as ugly a film as it is stupid, and it is relentlessly stupid.
0/10
