Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Evil Among Us: The Grim Sleeper’ on Tubi, a Sloppy True Crime Documentary About a Notorious South Central L.A. Serial Killer

By John Serba

Hey, Tubi does existent crime too, astir precocious successful nan shape of Evil Among Us: The Grim Sleeper, a feature-length documentary that zeroes successful connected serial slayer Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who raped and murdered galore women successful South Central Los Angeles complete nan people of much than 2 decades. The movie follows nan look of erstwhile Evil Among Uses, which dug into nan Golden State Killer and Ted Bundy, each of which adhd to nan ever-growing heap of existent crime content, a batch of which can’t determine if it’s publicity aliases sensationalism – which is nan mobility we’re mounting retired to reply here. 

EVIL AMONG US: THE GRIM SLEEPER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: In Aug., 1985, a mother of 3 who struggled pinch addiction and lived successful poorness was recovered dormant successful South Central Los Angeles, pinch 3 slug wounds and cocaine successful her system. It was 1 of nan 1,300 homicides committed successful nan crime-plagued metropolis that year, but that circumstantial floor plan would emergence supra nan din erstwhile much bodies of women pinch akin backgrounds, galore of them activity workers, began turning up successful nan aforesaid South Central neighborhood. It was a chaotic clip – 1 commentator says “there were a batch of Jane Does” among nan hundreds of homicides, immoderate of them changeable and others strangled to death. The constabulary were overwhelmed. The chartless perpetrator was dubbed nan Southside Slayer, but a fistful of nan murders were linked by nan usage of a .25 caliber pistol. And past nan lawsuit went cold.

Meanwhile, we get a floor plan of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., a family man from South Central. He’s described arsenic a pillar of nan vicinity who ever had a benignant connection and helped his friends, fixing their cars and loaning them a fewer bucks erstwhile they needed it. He grew up successful nan area, and had a acheronian past: As a teenager, he was busted for expansive theft car and burglary, and was expelled from schoolhouse for fighting. He joined nan Army successful nan early 1970s and, while stationed successful Germany, ended up doing clip for being among 3 soldiers who abducted and gang-raped a woman. Upon his merchandise and subject discharge, he moved backmost to South Central, wherever he sewage married, had 2 kids – cue a talking head: “They seemed for illustration a normal happy family” – and worked arsenic a mechanic and garbage collector. A garbage collector who, notably, mightiness cognize each nan ideal, discreet places to dump nan bodies of women he raped and murdered.

The Southside Slayer lawsuit laic dormant until 2007, erstwhile a caller execution was remarkably akin to nan killings from nan 1980s. By then, DNA exertion had precocious to nan constituent wherever grounds from acold cases could beryllium reexamined. Even though nan aged and caller grounds could beryllium linked, investigators couldn’t find a DNA lucifer successful nan database. The cops sat softly connected nan lawsuit until LA Weekly newsman Christine Pelisek utilized a root astatine nan coroner’s agency to portion together a communicative stating that a serial slayer was apt operating successful South Central; she dubbed him nan “Grim Sleeper” because he had apparently hadn’t committed a execution for astir 2 decades. The expose pushed nan constabulary to spell nationalist pinch nan investigation, offering a $500,000 reward for accusation starring to an arrest. Ironically, a advertisement advertizing that reward went up a mates blocks from wherever Franklin lived.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: There are immoderate thematic ties to Netflix doc Crack: Cocaine, Corruption and Conspiracy. Otherwise, The Grim Sleeper is simply a Hard Copy– style documentary that plays up nan phony play (think Capturing nan Killer Nurse, but moreover cheesier) and apt doesn’t adhd overmuch to a communicative that antecedently inspired different documentaries (Tales of nan Grim Sleeper was shortlisted for Oscar information successful 2014) and a Lifetime original movie pinch Macy Gray successful it. It besides has akin SoCal serial slayer tones a la HBO’s Golden State Killer exploration I’ll Be Gone successful nan Dark, which is still nan golden modular for true-crime docs.

Performance Worth Watching: LaWana Wilson, a subsister of a rape and attempted execution by Franklin, appears concisely successful nan film, recounting what she remembers of her ordeal.

Memorable Dialogue: “I deliberation it’s absurd to deliberation he conscionable stopped 1 time and started up different day, 14, 13 years later.” – 1 commentator doesn’t rather bargain nan “Grim Sleeper” theory

Sex and Skin: Nothing beyond vague descriptions/mentions of Franklin’s intersexual assaults.

Our Take: Netflix, Hulu and different top-tier streamers person released a batch of sensationalist true-crime junk, but they apt would person passed connected Evil Among Us: The Grim Sleeper, which is sloppy and borderline-tasteless capable to merit banishment to comparative obscurity connected Tubi. It’s cheap-looking, repetitive, disorganized and leans heavy connected scripted talking-head commentary by obscure true-crime podcasters (the big of The Hot Garbage Show: True Crime podcast does immoderate dense lifting here, and, not having listened to said podcast, I’m not judge if we should judge it by its title). And while director/executive shaper Victoria Drew interviews detectives who worked connected nan lawsuit and gets commentary from group who knew Franklin, nan mostly of nan talking heads present person america wondering if she couldn’t person recovered group pinch much reliable expertise connected nan subject.

In its precocious stages, nan movie half-heartedly broaches nan conception that nan LAPD mishandled aliases astatine slightest deprioritized nan Grim Sleeper case; journalist commentator Dana Blair asserts that a drawstring of murders successful Beverly Hills would get much focused attraction than a lawsuit involving nan deaths of underprivileged Black women. But nan assertion is dropped successful and forgotten, Drew forgoing immoderate deeper study for a straightforward accounting of events via a choppy timeline that’s muddy and somewhat confusing, and has america moving to Wikipedia for a clearer version. And anytime we tin spell to Wikipedia and get nan aforesaid magnitude of accusation – notably without corny slo-mo reenactment footage aliases a generic and uberdramatic philharmonic people – does not bode good for nan worthiness of a documentary film.

Our Call: Evil Among Us: The Grim Sleeper doesn’t transcend its Tubi original status, I’m sorry to say. SKIP IT.

John Serba is simply a freelance writer and movie professional based successful Grand Rapids, Michigan.