Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story.

Netflix

I was surprised to see Netflix’s new true crime documentary was about the vile Fred and Rose West. Most people are familiar with their gory, wicked crimes, and I wasn’t sure what a new documentary could add to the font of knowledge about the case. More importantly, although the loss of a family member to murder is never forgotten by the loved ones, reliving the details can derail grieving relatives who have, decades on, tried to continue their lives.

The good thing about this documentary was that the relatives were very much involved. Around half of each episode was given over to talking to these shattered individuals whose suffering was etched on their faces. They were all still haunted by the loss of their relative. Will being interviewed about their loved one yet again be a form of catharsis? I doubt it, they will have done so so many times already, and dredging up trauma again and again can worsen the symptoms of PTSD or grief rather than providing any comfort. Although one relative did say that she found the experience helpful.

As always with true crime, the details that came from the relatives made the victims whole in the eyes of viewers who had previously only known them as unfortunates targeted by one of the worst acts of individual evil in recent history. Belinda Mott, whose sister Juanita was found buried in the West’s cellar talked warmly about her beloved sister, painting her as a lively teenager who once threw pebbles at her window at night when she had been locked out because of being out too late. Tears formed in her eyes as she told us that she had told her sister that she could always rely on her if she was ever locked out again, and Juanita assured her that she herself would always be there for Belinda.

Dezra Chambers talks movingly about her sister, Alison, who was a rebel and left home. She reads from a letter received by her parents from her sister in 1979 where Alison talks of working as a nanny to a really friendly family. The viewer’s stomach lurches when we realise this was the Wests, and that they would go onto murder her.

There are also interviews with the lawyers for both Fred and Rosemary, the ‘responsible adult’ who chaperoned Fred (both Wests had low IQs), police, and journalists.

The selling point of this documentary is that it features Fred West’s own voice in police interviews from 1994 on, after he was arrested. It’s quite chilling to hear him. He came to the attention of the police because the ten children and step children that he and Rosemary shared had been overheard talking about how the family threat at home was always ‘ watch out or you’ll end up under the patio, like your sister.’