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Killing for Company: Case of Dennis Nilsen
Killing for Company: Case of Dennis Nilsen
Brian Masters | 1995 | Biography
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
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Killing for Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen
By Brian Masters

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Dennis Nilsen, who died in May 2018, admitted to killing at least 15 people before his arrest in 1983. This ground-breaking criminal study of his killings was written with Nilsen's full cooperation, resulting in a fascinating - and horrifying - portrait of the man who worshipped death.

In February 1983, residents of Muswell Hill had been plagued by blocked drains. When a plumber was called to investigate, he discovered a large blockage of biological material. To his horror, it appeared to be formed of human flesh and bones.

The next day, local resident Dennis Nilsen was arrested.

'Are we talking about one body or two?' a detective asked. Nilsen replied 'Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978. I'll tell you everything.'

Within days he had confessed to fifteen gruesome murders over a period of four years. His victims, mostly young gay men at a time when society cared little for them, had been overlooked. Killing for Company is a unique study of a murderer's mind, essential reading for true crime aficionados.
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This is a seriously hard book to read and review! I grew up loving true crimes and British serial killers and a bit later American serial killers and although I knew this case as I’d read lots about it growing up I found this book hard going, not because it was poorly written but by the content and knowing Nilsen had a lot to say to Masters. I have read Masters book on Jeffery Dahmer and it was a decent retelling but to me it always seemed so far away! This however was in the UK and only 100+ miles down the motorway, he was in the army the same time as my dad and the fact he on paper seemed so bloody normal! He held a steady job and campaigned via the union for people under discrimination, he loved pets he didn’t have all the common markers as your typical serial killer! It’s only when he was on remand you start seeing how mentally ill he really was! It’s always hard to say you enjoy these types of books I tend to find them fascinating not enjoyable this one really hit home I cried and felt physically sick at several points. I want to know how it can suddenly change from being the person he was before the first murder to that monster ( the only word to describe him). Reading his reactions to how one victims parents would hopefully forgive him is chilling! Also the illustrations at the end of the book are just shocking! Worth a read and I would recommend but this left me asking so many questions!
  
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Kane Hodder recommended Monster (2003) in Movies (curated)

 
Monster (2003)
Monster (2003)
2003 | Drama

"Unfortunately, I keep saying ones that I had something to do with. I was the stunt coordinator on that, and I actually played the cop that arrested her at the end. If I have any kind of acting ability, it’s from watching people like Charlize Theron. I was on the set every day. I didn’t have all that much to do, stuntwise — just safety issues and a couple of little stunt things — but I could watch her work, and see how she got to certain places, and that’s the best possible training I think an actor can have. [Theron did] subtle things right before certain scenes, to get to a certain place. I think, even subconsciously, I’ve incorporated some of those techniques. It’s nothing I can really describe. For the violent stuff, it doesn’t take long. It’s just very easy for me to get from my personality to the murderously violent personality. I think I’m closer to that than most people are, so it’s a short trip. [laughs] But for the emotional stuff, and crying scenes and stuff like that, what works best for me is to use music that means something to me, that reminds me of something in the past that isn’t a good memory. Something like that. That helps me to where I can convincingly cry, because I’ve seen so many actors — and these are whom I consider good actors — who are not convincing when they’re crying. It’s just not believable, it’s too forced. I think that’s obviously one of the harder things to do. Take [Hatchet series’] Danielle Harris. Most often, when you have a character who has to have a lot of emotion like that, you start out as a regular character and become that, like Tamara [Feldman] did in the first movie. Starts out normal and then becomes emotional at the end. Well, because this picked up from the very last frame of the first movie, from the very beginning, Danielle has to be crazy emotional. She lost her whole family and found them dead. So, it’s one thing to be able to get to an emotional point, but to have to do it so many times is the hard part. Lots of people can make themselves cry once, but let me see you do it ten times in one day, and some of those times being after lunch, where you’re talking to friends, and then you gotta get back to that place. It’s not that you just do it one time and they film it and you’re done. You gotta do all the coverage and make sure the emotion matches. That’s the hard part."

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