Fred and Rose West – A British Horror Story review: Netflix delivers a true crime tale of Nithari-level nastiness; a deeply upsetting peek at pure evil

The show recounts the horrific revelations of Fred West, a middle-aged man who lived with his wife, Rose, in an unremarkable house in Gloucester. The couple had a history of run-ins with the law, but were let off for one reason or another. Their children — over half-a-dozen of them — spent time in and out of government care. During one of these periods away from home, comments made by them about their missing elder sister Heather raised suspicion among authorities, who began investigating her disappearance. What they discovered sent shockwaves across Britain, revealing a peek inside the mind of true evil.

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A still from Netflix’s documentary about Fred and Rose West.

It was discovered that Fred West murdered his own daughter many years ago, and buried her dismembered remains in the back garden of his 25 Cromwell Street home — this would later become known as the ‘House of Horrors’. Gradually, more human remains were discovered in the backyard, and Fred readily admitted to having committed the crimes with an eerie eagerness. Audio recordings of his interrogations reveal him to be a cold-blooded psychopath — a man who speaks about performing unspeakable acts of horror with the matter-of-factness of somebody telling a gardener where to plant a bunch of chrysanthemums.

It is, beyond a doubt, a story of Nithari-level depravity. But, for some reason, Fred West isn’t as well-known a serial killer as, say, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy. Hollywood has an influence over culture of all forms, it would seem. But, then again, it’s likely that the average Western consumer of true crime isn’t familiar with the Nithari killings either. It feels strange to point out this imbalance in representation, but there you go. The crimes of Fred and Rose West, and the methods through which they carried them out, also reveal the gaps in the investigation that was carried out at the time. They were kidnapping and killing women in broad daylight, red flags about their actions had summarily been ignored by the police several times before. The show doesn’t raise questions about this negligence, although it underlines the survivor’s guilt felt by the sole woman who escaped their clutches.

The show only reveals a part of what they did, bringing together solicitors, police officers, and members of the victims’ families to paint a rather holistic picture of the story. But the context provided is undeniably selective. Why they decided to withhold certain details is a purely speculative subject, but it boggles the mind to imagine how much more scarring the series would’ve been had the show delved into Fred and Rose’s past in more detail. It’s like making a series about the Nithari killings but leaving out the cannibalism part. You’re bound to wonder…

Throughout the investigation, Fred insisted that he operated alone. Commentators featured in the show — a psychologist, various journalists and lawyers — described his relationship with Rose, messed up as it was, as true love. He was trying to protect her. But the police were determined to find evidence to prove that she was equally culpable. There is, of course, indication that she was essentially groomed into villainy by Fred — they met when she was just 15, and he was nearly 30. But, in many ways, Rose’s story is more scandalous than even that of Fred. While his actions can impatiently be blamed on his warped psychology, Rose was conditioned into becoming the monster that she was. Again, the show barely scratches the tip of the iceberg on this front.

A still from Netflix’s documentary about Fred and Rose West.

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Directed by Dan Dewsbury, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is a serviceable documentary that diligently avoids the cliches of the true crime genre. But, in its efforts to present a level-headed and well-rounded account of the story, it leaves out several crucial aspects. Whether this was a deliberate attempt to de-sensationalise a sensitive chapter of recent British history is up for debate. It could just as easily be a blatant case of tampering with the narrative. After all, the show also neglects to investigate (or even report) the impact that the Wests’ actions had on their surviving children. Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story is upsetting, but not as upsetting as Fred and Rose West’s Wikipedia page.

Fred and Rose West – A British Horror Story review:
Director – Dan Dewsbury
Rating – 3/5