Memories of a Murderer director reveals impact Dennis Nilsen’s crimes had on him as harrowing documentary lands on Netflix

A new true crime documentary focusing on serial killer Dennis Nilsen has landed on Netflix, taking viewers into his vile acts.

Memories of a Murderer, from director Michael Harte, includes never-before-published tapes of his private recordings, as well as interviews with survivors, police officers and journalists.

Nilsen confessed to killing 15 people in 1983 when bodies were recovered on his property, after he disposed of some victims under his floorboards.

The gruesome crimes shocked the nation when they were first uncovered, with Michael revealing the details impacted him in a huge way while shooting.

Chatting to Metro.co.uk ahead of the release, the filmmaker told us: ‘The problem was not desensitising yourself to the stuff that you have to say fresh to. Because of that, it is going to impact you constantly, and that was the case.

‘When you hear something initially, you’re hearing it from a professional point of view, you’re taking it in as information. But it’s a couple of days later, or it’s at the weekend when you’re not thinking about it that it comes back, it starts to get into your head.

Dennis Nilsen confessed to killing 15 people (Picture: Rex)

‘Over the course of making the project, I did notice that. I noticed fairly early that that was happening, when I was going for a walk in the park with my family, things would just come back.

‘But this is a drop in the ocean compared to those who were really affected by this. What I have to deal with is so minor and I can get over this. But for a lot of people, they can’t.

‘As the film’s title alludes to, this is not just memories of Dennis Nilsen, these are the victims’ memories as well.’

Michael also made it a priority to not forget the nature of the horrific crimes while taking in through the material he was given, and had to sit through more than 250 hours of audio from Nilsen himself, recorded in his jail cell.

‘It’s always shocking to hear [his crimes]. A key for me was, even though I had so much material, and I had a lot of time to go through this material, it was never, ever to get desensitised to it,’ he continued.

Nilsen’s crimes shocked the nation when they were uncovered (Picture: AFP / Getty)

‘[As] you’re spending a huge amount of time on a film, there is a danger that you can get desensitised. So, taking time away from it, taking long times away from it so that when I come back in, I feel like I’m hearing it for the first time.

‘It was so important to do that on this project, because the things that were being described are shocking, and I never ever, wanted to lose that.’

Nilsen has become one of the most notorious serial killers in history after taking the lives of at least 15 men between 1978 and 1983.

He would lure victims to two north London addresses, before murdering them and disposing of their bodies in his home, burying some body parts underneath the floorboards.

Nilsen was eventually sentenced to life in prison on November 4, 1983, after being found guilty for six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

He died in May, 2018, at the age of 72, with a handful of people attending his funeral.

Memories of a Murderer hears from one survivor, who explained that the only reason they made it out of his grasp was because ‘there was no more room’ under his floor.

But Michael vowed that it wasn’t the grim notes of the case that persuaded him to get behind the camera for a deeper look into his crimes.

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‘Over the course of the eight weeks, as I listened to him speak, he described himself as an outsider, as someone on the fringes of society. As I listened to it, I realised Nilsen could very much could be describing one of those victims,’ he added.

‘Once I realised that he completely understood those who he attacked or murdered, some of them, he understood who they were or their background, the question then became, not why did he do the things that he did, I wanted to explore the idea of why did he get away with it?

‘What were the circumstances that allowed that to happen, for him to get away with this time and time and time again?’

Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes is available to stream on Netflix now.

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