User Reviews

Docuseries finally on Netflix that's worth watching, tells a coherent story and comes together in the end.

I'm not sure all 3 episodes were necessary- I think all the information could have been sufficiently parsed out in 2 episodes, but 3 isn't an overreach.

It's crazy that these producers could tell a solid story yet not interject their insane political narrative into the stories- there are some vaguely political points but they're very relevant to the telling, and while it revolves around law enforcement, it is deservedly so- what the aforementioned police department did (or rather, lack thereof effective policing) deserves a spotlight and the attention of the public eye. It's one thing to espouse the common thread amongst departments of the time and claim runaway/wait 48 hours- which was incredibly obtuse and shortsighted even then, but even now, when we all know better to not at least acknowledge you're wrong and accept public responsibility for your department failings speaks volumes about your department.

My only concern is the lack of transparency and wishing there were more transparency among the departments and accountability to the public. Naming names would be a good start to getting public attention rightly focused on this group.

My request is that someone do an extensive documentary on Tim Miller and his Equusearch group- his is a fascinating story and one worth telling. Even though he's not particularly interested in the spotlight, the amount of good he's put into the world on behalf of his daughter is invaluable and I fear he's not much longer for this world. Keep fighting the good fight Tim- this may not be the path you chose but it is your path nonetheless. You've helped so many people through one of the most incredibly difficult times in their lives with experience, care and compassion and for that you deserve our unending gratitude and support.

This is one of the better documentaries of past unsolved crimes. Yes, it is disturbing and sad but it is respectfully done.

It focuses on the known victims and their families. As it should. It wasn't graphic or sensational.

The series really brings home how the loved ones lives are permanently changed and they never forget their loss, nor their desire for justice so this won't happen to other young women or their families.

It also goes into the frustration and helplessness of the police and its terrifying effect on the entire area.

It is downright terrifying how often women and children are preyed upon.

Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields (2022) is a series I watched over the weekend on Netflix. The storyline follows a series of bodies buried on the same stretch of highway. The first set of bodies is found in the early 80s, another set of bodies is found is the late 90s and some additional kills may have taken place in the early 2000s. The police and a parent of one of the victims track down the serial killer(s) and try to determine if it's one killer or just a coincidence multiple bodies are buried on the same land. Will they ever discover whom is responsible?

This series was created by Jessica Dimmock (Unsolved Mysteries) and does have an Unsolved Mystery feel to it. The series does a great job of showing the details, how they unfold over time and the feel within the community and family members impacted. There's a lot of questions throughout on why and where the victims made the various decisions that led to the attacker(s) finding them and what happened to them before being murdered. There's always a question on if they will catch the killer(s) until the credits role.

Overall, this isn't as good as the recent Dahmer docuseries or the last Crime Scene on The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, but it's still entertaining and worth a watch. I would score this a 7-7.5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Split across 3 episodes, this docu-series tackles a spate of mysterious deaths arising in Texas and, more specifically, along the I-45 highway in Houston. In the mid 1980's, the bodies of three women are found in the Calder Road field. Fast forward to 1991 and another body is found, with the area eventually dubbed as "The Texas Killing Fields."

As more victims are found - all the while showing bad police work, suspicious culprits and shocking revelations - it soon becomes apparent that this case is much bigger than it initially appears. But who is responsible? Is it a serial killer? Are there multiple killers? Or is there a conspiracy with law enforcement? All of this is investigated in more detail, although those looking for all the answers may find themselves a little dismayed by the ending.

I agree with most of the critiques. Lots of unanswered questions. I also had a problem with them saying the killer "had sex with" their victim and then killed them, implying possible consent? They were RAPED and then killed. That was unsettling. The ending was confusing to me, and I forgot about Reece, who apparently confessed to the initial couple of murders. Very disjointed. What's strange is that I grew up in that area during those years and really never heard a thing about these murders. Just maybe how someone went missing, but there wasn't very much publicity. I wish they would have stressed more how the small town cops totally bungled the investigation. It all seemed to wrap up very tidily and let the League City police off the hook. I wished it was them who were sued for $24M. I give it a 6, because it kept my interest, but if there were supposedly tens of victims, why not mention them too instead of just focusing on three families?

Women can not escape the violence perpetrated on them by 98% men, from cradle to grave women have been getting assaulted and murdered by men, including reproductive rights are attacked mainly by men. 1 man can kill over a time period up to 80 women of their same race, and now men are forcing women to carry dead babies in red states, and 10yo girls to carry the man that raped her baby. The attack never ends and comes from several levels. Women who prostitute tend to be victims of being raped by their fathers, then a seriel killers finishes them off or a pimp.

Just think about if it were all mainly white males being murdered 90% of the time by women, men forced to only have sex to procreate, to make babies they have to start financial support at 6 weeks gestation. If found masturbating based on the bible sentence to death?

These movies and documentaries about men hunting women & girls down like animals are the most horrific films no little girl should know exist but they have no choice to be told that a man like their daddy is the only type of human she needs to be afraid of.

Please men, stop!

The show is well designed and the families speak out very well. It's properly done and the story is well executed. It's touching, sad and unresolved. The families show the impact of crime on those left behind and the death sentence they are left in after loss of loved ones. The profiling of the vistims is so sad, may God rest the souls of these beautiful American ladies in peace. They deserved better from their local police...what a shame.

The USA system needs to be checked if it can legally release a murders due to technicalities ....... Like how can someone be released for killing another after 8 years.

Every now and then Netflix comes out with a good true crime docuseries. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields is one of them and certainly worth watching if you're into that kind of documentaries. There are better ones but this one is only three episodes long so you can easily binge watch the entire season in a day. Some other reviewers thought it was too long but those are just inpatient people. What struck me the most was the incompetence of the investigating police forces. A real disgrace if you ask me. As for the justice department it wasn't much better. Obviously there will always be a difference in who's dying and/or missing. If an "important" person would be missing they would turn over every rock until they found him, which was clearly not the case here. Good interviews from all kind of people involved in the case. Worth watching.

The 1970's saw a boom in Houston, Texas, construction grew, people flocked in, and a stretch of waste land was used to dump the bodies of several young women.

It's a very well made documentary, it's insightful Nd thought provoking, looking at several of the victims, the fact that they were largely ignored, and the potential suspects.

Very powerful interviews from those that were affected by the deaths, acts that still haunt people to this day. I thought Tim Miller in particular was a hugely impressive man, his words hit home.

Some pretty horrible crimes are explored, over a long period of time. What struck me was the way in which The Authorities jumped into action over the death of one young girl, the fact that it took that tragedy before anything really happened.

I liked that it was over three episodes, and that it wasn't stretched out into six or seven, Netflix does have a habit of fleshing things out.

Texan laws, insane or what.

8/10.

The only spoiler in this review is that there are no spoiler's because we all know how Netflix documentaries turn out. Netflix, please pull yourself together. There were at least 2 dozen victims. Episodes 1 and 2 were ok but 3 was just tunnel vision. This reminds me of the Netflix documentary with the catholic nun. There was a whole series of events with multiple victims, but the documentary goes off on some singular tangent. These documentaries are getting worse in terms of telling a story about multiple victims. The subject in these Netflix documentaries ends up changing at some point in the series. Just like their other documentaries, we are led down a path in one direction but then we are pushed off a cliff so we land in the opposite direction. Definitely worth the watch if you want to learn about the area, but do not expect to learn about more than 1.5 victims stories out of a few dozen victims.

This three episode "series" was well produced and executed, which many times makes up for a lot.

I didn't know the story, so I was surprised at how the ending diverged.

The production followed the victims and families respectfully and thoroughly. And even when it sometimes became a bit stuck on minutae, the details came back and proved necessary later on.

Editing, camera work, audio all contributed in this story.

Also, whoever first broke out the story in the manner they did--without following one person exclusively, but making the one dad a touchstone--did a great job of balancing all the moving parts.

This is no "making a murderer".

Starts slow, becomes intriguing, but by the final episode you'll be saying "huh?" "what?" " wait..". Because the storytelling is so convoluted.

By the end you'll be slightly confused and wondering why the story wasn't just told in a straightforward manner, as opposed to "drama" and "suspense" being artificially and unnecessarily imposed by withholding so much key information until the end.

So many times Necessary Information is doled out long after it is required. You'll be asking obvious question as it goes along that won't be answered.

Re: the skull fracture: "we have technology now that we didn't have then"...huh? You mean like...eyes? Was this just an interrogation technique? Oh no photos from '85? That's interesting ...so Where was the info about the '85 pathologist who presumably was incompetent or corrupt and botched the whole case? There's none!

The wrap up texts at the end felt tacked on and raised so many more questions. (24M lawsuit, the story of the final confession, the crime that he plead out to, the other girls, all were glossed over. The final 10 min could have been properly told in a whole other episode.

All in all a good true crime story very poorly told...the final outcomes were interesting and complex but it all wrapped up far too quickly in a way that makes you think they pretty much botched the whole story from the start.

If you're trying to decide if you want to invest time in this series because you are a fan of true crime investigations, then give this one a pass. Perhaps since most of the crimes are still part of open investigations and there wasn't much evidence to start with, there is little presented about the actual investigations into the series of murders spanning decades that may have occurred within the same area. Some suspects eventually emerge. A simple internet search about this will produce more information than this entire series. Most of the focus is a surface look at what family members go through after a crime, or the opinions of some writers.

You know a series is too long even if it only has three episodes when the same sequences are used time and time again in each episode. This could have been condensed in a single hour plus episode instead of three frustratingly long episodes.

Frustrating because like the families portrayed in this documentary, there is no real closure and for the viewer (at least for me) I have questions but not about this case but about how this series was clumsily built by creators. There's no real emotional build up and no real insight about the investigations. The « big reveal » happens with five minutes left and it feels like throwaway information.

Very disappointing watch.

In the end, they throw a name out that I don't even remember hearing in the first two episodes, and then they wrap up the whole series. But prior to that they keep bouncing around between this name and that name, reshowing the same pictures and very very slowly building up to some of the actual facts in the case. When I got to the end I felt like I had been punked. There's not really enough data to make a determination, as a member of the audience. But I do think for the police or FBI there is definitely enough information to make a determination. Another review claims that this was a missed opportunity to spotlight the shoddy police work. Well I kind of disagree because I believe that it was blaringly obvious, but I also disagree that this is about them. I remember the 70s as a teenager the '80s and '90s were times when we were taught about not getting into strangers cars not getting out of our car if we have a flat tire, not hitchhiking alone and things like that. Believe it or not we didn't have the elaborate bus systems that we have now in large and small cities, we had to hitchhike or find a ride or walk. I believe, in that sense, the producers here have assumed that all or most of the audience watching is familiar with the way in which some serial killers will disable a potential victims car and then show up to help them. That's the kind of thing they didn't need to say out loud. What bothers me most about this series is that - now trust me I'm bad with math - but they said 35 murders took place in those fields, and yet they only focused on four of them. Why? I appreciate the real life people that have kept these girls deaths in their hearts and tried to help their families, I hope that Tim Miller actually sees some of that money he won. But what about the other 31 girls? I mean if they're going to mention it why not tell us more. I guess I'll have to look online to find out if Reese - who I've never heard of through the whole series until the last 5 minutes - is the one responsible. And early on in the film they tell us that whoever did the murders in the seventies couldn't have been Clyde because he was in prison but then they try to blame him for all of them because he apparently did kill one. And in my mind that's the problem : there is a serial killer and then there is this one guy who is a killer and a pedophile but not necessarily a serial killer. And God bless his heart but have they completely ruled out Adam? Did they check his property before it was sold after his death? I mean being bullied has been a reason for people to take their lives, just ask any High School principal. And Psychopaths don't normally kill themselves unless they're about to go to prison. But after profiling him as a suspect when was he cleared by the fbi? And with such shoddy police work, are we sure that it was either a suicide or an accident? So I feel like this series is really more of a piece of cheese that never leads you to anything. I'm not sure what it's intent is because while I appreciate the four victims it is focused on why did it bring all this other information in and then just leave it dangling in the air like a faulty internet connection? I think what Netflix accomplished here is getting these victims back into the public's eye, or into the public's eye for the first time perhaps, and spotlighting the people who have devoted their time and resources to pursuing leads and helping others. Overall not a big waste of time but for me solid five stars.

Obviously a hideously horrendous story, in terms of the victims and family left behind. However, this actual documentary... I don't feel it did any of that justice.

Sooo many shots of photos on a table, random streets, woods, the sky, etc etc. Genuinely in every five minutes of screentime, three minutes of that are just random scenery shots or the exact same repeated shots of headstones/photos.

I also felt it was really quite disjointed and jumped about on the timeline and victims with no real cohesion.

A LOT of time is spent with one of the victim's fathers. Of course the viewer feels deeply for him, but so, so much time is spent with him with not a lot of information gleaned from it. He seems incredibly miserable and I wanted someone to just say to him, "you can stop." The documentary also kind of jumps over the fact that he harassed and possibly drove a person of interest to suicide as he became obsessed with him and pinning the crime on him. That was... unsettling.

In relation to that, there's very, very little actual critique of the police department and the absolute farce of so much of the initial investigations. It's again kind of mentioned then glossed over.

And a more nitpicky critique - when they're talking about the court records and it's stated that the murderer "had sex with and then murdered (victim)" - Jesus wept, he did not 'have sex with', he raped her. A huge difference.

Again; a horrific story. Just... very poorly documented.

After three episodes each nearly an hour long they finally get to a conviction and just roll it as text at the end of the series. It was about victims and a suspect we hadn't heard about since previous episodes. I was waiting for 3 hours for closure and I barely got it. Anyways, they do a good job of showing the perspective of some of the family members, but it's mainly the same few people talking about the same few victims for three hours. There were dozens of bodies found and they only focused on a few. Overall it would have been much better if it was half the length and they did a better job with the ending.

There were some good interviews.

For the most part, the whole thing is just a bunch of emotions. The one lady ( Mary I believe) just wants to be a movie star. Her fakeness is excruciating. Could have been a good documentary if it focused on the facts., Rather than trying to paint rainbows of feelings.

Note to the director, we will feel things if you present things in such a way that we can make our own decisions. Trying to make us feel, by giving screen time to actor wannabes who give you the emotion you want... Actually nevermind. Stop thinking that music and faces make a story. They do not. A story makes a story, and you failed at presenting that.

I honestly don't remember too much about this series, but it was definitely not one of my favorite true crime stories. All the potential to make a really riveting, breakneck-paced documentary was there, but I just wasn't glued to the screen like I wanted to be.

As always, the content is still pretty shocking, and all that goes on behind-the-scenes is interesting to hear, but I was getting a bit sick of the one dad's interview clips. (Bless his heart though, he's doing great work.) I felt like no aspect of the story was covered to completion, so by the time focus jumps to something else, I felt lost and like I had missed something major.

Anyway, can't recommend this one for more than killing time.