Goodnight, Sugar Babe: The Killing of Vera Jo Reigle

2013
6.1| 1h27m| NR| en
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The discovery of the mutilated body of a mentally challenged young mother begins a journey into madness that is so unbelievable the mastermind behind the crime ultimately got away with murder. Revealing for the first time how and why it happened filmmaker J. David Miles ventures into the insane mind of a small town crime family's matriarch and uncovers a conspiracy that continues to elude law enforcement to this very day. By going straight to the murderers themselves for interviews it is a true crime investigation like you have never seen, unveiling an alternate motive to what was presented in the courtroom that is as bizarre as it is heartbreaking.

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Reviews

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
MBay What happened to aiding and abetting being a crime???Every single person that was EVER in that house was part of this crime. (Oh yeah, I would go to their house for pizza and Vera would be getting shoved in the oven, but boy the pizza was good)WHAT? WHAT ? My brain is stuck.
Deimos-remus True crime documentaries are fascinating to me, but there's a line that can be crossed when the documentary feels incredibly exploitative and clearly produced for shock value.Centering on a murder within a family plagued by incest and violence, rather than focusing more on the victim and the hard facts of the crime, the documentary instead chooses to focus on "Sugar Babe" Cheri Brooks and the circumstances revolving around her and her sadistic pleasures. While these circumstances are related to the case at hand, the film chooses to highlight these in a reveling way and the shocking nature of it all as 'gross-out' entertainment; to put the spotlight on just how messed up of a family the victim belonged to. While one can glean much sympathy for the victim of the crime regardless of the skill behind the filmmaking, the documentary's amateurish way of presenting the narrative felt, for lack of a better word, wrong, and its approach was frankly exploitative of mentally, socially and financially troubled individuals, many of which hadn't much relation to the events. A lack of professional commentary from other, more objective observers made it feel as though it was meant to be seen like some sort of twisted clown show. In essence, knowing the power documentary filmmaking can have in real cases such as these, and potentially change unfavorable outcomes, the filmmakers are doing a disservice to the case by presenting such an amateur production that doesn't do the locals or commentators any favors by how they're presented. A lack of structure makes the case very hard to piece together and follow, and by sensationalizing the grosser details of the case, makes it come across as disingenuous and made for the wrong reasons.
mallory-carpenter This was one of the most infuriating documentaries I have ever watched. The entire cast of people interviewed in this film appear to be products of incest, rampant drug/sexual abuse, and mental illness. I had no idea people this creepy even existed, especially not in Ohio. I am a social worker with homeless people in a major southern city, and I have never witnesses anyone even remotely as grotesque and ultimately insane as these people. It was hard to look at and listen to these people. What really enraged me was that everyone knew exactly what was going to happen as Vera left the house the night of her death, and yet they just stood by and watched. Not to mention the many other incidents of abuse that they all watched Vera endure. I'm still not sure how all of these people were witnesses to some of the events that occurred and not charged with anything..seriously, how many people lived in that house? They all seem so aloof and most of them seem developmentally delayed. The entire family is revolting, and I don't understand why Cheri "sugar babe" is not in prison. Good film, but trashy people and disturbing events.
NeedAnswers It's unbelievable this is a true story. I'm astonished how disturbed this family was to the point where there is no remorse. It's wonderful this truth is out there for Vera since she wasn't strong enough to defend herself from this horrible family. These people represent the lowest common denominator of human life and the movie does a good job of getting the viewer to understand why they're as disturbed as they are. I hope there is further vindication for Vera. The silver lining is that her daughter gets to grow up away from these people.

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