The enduring nature of true-crime documentaries comes down its entertainment value. Morbid as the subject matter may be, the opportunity to (intellectually) flirt with the most transgressive and horrific corners of wider society is a prospect few can pass up; hence why domestic streaming service Stan has now chosen to explore the story of Australian serial killer – Eric Edgar Cooke – and his horrific crimes in the four-part documentary series After The Night.
Without spoiling all the chilling reveals, Cooke managed to kill a total of eight people and commit harm to an additional fourteen between 1958 to 1963. Notorious for mutilation, necrophilia, and all manners of twisted homicidal expressions, his criminal profile is one that certainly isn’t short on specifics, nor twists and turns. As you’ll see in the trailer above, some of his heinous deeds resulted in equally heinous false convictions.
As per Stan’s official synopsis:
Throughout the 1960s Eric Edgar Cooke terrorised the city of Perth and its residents, cruelly and indiscriminately, as if for sport. Exploring a legacy of tragedy, grief, responsibility, and redemption for the three men who were wrongly accused, Stan’s first-ever true-crime series is told through the eyes of a filmmaker returning to his childhood home and spending time with those closest to the killer and his victims – whose lives he altered forever.
Created and directed by Thomas Meadmore – a local of Perth himself – the upcoming four-part documentary series will examine the makings of Cooke’s murderous persona, as well as placing both friends and family of his victims into the spotlight – confronting the full extent of his impact in uncomfortable detail.
“Growing up, mum’s tale of the man who randomly knocked on the neighbours’ door in the night and shot the person who answered terrified me,” says Meadmore.
“It’s been an incredible experience exploring his heinous crimes and the lasting impact they’ve had on the entire Perth community. This is a story that needed to be told and you won’t want to miss it.”
After The Night will be available to stream via Stan on November 29th.
