Saturday, February 8, 2025

Michael Connolly and Alison Ellwood on The Wonderland Bloodbath & The Secret Historical past of Hollywood

On July 1, 1981, Hollywood was rocked by one of the vital brutal murders in its historical past — the Wonderland Murders.

With ties to medication, intercourse, and notorious names like John Holmes and Eddie Nash, the case has captivated true crime fanatics for many years.

Now, best-selling creator Michael Connelly (Bosch, The Lincoln Lawyer) and Emmy-winning director Alison Ellwood (Laurel Canyon, San Francisco Sounds) are bringing this chilling story again to life with The Wonderland Bloodbath & The Secret Historical past of Hollywood, a four-part docuseries premiering on MGM+ on September 8.

(© 2024 MGMPlus Leisure LLC)

We had the pleasure of talking with Connelly and Ellwood about their collaboration, our fascination with this crime, and the way they’ve turned a infamous Hollywood story right into a compelling visible expertise.

For anybody who’s adopted the Wonderland case — or these discovering it for the primary time — this collection guarantees to be each an eye-opener and a deep dive into Hollywood’s shadowy previous.

(© 2024 MGMPlus Leisure LLC)

“A Visible Story Begging to Be Informed”

Connelly, whose Audible podcast concerning the Wonderland Murders impressed the collection, was satisfied early on that this was a narrative that wanted to be seen.

“I simply thought it’s extra of a visible story,” he shared. “I imply, had the identical producers on each issues, and so One Traveler Productions felt that they may go the space as a documentary.”

Partnering with Ellwood was a pure selection. “They’d a relationship with Alison and introduced it to her,” Connelly defined. “We took her from the elegant to the sordid with out ever even leaving Laurel Canyon.”

Regardless of the jarring material, it labored, and Connelly says the choice to deliver the story to display screen paid off. “I didn’t even anticipate all of the deep dive into archival stuff that Alison and her crew had been capable of finding.”

Ellwood, who had simply wrapped her highly-praised Laurel Canyon collection, agreed that diving into Wonderland was a stark distinction.

“This story to me was the damaging picture of the gorgeous, optimistic, bucolic picture of the Laurel Canyon music scene,” she famous. “It began to dissipate… due to the introduction of cocaine.”

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(Photograph by Corine Solberg/Getty Pictures)

A True Crime Story with a Hollywood Twist

The Wonderland Murders have lengthy fascinated true crime followers, partly due to the forged of characters concerned.

John Holmes, the porn star whose profession had declined into drug dependancy, discovered himself embroiled in a lethal feud between drug sellers and kingpins like Eddie Nash.

Whereas this larger-than-life setting is what first captures the creativeness, The Wonderland Bloodbath goes deeper into the crime’s ripple results on Hollywood.

“The key historical past of Hollywood,” as Connelly describes it, lies on the coronary heart of this story.

“This actually is a narrative concerning the overworld and underworld of Hollywood and these people who had been the go-betweens, largely via medication,” Connelly defined. The documentary peels again the layers of a metropolis the place success, fame, and crime are inextricably linked.

And, as Ellwood identified, the crime itself is indicative of a broader societal shift. “It’s not only a true crime story. It’s about society, and it’s about societal change,” she added.

“The introduction of cocaine had such an enormous influence, and also you see it in how the ambiance round these houses modified.”

(© 2024 MGMPlus Leisure LLC)

Michael Connelly, The “Unrequited Detective”

One of many distinctive parts of the docuseries is Connelly’s position as a type of on-screen detective. Whereas the best-selling crime novelist is not any stranger to the style, entering into the position of interviewer for the collection was a brand new expertise for him.

“I’ve spent my complete life writing about detectives, so I feel it’s fairly apparent I want I used to be a detective,” Connelly joked. “And Alison gave me that shot.”

Ellwood noticed the potential in Connelly’s deep information of the case and his rapport with the folks he interviewed. “Within the podcast… you may see the type of cat and mouse, Michael making an attempt to get data out of Scott [Thorson],” she defined. “I wished to seize that visually.”

Connelly’s relationship with the detectives who labored on the unique case additionally provides a layer of authenticity. “I’ve had numerous face-to-faces with them through the years,” he famous.

However maybe most fascinating was his evolving dynamic with Thorson, a key determine within the Wonderland murders who was as soon as Liberace’s lover. “Once I first talked to him, he was in jail… Then he bought out however was on probation and couldn’t go away his residence in Las Vegas.”

Ultimately, the interviews with Thorson moved to in-person, together with a scene filmed on the iconic Musso & Frank’s in Hollywood.

“I used to be a bit of nervous about it,” Connelly admitted. “We name him the unreliable narrator… you by no means know what he’s going to deliver up, how stunning it may be, after which we have now to show round and attempt to show or disprove it.”

(© 2024 MGMPlus Leisure LLC)

The Unreliable Narrator: Scott Thorson

Thorson’s position because the enigma of the collection is plain. He’s the connection between Hollywood royalty like Liberace and the crime world, however his credibility has at all times been in query.

For Ellwood, it was a problem to resolve when and the best way to introduce him into the collection. “The trickiest factor was making an attempt to determine the construction of how it could work,” she defined. “If we launched Scott too quickly, you wouldn’t have that thriller of ‘Who is that this individual?’”

Finally, Thorson is launched on the finish of the primary episode, permitting his story to weave out and in of the primary narrative.

“He wasn’t found by the police till eight years after it occurred,” Ellwood added, giving viewers simply sufficient time to construct the intrigue earlier than revealing his larger-than-life claims.

(Photograph by Araya Doheny/Getty Pictures for Audible)

A Fascination with Hollywood’s Underworld

What makes The Wonderland Bloodbath distinctive is its exploration of Hollywood’s darkish facet. Why are all of us nonetheless so fascinated with Hollywood basically? You get against the law in Hollywood, and it’ll by no means go away.

Connelly attracts comparisons between the Wonderland Murders and different infamous circumstances. “This can be a story that… pierces all ranges of society from street-level drug dealing to the upper echelons of Hollywood.”

The docuseries doesn’t draw back from exhibiting how these worlds collided. Connelly highlighted that, not like the Manson murders, the victims on this case had been perceived in another way.

Connolly famous, “This can be a crime as terrible because it was, 4 folks murdered and in actually violent methods. That, alone, is massive stuff. However I imply, the tentacles of this case that unfold throughout all of Los Angeles simply bodily, Laurel Canyons.”

He continued, “But additionally this touches the harmless lives that had been destroyed by the crack epidemic. And you’ll hint the crack epidemic in Los Angeles, at the very least to Eddie Nash’s mansion. And that, to me, is a major a part of the storytelling.”

The collection emphasizes that not all of the victims had been concerned in prison exercise. Some had been simply within the flawed place on the flawed time, highlighting the randomness and hazard of life within the Hollywood underworld.

(© 2024 MGMPlus Leisure LLC)

Unearthing New Info

Regardless of many years of protection, Connelly and Ellwood’s work manages to uncover new particulars concerning the case.

“Now we have uncovered new stuff,” Connelly revealed. “We met with the chilly case unit… and we bought to share what data they’ve. We prolonged it previous the podcast.”

One of the vital placing revelations is that nobody has ever been delivered to justice for the precise murders. Whereas Eddie Nash, a key determine in orchestrating the killings, was sentenced to a few years in jail, Connelly identified that “he wasn’t in the home.”

“The people who killed these 4 folks have by no means been delivered to justice,” Connelly stated, underscoring the continuing thriller surrounding the case.

A Story That Nonetheless Resonates

As The Wonderland Bloodbath makes its approach to audiences, its themes are as related at present as ever. The obsession with true crime, the darkish attract of Hollywood, and the human value of fame and fortune are timeless.

This crime and others like it is going to at all times fascinate folks.

Connelly, ever the detective, doesn’t rule out the likelihood that the collection may even stir new developments within the case. “This documentary collection… would possibly make folks change their minds and go into the police and so forth.”

Whether or not it results in new revelations or just captivates audiences, The Wonderland Bloodbath is certain to depart viewers questioning the myths and realities of Hollywood’s shadowy previous.

The Wonderland Bloodbath & The Secret Historical past of Hollywood debuts on MGM+ on September 8.

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