Director: Joe Berlinger
Runtime:  4 episodes x 50 min
Our Rating: ★★★★

CRIME SCENE: THE VANISHING AT THE CECIL HOTEL is the first season of a new documentary series that deconstructs the mythology and mystery surrounding infamous locations in contemporary crime.

The disappearance of young tourist Elisa Lam from the seediest area and the most infamous hotel in downtown Los Angeles was one of the hottest topics online in 2013. However, for us Angelenos her disappearance though disturbing wasn’t that big of a shock because it happened at The Cecil after all. But the case remained an open debate amongst YouTubers and online sleuths for years, because of a mysterious video the LAPD released. In the video Lam appeared under the influence – the influence of what, however? Some speculated she had been given a substance by an assailant. Others speculated it was an even more supernatural influence. Theories abounded, they even sought out a potential killer they located online.

The four-part docuseries, chronicles not only the untimely tragic demise of Lam, but some of the background of the very “colorful” Cecil Hotel and the sad origin story of Skid Row.

Director Joe Berlinger (CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER: THE TED BUNDY TAPES, PARADISE LOST) thought The Cecil was a perfect location to launch the series as he explained in a sit down.

BERLINGER: “The Cecil Hotel is a specific place, but there’s a universality to how it’s viewed — everybody knows about that one house at the end of their street where notoriously chilling things have happened, and The Cecil Hotel is that for Los Angeles.

It has taken on an urban legend-like quality for having a long history of mysterious happenings and crimes, including housing two notable serial killers: Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger. Location offers a very relatable point of entry to tell true crime stories, and to look at those locations from a historical standpoint and deconstruct how they became infamous.

The Cecil was a jewel in LA when it was built in 1924, so we wanted to examine how it fell into disrepair, which is directly related to the social and cultural changes that happened in Downtown Los Angeles over the course of nearly a century. And our entry point into that larger story is through Elisa Lam’s case.”

The Lam case does offer many twists and turns. And this series does an excellent job of exploring the theories and the actualities of this case. It also delivers some information that some people have not known including Lam’s mental illness, which also parallels with some of the residents of Skid Row.

BERLINGER: “Her story is an integral part of the Cecil Hotel’s history, and it was important to us that we not just tell a story about Elisa’s untimely death, but also to highlight the impact that she had on people.”

The series gives background on the hotel by interviewing former residents as well as former Hotel Manager Amy Price, who is also an interesting person herself. Price was the manager during Lam’s disappearance and some online people questioned her involvement. Price says she was unaware of the hotel’s notorious history before she took her job.

Price: “One of my girlfriend’s husbands needed help at the hotel and I wasn’t working at the time, so I said, “Well, I’ve got the time. I’ll do it.”

That’s how it all started. I didn’t even research where it was. All I heard was that it was a hotel that was in Downtown Los Angeles. I walked in completely blind.”

Each episode does a great job of building on each of narrative to make a concise documentary that ties Lam’s story with the hotel’s history. It also shows the resolutions of all the “characters” including the hotel.

The executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, CRIME SCENE: THE VANISHING AT THE CECIL HOTEL is a four-part, 50 minutes each episode streams February 10th.