It’s been just over a month since Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story dropped on Netflix, and regardless of what you think of the controversial, Ryan Murphy-produced series, there’s no denying it’s made quite the splash.
For one, the world is finally catching up to what we’ve known for a while now: Cooper Koch is a star. The out, anti-prosthetic actor shines in the series as the younger Erik Menendez (especially in the jaw-dropping fifth episode), and it’s been a blast watching him step into the spotlight since its debut.
There’s also the fact that all the attention from Monsters has brought the brothers’ case back into the public forum, with a new hearing set for November. It’s no question that Lyle and Erik murdered their parents in 1989, but new evidence and a deeper, modern understanding of the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father means there’s a very real possibility they could be freed after more than 30 years in prison.
How about we take this to the next level?
Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Related*
Ryan Murphy on why he thinks ‘Monsters’ is the “best thing” to happen to the Menendez Bros. in 30 years
Ryan Murphy is sounding off on amid the controversy over the Netflix series ‘Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story.’
And that’s the power of television… or, at least, professionally made television on a global platform like Netflix. The Menendez Brothers’ story has been adapted for the screen many times before, but those versions haven’t had nearly the culture-shifting impact that Monsters has.
In 2017, NBC even tried to replicate Murphy’s American Crime Story formula with the short-lived anthology Law & Order True Crime, which only ever delivered one season focused on the Menendez murders.
The miniseries received tepid reviews, though its marquee star—Edie Falco as the brothers’ defense attorney, Leslie Abramson—was praised for her role, and even nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
But even more fascinating (for reasons both good and bad) is Lifetime’s oft-forgotten TV movie, Menendez: Blood Brothers which premiered on the network in June 2017, just a few months prior to the Law & Order series.
The made-for-television feature was written by award-winning queer author Abdi Nazemian and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, whose names should absolutely sound familiar because they’re the men behind LGBTQ+ focused production company World Of Wonder—and a little show called RuPaul’s Drag Race!
TV veteran Benito Martinez (The Shield, With Love) plays the fearsome father, José, with Myko Olivier (who guested on a few episodes of Glee) as the young brother, Erik. As for Lyle, he’s played by none other than Nico Tortorella, who recently revealed he no longer identifies with they/them pronouns.
Related*
Nico Tortorella no longer uses they/them pronouns: “I feel like a man more than I ever have”
In 2018, Nico Tortorella came out as gender fluid.
Blood Brothers‘ real draw, however, was rock provocateur Courtney Love playing the Menendezes’ pill-addicted, complicit mother, Kitty. Love—who has previously proven herself as a dramatic actress in films like The People vs. Larry Flynt—was understandably front-and-center for most of the movie’s marketing, and certainly commits herself to the troubled matriarch role.
Unlike Murphy’s Monsters, which jumps around in time from different characters perspectives of events, Bailey and Barbato’s version of events is mostly straight-forward, though it does add a supernatural element by giving the younger, more sensitive Lyle visions of his dead parents to talk to after the murder.
José’s ghost is decidedly scary, but Kitty appears more as a guardian angel, serving ethereal chic in an all-white ensemble. It’s almost as if the creators knew audiences would be tuning in mostly for Love, and added in multiple opportunities for her to show up and turn a look, even after Kitty was killed.
Otherwise, Blood Brothers gives mostly what you’d expect from a Lifetime movie: It’s melodramatic to a fault, many of the performances are overblown, and it sort of just… looks cheap. Sorry, but are those wigs for real?
Especially in retrospect, now that we’ve seen Netflix put its big budget behind faithful, era-appropriate recreations of these people and their story, this version can’t help but look like we’re watching a quickly made SNL parody.
Speaking of: Did you see SNL‘s cut-for-time Weekend Update segment featuring Marcello Hernandez and Michael Longfellow? The joke is that they’re dressed like doctors for Halloween, but everyone keeps assuming they’re the Menendez brothers, which earns them a lot of attention because “the Netflix show and Tiktok have made [them] sex symbols.”
And on that note, despite all the queer talent behind the scenes, Blood Brothers doesn’t really bother to wade into the questions around Lyle and Erik’s sexuality, or journalist Dominick Dunne’s (played by Nathan Lane in Monsters) theory that the siblings were sleeping together and only killed their parents after they were found out. But, considering that morally murky territory has garnered Murphy and his series a lot of criticism, it’s probably for the best.
Again, it’s Lifetime—what did you expect? The basic cable approach to the material makes Monsters look even more gratuitous by comparison.
In any event, if you’ve found yourself newly invested in The Mendendez brothers’ story thanks to the Netflix series, is Lifetime’s Blood Brothers going to deepen your understanding of the circumstances that led to the murder of their parents and their eventual sentencing to life in prison. No, it most certainly will not.
At the very least, it will give you a deeper appreciation of the difference a good wig can make. And, hey, it’s a nice reminder that Courtney Love can be as fun to watch on screen as she is on stage.
If nothing else, Blood Brothers is a little-remembered pop culture curio that might make for a fun, trashy watch this Halloween when you want to have some friends over for something that feels seasonally appropriate but isn’t outright scary. Well, asides from those wigs, that is…
Menendez: Blood Brothers is currently available to stream via Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, and for free on MyLifetime.com
Related*
Gay compulsive liars, rich kid robberies, and more true crime to stream this weekend
From jaw-dropping true crime docs to ripped-from-the-headline romps, here are some criminally good streaming recs for your weekend.
Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.
