This movie just did zero for my taste. I love mysteries having to do with true crimes. And as another bonus, it happened in the 1940's, and it went unsolved. The film could not get my interest. It was nasty acting, low budget, poor sound, corny script. Sorry, not worth my time.

Director Brandon Slagle is an indie filmmaker with a long list of credits, most of which are competently made and offer something--cinematography, fascinating visuals, gutsy subjects for small budget films-to hold viewer interest. An overarching tendency is to take existing properties or narratives and put his own unique spin on them. Other efforts include takes on Charles Manson and the Amityville Horror. Here, he chooses the unlikely story of Elizabeth Short, a young woman murdered in post WWII Hollywood whose unsolved murder has become the stuff of legend, so much so that most of what is passed off as fact about the tragic femme is in fact, fiction. Slagle weaves together several ideas that no one has linked to Short, namely that her vengeful spirit possesses the living to exact her revenge and that a pre-fame Marilyn Monroe was her friend. These concepts are cobbled together with some sort of story about a young girl arriving in Hollywood to sort out the death of her father at the hands of her blind half-brother. It doesn't make a lick of sense, but it doesn't have to, as most people watching have no idea who Elizabeth Short was. This seems to be an effort by Slagle to piggyback on an existing narrative, even if that narrative wouldn't resonate with most viewers. The film seems poorly paced; some judicious editing would tighten things up considerably. Slagle also takes liberties with the main elephant in the room: Short's murderer. Despite numerous writers, detectives, and others making claims as to who the killer was, the case is still officially open. Slagle's implication that Short was somehow complicit in her own death due to some liking for S&M is sleazy and distasteful. Erratic, jumbled, and ugly. Pass, pass, pass!

This is a low budget indie film which combines the 1947 Hollywood Black Dahlia slaying with modern times through a haunting if you couldn't tell by the title. Holly(B-movie goddess Devanny Pinn) goes to Hollywood to see her institutionalized blind half brother Tyler (Noah Dahl) who just shot his parents, one of which was her father too, of which Holly seems unemotional. Dr. Brian Owen (Britt Griffith)cares for Tyler. Britt is perhaps best known for his uncredited role as "the tattoo zombie".

Holly stays in a room that has the TV from "Poltergeist." The boring present is eventually interrupted by boring flashbacks to 1947. The acting is as bad as the direction, dialogue and writing. It is on the low end of the indie films, barely keeping its head above the cheese. The concept for the film isn't bad, although it has been done a gazillion times before, normally with "Jack the Ripper" but not the Black Dahlia.

Not worth a Redbox rental even with Devanny Pinn.

Parental Guide: Deals with rape and abortion. Shows a woman with a coat hanger. Near nude shower scene with strategic arm placement. IMDB claims it has the F-bomb in one scene, although I didn't recall any in my Redbox version.