James Cox
Wonderland

Wonderland is the suburb of Los Angeles, in the Hollywood Hills, that went down in history for the infamous massacre that occurred on the night between June 30 and July 1, 1981, where four people were slaughtered and a fifth one suffered permanent injuries.

This chilling crime story is told in this wonderful no-frills noir (just an hour and a half long) that does not shy away from throwing dirt on gangster Eddy Nash (the king of Hollywood's nightclubs) and especially on John Holmes (the king of porn), who in this film comes across as a reckless drug addict, mindless and cowardly, managing to make the human sewers he mingled with seem decent.

An amazing film from every point of view. The reasons for its commercial failure are all too understandable. No major Hollywood studio wanted to finance it because none of them wanted to go up against Eddy Nash. 

Another great underrated and/or forgotten film where the search for the truth assumes the same importance as the truth itself, told with a magnificent non-linear editing, and with a screenplay that merges flashbacks with the (authentic) statements (recorded on paper and tape but never formally documented) of David Lind and Holmes himself. Two statements made of truths and lies. From the truths of both accounts, we have the real dynamics of the carnage.

We cannot know the true details. One thing is certain. The king of porn – present or not – is, without any reasonable doubt, an accomplice in the multiple homicides.

The trial story and the incredible outcome

In the trial State vs. Holmes and Nash, despite Lind's testimony, Holmes and Nash are acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
John Holmes died of AIDS in 1988.
Then, in 2000, surprisingly, Eddy Nash declares himself the instigator of the massacre. For this admission, he is sentenced to three years in prison. You read that right: three years. When the film came out (2003), he was a free man.