Netflix's Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel Is So Scary You May Have to Check Out

In this first look at Netflix's Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, the dark history of Los Angeles' "Hotel Death" is examined, including the disappearance of Elisa Lam.

By Alyssa Ray Jan 26, 2021 9:56 PMTags
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Room service? More like, doom service.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Netflix dropped the first look at its latest true crime documentary series, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. Season one of the series, which will premiere on February 10, will unpack the dark history of Downtown Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel (aka "Hotel Death.")

In the just-released footage below, a voice-over warns, "Throughout its history, the Hotel Cecil has always had a dark persona."

Per the preview, the infamous hotel was "a place where serial killers let their hair down." Case in point: Serial killer Richard Ramirez, whose twisted story is examined in Netflix's documentary Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer, was allegedly seen at the Cecil Hotel "covered in blood."

Yet, it's not the Night Stalker being examined in this bone-chilling docu-series. Rather, the Joe Berlinger-directed series will take a closer look at the disappearance and death of Elisa Lam.

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According to Netflix's description, "the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles has been linked to some of the city's most notorious activity, from untimely deaths to housing serial killers. In 2013 college student Elisa Lam was staying at the Cecil when she vanished, igniting a media frenzy and mobilizing a global community of internet sleuths eager to solve the case. Lam's disappearance, the latest chapter in the hotel's complex history, offers a chilling and captivating lens into one of LA's most nefarious settings."

The last footage of Lam makes this case particularly fascinating as she was seen acting oddly inside the hotel's elevator.

One man notes in the trailer below, "It makes people wonder, 'Is there something evil going on here?'"

Netflix

Berlinger, who is best known for creating and directing Netflix's Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, also serves as an executive producer for Crime Scene. Other executive producers include Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Jon Doran, Jon Kamen and Ryan Miller.

Catch the eerie trailer below.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel premieres Wednesday, Feb. 10 on Netflix.

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