March 31, 2008— -- If you were trying to stage a Hollywood career comeback at the age of 21, you probably wouldn't choose to star in a dark, low-budget movie about the murder of John Lennon.

But then you're not Lindsay Lohan.

The movie, "Chapter 27," opened this weekend to dismal reviews and even worse box office numbers. And that's got some industry insiders scratching their heads about just where Lohan goes from here.

Bradley Jacobs, who reviewed "Chapter 27" for US Weekly and gave it just one and half stars out of four, said he thinks Lohan is not choosing the right roles.

"I thought her role in it was totally disposable," Jacobs said. "Maybe she thought it would be cool to be in this film, but she just continues to choose these dark off-beat movies and that's not her strength."

Nevertheless, Lohan announced just this week that she has signed on to another film where murder and mental illness are the central themes.

Lohan will play the part of Nancy Pitman, one of Charles Manson's followers in the upcoming movie "Manson Girls."

There's no getting around the fact that a role in "Manson Girls" is a long step down from the lead in "Mean Girls" -- one of Lohan's biggest box office successes to date.

Overall her 10 movies have grossed a collective $433 million dollars, according to Brandon Gray, President of Box Office Mojo, an online box office reporting service.

"Between the poor movie choices and getting herself into the news in unseemly ways, she has run her brand into the ground," Gray said.

"Getting into the news in unseemly ways" is a rather polite way of describing Lohan's behavior over the past few years.

Her multiple stints in rehab, arrests for suspected DUI and cocaine possession led to a reputation for being unreliable and worse yet for a film actress, insurance underwriters declared her uninsurable for a time.

For months, Lohan's "girls gone wild" actions provided the tabloids with plenty of material.

But that was then, and now, it seems, Lohan is trying to become one of Hollywood's newest comeback kids.

"For the last month or so, it has definitely seemed like she has laid the ground work for a comeback," Jacobs said. "She has seemed more serious. Whenever you see her out she is drinking water and behaving well."