The 20 best serial killer movies
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19 titles
- DirectorChris GerolmoStarsStephen ReaDonald SutherlandMax von SydowDuring the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.Based on Russian serial killer Andre Chikatilo, great TV movie, great acting, very disturbing
- StarsBrian DennehyMichael RileyMargot KidderGood friend and neighbour John Wayne Gacy entertained children and ran a business. However, he hid a dark secret as a violent serial killer who raped and murdered over 30 young boys.Yet another TV movie, this starring the always reliable Brian Dennahy (First blood) as serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 3 hours long but grips you from start to finish. Unfortunately not available on DVD anymore, PLEASE RELEASE THIS!
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWilliam PetersenKim GreistJoan AllenFormer FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.Better than Silence, Hannibal and Red Dragon (only my opinion), this to me is the best adaptation of a Thomas Harris script. Available to buy relatively cheap now.
- DirectorUlli LommelStarsKurt RaabJeff RodenMargit CarstensenUsing his status as a police informant to procure his victims, baby-faced, shaven-headed Fritz Haarmann dismembers their bodies after death and sells the flesh to restaurants, dumping the remainder out of sight.Little seen movie based on gay serial killer Frittz Haarrman, who murdered young boys, and was tried and beheaded for his crimes. Arrow video have put out a great DVD/blu ray combo of this classic
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.Top movie, very scary, not as bloody as one would think. Available in several versions.
- DirectorJeff GillenAlan OrmsbyStarsRoberts BlossomCosette LeeLeslie CarlsonA deranged rural farmer becomes a grave robber and murderer after the death of his possessive mother, whose corpse he keeps, among others, as his companion in a decaying farmhouse.Based on the exploits of Ed Gein, this movie features effects created by the wizard of gore Tom Savini, Available as a special edition through Arrow films
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsDavid HemmingsDaria NicolodiGabriele LaviaA jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.Dario Argento is the king of giallo and this to me is his greatest movie, Arrow films have put out a great boxset of this
- DirectorClive SaundersStarsMark HoltonAdam BaldwinTom WaldmanModel citizen, devoted father, loving husband and serial killer John Wayne Gacy - a man with over 30 dead men and boys entombed in the crawl space underneath his family house. Based on a true story.Great film, great acting, based on my face serial killer
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsTony MusanteSuzy KendallEnrico Maria SalernoAn American expatriate in Rome attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of an attempted murder - and is now hunting him and his girlfriend.Argento again, available in UK by Arrow and in America by Blue Underground
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsJack HedleyAlmanta SuskaHoward RossA burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.This movie is brutal, very violent from Italian splatter maestro Lucio Fulci, very nasty, cut in the UK, uncut versions are available in Sweden and Us
- DirectorJames WanStarsCary ElwesLeigh WhannellDanny GloverTwo strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game.The original and best entry, lost interest after no 3
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.John Carpenters greatest film in my opinion, like Chainsaw, available in multiple versions, best version has TV version on it from Anchor bay
- DirectorRobert HallStarsBobbi Sue LutherKevin GageLena HeadeyA young girl wakes up in a casket with a head injury and no memory of her identity. She quickly realizes she was abducted by a serial killer and she must fight to survive.
- DirectorDavid R. BowenStarsCarl CrewCassidy PhillipsDonna Stewart BowenBased on the life of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered 17 men and ate many of them before he was caught in 1991.Not fantastic but I really enjoyed this, the main actor looks very much like Dahmer, available on budget in UK, Us has a great special edition
- DirectorJohn BorowskiStarsTony JayEd BertagnoliCary CallisonTorture chambers, acid vats, greased chutes and gassing rooms were just some of the devices of death designed by the Torture Doctor, H.H. Holmes in his castle of horrors. Follows Holmes' entire life as a criminal mastermind.Not actually a movie but a very gripping documentary on Americas first serial killer, Martin Scorsese is supposedly making a film based on him
- DirectorJohn BorowskiStarsOto BrezinaJoe ColemanBob DunsworthA documentary about Albert Fish, who was a sadistic and cannibalistic serial killer.Another documentary, this time Albert Fish, see also the Grey man.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.Great film, very low budget, initially cut by bbfc, now available fully uncut in UK by Optimum
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsAbel FerraraCarolyn MarzBaybi DayAn artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.Abel Ferrara's debut movie, originally a video nasty, available uncut now
- DirectorJohn HerzfeldStarsRobert De NiroEdward BurnsKelsey GrammerA homicide detective and a fire marshal must stop a pair of murderers who commit videotaped crimes to become media darlings.Very underrated movie, great cast, Robert De Niro, Kelsey Grammar, well worth a watch