Best Serial Killer Movies
Dominated by TV Movies, TV Miniseries, Art Films and cheap direct to Video releases. Skilled actors really shine in the role Harmon, Dennehy, Rooker, Renner, Sheen, Theron, Railsback all did career high points with their performances.
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- DirectorDavid FincherStarsJake GyllenhaalRobert Downey Jr.Mark RuffaloBetween 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.As the case goes cold so does this movie, its a brilliant work. Structured and paced to follow the story of one man's investigation of the serial killer. It gives you tons of data more than most documentaries on the subject in a completely engrossing and unnerving way. Robert Downey jr is perfectly cast.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.Looks at Starkweather and Fugate from an artistic manner that is a reflection of more of what the director saw them as rather than what they were. That makes them more than what they were but what they may have seen themselves. It makes itself more vivid portal into what was expected and what happened.
- StarsMark HarmonFrederic ForrestGeorge GrizzardThe story of serial killer, Ted Bundy.Harmon is good extremely good in his portrayal. He outshines the rest of the cast and the quality of the production. It all struggles to keep up with him.
- StarsMichael CaineArmand AssanteRay McAnallyA Scotland Yard police inspector, battling the booze, investigates the Jack the Ripper murders and discovers a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the Queen.Heavily fictionalized as most Jack movies are. However the acting is brilliant.
- 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.Hunting a serial killer in Russia. Focuses more on the hunter than the hunted. It is extraordinary interesting as the iron curtain refuses at times to admit they even have a serial killer.
- 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.Dennehy does an outstanding job with his take on Gacy. The subject matter does not lend itself well to television which hurts it. It is also does not feel in the slightest like the Chicago land area in 1978. Generally very similar to the Deliberate Stranger where an actor out shines the work he is in.
- 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.Another fictionalized store but wow what a shocking evil little movie about a very evil man. It catches the spirit of his claims, truthful or not.
Its not ranked higher because too often it is exploitation and not exploration. If it had not fictionalized itself into what it was it could be justified. - DirectorPatty JenkinsStarsCharlize TheronChristina RicciBruce DernBased on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.Aileen was much more tragic than this movie. That this movie was made is the icy on her tragic cake of life. The acting again is outstanding.
- DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsJohnny DeppHeather GrahamIan HolmAfter five ritualistic murders are committed in 1888 London, Inspector Abberline's assignment is to investigate the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Along with a string of mutilated prostitutes, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the government.Beautifully filmed fictionalized and comic book look at Jack. Its a very will made movie. Depp's detective a dark twist on Sherlock in a pitch black tale.
- DirectorSvetozar RistovskiStarsWilliam ForsytheJesse MossEmma LahanaA chronicle of the interaction between college student Jason Moss and the object of his obsession, serial killer John Wayne Gacy.Creepy true story about the fun a serial murderer can have on death row. Different from most of these movies on this list in that its after fact.
- StarsGeorge DiCenzoSteve RailsbackNancy WolfeThe investigation and trial of the horrific Tate-LaBianca mass murders orchestrated by the psychotic pseudo-hippie cult leader, Charles Manson.The level of realism is high. The acting spot on. Not ranked higher as Bugliosi's work that the script in based on is heavy handed in parts to be almost an episode of Dragnet. Bugliosi extends a grandeur upon scum while at the same time scraping boney fingers together in a holier than thou style of simply crap. What happened was a product of its time without question. Is it safe to over simplify it, no. It is an easy moral high ground of course. This is not a matter to just blankly report nor is it a matter to dismiss without a deeper exploration of why.
- DirectorStephen KayStarsRobert ForsterMichael MicheleMaury ChaykinAfter 31 years at-large, detectives in Wichita, Kansas home in on the serial killer known as BTK.Robert Forester does a solid job in a bland role. Something about the extremely lean no frills television production and its very factual story telling. Interject that with Forester's monotone world wary and deeply sad performance makes this one feel real.
- DirectorJud TaylorStarsMartin SheenHector ElizondoMatt Clark"Out of the Darkness" is a gripping thriller telling the true story of the hunt and capture of David Berkowitz, a.k.a. "Son of Sam" - the infamous serial killer who stalked New York City in the 1970s.Son of Sam from the view of a cop after him a bit to much focus on the family of the cop. Martin Sheen is outstanding.
- DirectorJoel BenderStarsLaura PreponMisha CollinsPatrick BauchauBased on real events, Paul Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, kidnap, sexually abuse, and murder three young girls.
- DirectorBill EaglesStarsBruce GreenwoodSam JaegerSarah ManninenA series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsJohn LeguizamoAdrien BrodyMira SorvinoSpike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American Northeast Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.
- DirectorAlexandre MoorsStarsIsaiah WashingtonTequan RichmondTim Blake NelsonAn abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure. Inspired by the real-life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks.
- DirectorDavid JacobsonStarsJeremy RennerBruce DavisonArtel GreatBiopic about notorious American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, taking place in both the past and the present.
- DirectorRupert GooldStarsJames FrancoJonah HillFelicity JonesWhen disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel meets accused killer Christian Longo - who has taken on Finkel's identity - his investigation morphs into a game of cat-and-mouse.
- DirectorJim Van BebberStarsMarcelo GamesMarc PitmanLeslie OrrA dramatization of the horrific and notorious Manson Family Murders, in the form of super 8 home movies.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsKlaus KinskiJosephine ChaplinHerbert FuxA serial killer whose mother was a prostitute starts killing streetwalkers as a way of paying back his mother for her abuse.
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsNathan PhillipsCassandra MagrathKestie MorassiThree backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsLucas PittawayDaniel HenshallLouise HarrisBased on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsTony CurtisHenry FondaGeorge KennedyA series of brutal murders in Boston sparks a seemingly endless and increasingly complex manhunt.
- DirectorChuck ParelloStarsC. Thomas HowellNicholas TurturroAllison LangeKenneth is obsessed with the police, he moves to LA with his cousin, Angelo convinces him to start a prostitution business. Frustrated decide on revenge, feeling a great pleasure with her death. The two cousins become addicted to death.