The fascination with serial killers continues to grow in movies and TV, in both fictional and nonfiction worlds. With the ending of Netflix’s massive hit, You, comes a continuation of Dexter Morgan’s story in Dexter: Resurrection on Showtime. After a massive success telling the stories of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, Monster is about to release a third season, covering Ed Gein, who was somewhat inspiring to Tobe Hooper’s fictional killer Leatherface.
While it wasn’t a great film, M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap was financially a hit just last year and praised for Josh Hartnett’s creepy and memorable performance as serial killer Cooper. Serial killers are still very much in.
Serial killers go hand-in-hand with the horror genre, and granted, one could make the argument that most, if not all, slasher movies are serial killer movies. Personally, I feel like there’s a distinct difference in tone, and while some slashers may have their roots in real-life serial killer inspiration, like Ghostface and the Gainesville Ripper, I think blending the two subgenres does a disservice to each and to those wanting two separate tonal feels in their recommendations. Don’t expect to see slasher movies on this list. My apologies to Michael and Freddy.
There are a lot of serial killer films out there, and many of them are incredibly good. However, it takes a certain special breed of these movies to stick with you long after they’re over, and I feel this curation covers all the bases of being extremely engaging during the watch, haunting you after the watch, and includes fantastic performances that won’t be forgotten.
8Se7en (1995)
It’s obvious by his filmography (and this list) that David Fincher has a fascination with murder. Long before Gone Girl and his Netflix run with Mindhunter, Fincher created one of the grittiest and darkest horror thrillers of the ‘90s with Se7en. Academy Award winners Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, and Gwyneth Paltrow lead the cast, and the story follows a rookie and a veteran detective on the hunt for a serial killer who murders his victims in accordance with the seven deadly sins.
Se7en is a gnarly and gruesome noir film, with an Arkham-esque feeling for the rainy, drab unnamed city that the story takes place in. The victims meet brutal and violent ends, creatively staged in themes for their respective sins. The final act, with its iconic “What’s in the box?” moment, will send shivers down your spine, and you’ll be going back and questioning whether every move the protagonists make was the right one.
7Frailty (2001)
Arguably the most underrated film on this list, Frailty was Bill Paxton’s feature-film directorial debut, and he hit it out of the park, both behind the camera and in front of it. Paxton plays Dad Meiks, the father of two boys who wants to train them in the art of “demon eradication” after receiving visions from God. He has a mental list of people he sees as demonic and plans to dispatch them one by one with his faithful axe, which he’s named Otis. Paxton’s portrayal is unhinged, and it’s one of the most in-depth roles of a career and life that was cut too short.
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Paxton is joined by young actors (at the time), Matt O’Leary and Jeremy Sumpter, who are phenomenal as the Meiks children. Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe are fantastic in small roles in the story’s wraparound, contributing to a solid film all around, and an ending that will leave you questioning reality. The story is based on the real-life serial killer Joseph Kallinger, which adds a level of realism to a tale that could potentially be seen as supernatural. This one likely slid under your radar and is fully worthy of your attention.
6Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Another film loosely based on a real serial killer (Henry Lee Lucas), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer features Michael Rooker in the first film role of his career, for which he apparently stayed in character even when the cameras weren’t rolling. Rooker plays Henry, a man who teaches his new roommate how to be a serial killer.
John McNaughton (Wild Things) made a grimy, grainy, realistic film. The movie originally received an X rating for its graphic and violent scenes and has been credited as one of the few movies responsible for the creation of the MPAA’s NC-17 rating, according to Rolling Stone. This isn’t necessarily a fun watch (are any of these movies?), and it may not be one you view more than once, but it’s certainly one that sticks with you.
5Deep Red (1975)
It’s an injustice to have a serial killer movie list without including at least one Giallo film, and while there are many Dario Argento movies I could have picked, including Opera or his first, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, I think Deep Red (or Profondo Rosso) fits best. Deep Red is kind of an all-encompassing serial killer horror film with a simple murder mystery story; it includes a traumatic backstory, an unpredictable premise, folklore, cringeworthy kills, a groovy, jazzy soundtrack, creepy dolls, and an ending that will leave you wide-eyed. The story follows a journalist and a musician who try and solve the case following the killing of a psychic who openly feels the killer’s murderous thoughts.
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Deep Red is Argento’s highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes (tied with Suspiria at 94%) and is a little more believable than his other films in the same subgenre, due to leaving out most of the supernatural feel that many of his other entries contain. Deep Red also has the honor of being the first horror soundtrack recorded by Goblin, who would become an Italian horror staple throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. Argento originally wanted Pink Floyd to do the music, but that dream ended after a disastrous interview with the band’s members.
4Creep (2014)
Mark Duplass (Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal) has long been known for his comedy in The League and The Morning Show, which pretty much makes him a perfect casting for Josef, a goofy and disturbed weirdo who hires Aaron, an online freelance videographer, to come to his house and record a final message for his son after finding out he’s dying. Patrick Brice’s (who also stars in the film) Creep has the audience follow Josef’s compounding twisted behaviors, all while increasingly hoping that Aaron gets the hell out of there. Especially once we meet Peachfuzz, Josef’s menacing werewolf mask.
Creep is truly one of the most intense and best found footage horror films out there. Its minimal budget mixed with an obvious strong passion from its creators was rewarded with success, and Creep 2 was released in 2017, and is just as good as the first film. Brice and Duplass continued the franchise with 2024, with a Shudder exclusive six-episode series titled The Creep Tapes.
3I Saw the Devil (2010)
Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil put a new spin on serial killer movies; an angle that had the audience rooting for a protagonist character to commit the same type of brutality they hate the villain for. The story follows Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) as an NIS (National Intelligence Service in Korea) agent whose pregnant fiancée is brutally murdered by a prolific serial killer, played by Oldboy’s Choi Min-sik. The agent quickly figures out who has been perpetrating the murders, and instead of turning the killer in, begins to stalk, catch, torture, and release him on repeat.
While you never explicitly find yourself feeling sorry for the serial killer (he’s a horrible person), you do begin to wonder whether you should actually be cheering for such brutality against him. The story is a tad melodramatic, as many Korean cop dramas are, but it’s fast-paced, beautifully shot, the acting is superb, and the final scene will blow your mind. This one is pretty bleak, beginning to end.
2The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
It’s pretty much impossible to have a serial killer movie list of any kind and not include Josh Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs. A winner of five Oscars, the Thomas Harris novel adaptation is often credited as one of the best movies ever made. The premise follows FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she recruits help from an imprisoned serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), to catch an active serial killer known by the alias Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine).
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While Hopkins gets all the roses for his portrayal of Lecter, and certainly deserved his Oscar win regardless of only 24 minutes of screen-time (16 minutes of actual face time), it’s Ted Levine’s chilling performance as Jame Gumb that haunts the audience. His exceedingly unraveling behavior, cold, direct nature, and scarily realistic patterns make Levine the most underappreciated talent of the movie. This is the most quotable and most popular film on the list, and if you haven’t seen it, this should be your first watch.
1Zodiac (2007)
We’re ending where we started, again with a masterpiece for David Fincher. 2007’s Zodiac details the real-life murders and investigation that took place in the San Francisco Bay during 1968 and 1969. Not only is the film beautifully shot and edited, but it has a star-studded cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Brian Cox, Dermot Mulroney, and an absolutely chilling performance from horror fan favorite, John Carroll Lynch. In my opinion, even though the pacing feels a little slow at times, this is arguably David Fincher’s best film (I’m also a sucker for Gone Girl).
Simply put, Zodiac has one of the most haunting scenes in all of horror, and one that easily made Shudder’s 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments docuseries. The extremely realistic scene opens on a couple enjoying a picnic next to a lake, and after being confronted by the Zodiac killer, they are violently tied up and horrifically stabbed repeatedly in front of one another. It’s a scene that has stuck with me since the initial viewing, and one I have to prepare myself mentally for with every subsequent watch.
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