There is no denying the deep infatuation that society as a collective group has with true crime. True-crime documentaries, true-crime TV shows, true-crime podcasts, and essentially anything that has to do with abhorrent criminals clearly fascinate human beings. Trying to understand the inner workings of the mind of a criminal gives us something to sink our teeth into. Plus, because too many human beings are absolutely awful, there are unfortunately always crimes being committed that true-crime fans can try to solve. We are inherently curious creatures, and so mysteries and unsolved crimes naturally draw many of us in.
Specifically, stories about serial killers seem to be the biggest draw for anyone who enjoys crime-solving. There are a plethora of television shows and movies that have been made over the years surrounding this very topic. While we know these criminals are the worst of humankind, trying to pinpoint their motives and attempting to understand their behavior captivates us. How could a person be so awful to another person? How can a person have such disturbing thoughts? How could a person commit such horrifying acts? Those are the questions that we ask ourselves when consuming media like this. Filmmakers clearly have these thoughts as well, as numerous thrillers about serial killers have been made over the decades. Here are 15 classic serial killer thrillers that keep getting better with age:
Related:The Very Best Crime Thrillers of the 2020s (So Far)
15The Vanishing (1988)
Based on the 1984 novella “The Golden Egg” by Dutch novelist Tim Krabbe,The Vanishingfollows a man who obsessively searches for his girlfriend after her sudden disappearance at a rest stop. Rex and Saskia were a young Dutch couple who decided to head to France for a vacation. After Saskia’s disappearance at the rest stop, Rex dedicates the next three years of his life to finding her. Eventually, Rex receives postcards sent from her abductor promising to explain what happened to Saskia. Rex is drawn to her abductor, Raymond Lemorne, by his intense desire to learn the truth behind her disappearance. However, the truth is more sinister than Rex could have possibly imagined.
14Halloween (1978)
The acts that serial killers commit are horrifying and disturbing, so it is unsurprising that many horror films use serial killers as their antagonists. Slasher movies, in particular, use serial murderers as their villains, and one of the first instances of that was with John Carpenter’s game-changing slasherHalloween. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut, the movie follows slasher icon Michael Myers in his relentless pursuit of Laurie Strode (Curtis) and his endless reign of terror in the small town of Haddonfield.Halloweenhas obviously become a staple in the horror genre, but it is also a classic serial killer story that has spawned countless sequels, reboots, and requels. Michael Myers continues to terrorize people while also leaving them awe-struck that he has somehow endured so many attacks over the years.
13Monster (2003)
Charlize Theron is a talented actress that can easily take on any role, but in Patty Jenkins’Monster,she truly becomes Aileen Wuornous, the infamous Daytona Beach serial killer. Theron embodies this deeply traumatized woman with violent instincts in such an unnerving manner that it’s almost disturbing. Aileen Wuornos was a prostitute that was abused as a child and abused even more as an adult by her clients. In 1989, Aileen finally made a friend she could trust and was determined to turn her life around. With no education and limited social skills, it was impossible for her to make a living the way she wanted to. One thing led to another, and she killed a rather brutal client in self-defense. Her one act of self-defense lead to a compulsive killing spree where she would take the victims' money and cars.
12Deep Red (1975)
Before he made his most well-known filmSuspiria, Italian director Dario Argento madeDeep Red. The film begins with a psychic who picks up the thoughts of a murderer in the audience of her show. Soon, she becomes a victim herself. This leads to an English pianist becoming involved in solving the murders, but every avenue of information he finds is cut off by another grizzly murder. Argento’s Giallo films are typically heavy on the atmosphere and visuals, and this film delivers on both fronts. The colors and music enhance the atmosphere of the movie to make the viewer suspect danger at every turn. The camera lingers on the aftermath of the killer’s attacks and leaves subtle clues throughout the film to be picked up only if you are paying attention. It is a perfect film to watch for someone who loves both horror and solving mysteries.
11Scream (1996)
The late Wes Craven gifted movie fans and horror fans with some truly iconic characters and settings in his long-running career. FromThe Hills Have EyestoA Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven crafted twisted yet entertaining stories for us to be completely enraptured by. He reinvigorated the slasher genre in 1996 with the belovedScreamand created one of the most famous slasher killers in cinema history with Ghostface.Screamtakes place in the fictional town of Woodsboro and follows the murders of local teenagers in the pursuit of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). The thing about Ghostface that differentiates him from other serial killers is that heuses victims' knowledge, or lack of knowledge, about horror movies against them before he takes their lives. Ghostface’s entire method is centered around what he’s seen in movies.
10Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Long before he was Yondu in theGuardians of the Galaxytrilogy, Michael Rooker played the titular murderer in the filmHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Loosely based on the real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, the movie follows Henry as he teaches his roommate Otis (Tom Towles) ways to randomly select people to murder. Their killing spree starts after Otis' sister Becky (Tracy Arnold) comes to stay with them. The unforgiving duo target complete strangers and attack their victims in utterly gruesome ways. Henry has zero compassion for anyone and leaves behind absolutely no witnesses of any kind. Any crime thriller that’s based on a true story is inevitably more disturbing, and this film certainly does not shy away from the horrific acts that a serial killer is capable of committing.
9House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Traveling through the backwoods of any state or any country is not something anyone should do, but that is exactly what the two couples inHouse of 1000Corpsesdo. On the eve of Halloween in 1977, four friends embark on a cross-country road trip through the backwoods of Texas to write a guidebook on quirky roadside attractions on America’s backroads. They find an attraction called Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madness only to become engrossed by an urban legend of a deranged serial killer. In their discovery of the museum and the local legend, they cross paths with an odd hitchhiker named Baby (Sherri Moon Zombie) and meet her even more disturbing family. What ensues after this chance encounter is a night of endless sadistic torture and murder.
8Natural Born Killers (1994)
Oliver Stone’s hyper-violent yet stylized film about two serial killers is both wild fun and a commentary on America’s strange obsession with those who commit heinous crimes.Natural Born Killersfollows two victims of traumatizing childhoods, Mickey Knox (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis), as they fall in love and become psychopathic serial killers together. Their killing spree starts with Mallory’s abusive father, and the pair decide to embark on a road trip where they kill essentially everyone in the places they stop at. They strategically leave one person behind at every shootout, so they can tell their story, leading to Mickey and Mallory becoming the latest obsession of the media. Stone’s film, with the help of Quentin Tarantino’s script, does an excellent job of depicting how we as a society become enamored with things we cannot explain, and howwe glorify terrible people in the media.
Related:The 10 Grittiest, Hard-Nosed Detectives in Crime Thrillers
7Black Christmas (1974)
Almost a decade before he directed the classic holiday movieA Christmas Story, Bob Clark directed the Canadian serial killer slasherBlack Christmas.While both of these films take place during Christmas, they could not be more differentBlack Christmastakes place in a college-town sorority house on the cusp of winter break. As the girls are getting ready to depart for the break, they continuously get phone calls from an anonymous male caller who antagonizes the girls on every call. Soon, one of the girls goes missing, and the girls start to fear for their lives. It isn’t until a 13-year-old girl is found dead in a nearby park that the police show any interest in the case. The film is one of the first slasher films to enter the horror genre, and both the music and the camera movements do an excellent job of making the viewer fear the unknown killer that is stalking these sorority sisters.
6Zodiac (2007)
The legend of the Zodiac Killer that plagued Northern California from the ’60s through the ’80s has become well-known to pretty much anyone with internet access.David Fincher has made his fair share of crime thrillers, and in 2007 he decided to make a film about the infamous serial killer. Based on the real-life Robert Graysmith’s book,Zodiacfollows cartoonist and amateur cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was obsessed with finding the serial murderer. The San Francisco police department is taunted with cryptic messages and letters from the killer, leading Graysmith and his fellow detectives to fall into an endless cycle of analyzing reports and documents in the hope of catching him.
