Hardly any subject fascinates people these days as much as serial killers. How do these people who are capable of such inhuman acts tick? Why are they so fascinating? And what would it take to descend into the psyche of a serial killer in order to finally arrest him? All these questions are not only addressed in reality, but also in many feature films. To give you a better understanding of the highlights of this subgenre, we would now like to present you a list of the best serial killer movies of all time.
Of course, it was not only important to focus on true events and to find real serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy and Co. (we will certainly do that elsewhere in list form). Here we look at works that have either played a decisive role in expanding the myth of the serial killer, which we want to recommend to you as insider tips, or are, very crude, just very, very good and of course sorted by MOVIE STARTS rating.
In times when streaming services in particular are literally inundating us with serial killer and true crime content, this list should help you discover the highlights of this genre in the movie industry:
We’ve listed the 20 best movies from serial killer cinema for you. Masterpieces, gems and insider tips that will captivate you, send a shiver down your spine and burn into your memory. Have fun with it!
Best Serial Killer Movies of All Time – #20
Mr. Brooks – The Killer in You (2007)
Director: Bruce A Evans
Actors: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore
“Mr. Brooks – The Murderer in You” was celebrated as a reinvention by Kevin-Costner at the time, as the charismatic Hollywood oldie played a real villain for the first time in his career! And what a! Costner takes on the role of the highly respected Mr. Earl Brooks – a successful businessman, always well dressed, respected by those around him and with a wife and children. No one would suspect a dark secret of this bourgeois man and yet Earl has one. The respected citizen is driven by a dark addiction that repeatedly forces him to kill people.
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“Mr. Brooks – The Murderer Inside” attempts to give its viewers a deeper understanding of a serial killer’s mentality. But since constant monologues would be exhausting and almost silly, director Bruce A. Evans takes a different approach and gives the killer a divided personality, who is well aware of the other half and acts in constant interaction with each other, especially thanks to the excellent performance of Kevin Costner, who switches back and forth between a loving family man and a ruthless addict killer and thus one of the best performance of his career.
Best Serial Killer Movies – #19
La Isla Minima – Killerland (2014)
Director: Albert Rodriguez
Actors: Raúl Arevalo, Javier Gutierrez, Antonio de la Torre
With “La Isla Minima – Mörderland”, director Alberto Rodriguez has succeeded in creating a haunting crime drama set several years after the end of the fascist Franco dictatorship, reflecting the time through a serial killer spreading fear and terror in a small village . The captivating mood seizes with an extremely oppressive mood and remains long in the memory in its tragedy.
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Detective Pedro (Raúl Arévalo) is transferred to the sleepy town of Villafranco del Guadalquivir. Here he gets Juan (Javier Gutiérrez), who also comes from Madrid, as a colleague, and whom Pedro immediately dislikes. But there is no time for disagreements, because two teenage sisters have disappeared. When another young woman disappears, the investigators realize that they are not dealing with innocent runaways, but with a gruesome series of murders…
Best Serial Killer Movies – #18
Death Proof (2007)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Actors: Kurt Russell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosario Dawson
When you think of serial killer movies, Quentin Tarantino’s grindhouse action extravaganza might not be the first thing that springs to mind – but stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is a real-life and above all insane serial killer who even converted his “surefire” car so that he could drive through effortlessly and without a trace. the area can tear and run over young women.
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Quentin Tarantino’s contribution to the grindhouse double movie (the other half is provided by Robert Rodriguez with “Planet Terror”) is a gritty hybrid of road movie, serial killer rip-off, and B-movie action movie that thankfully doesn’t focus on the irritating chauvinistic killer. , but his female opponents, who dented the stuntman’s sheet metal as he got older.
Best Serial Killer Movies – #17
Alexandre Ajas Maniac (2012)
Director: Frank Khalfoun
Actors: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder, America Olivo
William Lustig’s “Maniac” is a true ’80s classic and still a raucous contemporary must-see document. What Franck Khalfoun and screenwriter-producer Alexandre Aja managed to pull off with the 2012 remake of the same name is even more remarkable. From the point of view of the sex offender played by Elijah Wood, no prisoners are taken here – and that’s not only brutal, but staged with an incredible will to style.
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Frank (Elijah Wood) is the owner of a mannequin shop. The young man leads a reserved and closed life. But when the beautiful photographer Anna (Nora Arnezeder) enters his life, that changes. A relationship develops between the two, but what Anna does not know: Frank has a dark side. At night he lurks young women, kills and scalps them, to set up mannequins that imitate them in his apartment …
Best Serial Killer Movies – #16
Hitcher the Highway Killer (1986)
Director: Robert Harmon
Actors: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
What Jaws was to beach vacations, Hitcher was to road trips. In any case, Robert Harmon rekindled the pre-existing fear of driving endless highways at night. That the thriller is still extremely under the skin today is due to the deeply terrifying performance of Rutger Hauer, probably his best career performance as a sadistic serial killer.
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Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) is driving down the highway at night when he hitchhikes a man. He introduces himself as John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), but turns out to be a psychopathic serial killer who threatens Jim with death. The panicked young man manages to throw the madman out of the car – only to be chased mercilessly by Ryder…