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It’s strange that I’m writing this, but serial killers are a fascination for many people. For various reasons, people find scheming in the psyche of these criminals. It’s a pathological study that reflects our curiosity about our mortality and how someone could have taken their own life in such a systematic way. Whether they are real or based on true events, movies that fit the serial killer genre mold will always have an audience.
These movies mainly fall into the sub-category of the horror-thriller category. Classics like David Fincher Seven And Horoscope come to mind. In addition to popular slasher films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre And mental patient. But with so many high profiles in relation to its audience, there’s still a lot that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Here are 10 of the most underrated serial killer movies of all time.
10 The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
the trailer alone to Poughkeepsie bars It’s enough to put you on edge. When ten bodies are found in a residential home in Poughkeepsie, New York, the police also discover something even more disturbing. 800 videotapes released by the killer himself, committing all his vile acts to his victims. Blending found footage with the fantasy genre, this fantasy movie sometimes just doesn’t feel so fantastical. The interview footage may not have some of the best acting performances, but the footage from the unearthed tapes sometimes feels like a sniffer film.
The fact that the film wasn’t released when it was supposed to adds to the myth of feeling more dangerous and perhaps controversial. It is definitely a movie that you dare see for yourself. He never crosses the line, but walks to it.
9 The Sisters (1972)
An early directorial effort by Brian De Palma proves he was in the genre. Sisters The film is about a journalist (Jennifer Salt) who witnesses her neighbor killing someone and calls the police about it. She is met with skepticism by law enforcement and the suspect herself (Margot Kidder). There are huge twists and turns that will make you see double. Sisters It looks like a tribute to the iconic films of Alfred Hitchcock, yet it stands on its own two feet as a suspenseful cult classic.
8 Road Games (1981)
The Australian outback is the setting for this movie, and it absorbs the atmosphere well. road games Stars Stacy Keech as an American truck driver by the name of Pat Quaid. On the job, he becomes suspicious of the driver of a mysterious green truck and suspects him of killing young women along his way. Quaid picks up a hitchhiker by the name of Pamela (Jamie Lee Curtis), who eventually goes missing, and it becomes a race against time to save her.
road games It has moments of playing in suspense, but never going full blown horror. There’s a comic sense to Keach’s carefree performance, and Curtis doesn’t play her as a damsel in distress. But it is a movie that fans of the genre have welcomed and commented on with great respect.
7 Frielty (2001)
An unforgettable dark gothic tale with amazing plot twists. fragility It is the directorial debut of Bill Paxton, who also stars in the film as a man commanded by God to kill those he believes are demons. And what makes it even scarier is that he brought his two sons to help him do it. The film is a product of its time, with its suspense scares. It lacks gore but makes up for it in psychological horror.
The sudden twists and turns and endings were a metaphor for an era that could be traumatic fragility upon its launch. But movie lovers came back to this one and recognized its status as a cult movie.
6 The Snowtown Murders (2011)
based on a true story, snowtown is a grim look at the so-called “Keg Murders”. A series of killings in South Australia during the 1990s. Most of the cast is relatively unknown, and this helps with the believability of their performances, which can give you chills. Daniel Henshall heads up the cast as a violent predator who takes his girlfriend’s son under his wing to help with his violent crime spree. The film is gritty because of its documentary feel at times. And it’s another testament to the fact that no one else can make crime films like the Australians.
5 Deep Red (1975)
You can’t have a list of serial killer movies without at least one Italian Giallo. If you need an introduction to the films of Dario Argento, suspense One way to go. the other Deep Red. The film follows a musician trying to solve the murder case of a psychic whose body he discovered. It’s a great introduction to the Italian murder mystery films of the ’60s and ’70s, as it is one of Argento’s best works.
Everything in his director’s toolbox is on offer here: bloody cutscenes, creative camera work, and a fun soundtrack. Deep Red A Time Capsule is an exercise in suspense that pays off in surprising endings and plenty of bloodshed along the way. And let’s not forget the creepy doll.
4 The Clovehitch Killer 2018 movie with subtitles
After its release in 2018, Klovich Killer Its attraction caught on streaming during the pandemic. The movie tells the story of Tyler (Charlie Plummer), a teenage boy growing up in a religious home who uncovers information that could tear it all apart. He discovers disturbing photos in his father’s possession linking him to the murder of 13 girls 10 years earlier. Dylan McDermott plays Tyler’s father, Don.
It’s a role that feels like a change of pace for him, and it works really well. Klovich Killer It is a different type of serial killer movie that also deals with the loss of innocence of the protagonist and also has shades of upcoming drama.
3 Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
You can argue with that Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer It is one of the most disturbing movies ever made. However, there is a way to her madness. At its eighty-three minute running time, the movie is slow and tight that doesn’t quite give us a quick, cheap killing of the main character. Every outrageous act Henry (Michael Rooker) is involved in is slow and in your face. There’s a gritty, sloppy tone to the movie, much like a snuff movie would make you feel. Oddly enough, it never feels like exploitation.
It’s thanks to director John McNaughton and Michael Rooker in the title role, whose screen presence is unnerving even if all he does is stare into a mirror.
2 M (1931)
After not too long Metropolisthen Firtz Lang will give us a model of the serial killer type from 1931, M. The film centers on a city-wide manhunt to catch a man who kidnaps and kills children. The interesting thing about this movie is that both the police and organized crime are out to catch the killer. Cinema was still a very young art form at that time, yet people still used it M as a reference point. The movie is close to 100 years old, and to this day, there are plenty of serial killer movies to stand on.
1 Manhunter (1986)
Five Years Ago directed by Jonathan Demme Silence of the Lambs And Anthony Hopkins was playing Hannibal Lecter, and there was another movie that was the first of the Hannibal stories, manhunter. Directed by Michael Mann and based on the novel by Thomas Harris red dragon, stars Brian Cox as Lector (variously spelled) and William Peterson as Will Graham, an FBI profiler who comes out of retirement to track down a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy. And as the formula says, Lecktor helps Graham catch the killer.
The film opened to mixed reviews and, for a while, struggled to step out of the shadow of the Hannibal films that would follow. One of which is 2002’s Red Dragon, another direct adaptation of the same source material as manhunter. Eventually, it will get its flowers, achieve cult movie status, and be another great part of director Michael Mann’s films.
