Serial Killer Movies

[GoggleboxUK]

What are your thoughts on serial killer movies?



I'm a fan of the genre myself and I especially like those which are based on true events.



Some of my favourites:



To Catch A Killer: Brian Dennehy excels as the creepy clown Pogo in this depiction of the crimes of John Wayne Gacy.



Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: Loosely based on the confession of Henry Lee Lucas. This is a contorversial movie with some incredibly disturbing and realistic scenes.



Dahmer: Writer/director David Jacobson’s movie about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 15 boys and cannibalized their remains, focuses on understanding the deranged mind of Dahmer, rather than his grisly crimes.



Murder in the Heartland: Superb acting from Tim Roth and Fairuza Balk and brilliantly directed by Bob Markowitz, this is the story of a wannabe tough guy Charlie Starkweather and a 14 year old girl who go on a killing spree across central America.



Bonnie and Clyde: Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway play Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, who robbed small banks in Texas and Oklahoma during the Great Depression days of the 1930s. At the time it was released it was considered one of the most violent films ever produced by mainstream Hollywood.



Summer of Sam: Spike Lee’s portrayal of the Bronx in the summer of 1977 when the Son of Sam (David Berkowitz) terrorized the city by stalking and killing lovers parked in vehicles on the dark streets with a .44 caliber handgun.



Fictional serial killer movies are, I find, often less interesting. There are exceptions of course. I enjoyed all the Hannibal Lecter movies (Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, Hannibal and Hannibal Rising) but on the whole I feel that fictional serial killer movies tend to lack the drama of those based on real events. The Lecter films could be loosely based on the life of Albert Fish so perhaps that's why they stand out.



I also enjoyed May, The Bone Collector, Psycho, 10 Rillington Place, The Cell, The Stepfather, From Hell, Copycat and Kiss the Girls.

[CaptainWaggett]

My Learned Friend is my favourite Will Hay film . BUt Kind Hearts and Coronets is the best serial killer film. Obviously

[dpgmel]

Well lots of Tod's films would qualify here

[jaycad]

'10 rillington place' is by far the best real life serial killer film! Brian dennehy did a good job in his portrayal of john wayne gacy but i've found that this type of film is usually a TV movie so often suffers from budget allowance. Most jack the ripper films are crap as they cannot help focusing on the royal conspiracy theory! The recent ITV films/mini

series have been enjoyable('blackheath poisonings','life and crimes of william palmer','A is for acid' and 'brides in the bath')

[dremble wedge]

name='CaptainWaggett' date='06 July 2010 - 12:57 PM' timestamp='1278417452' post='448389']

Kind Hearts and Coronets is the best serial killer film. Obviously

And the second best is Theatre of Blood. Making it a Dennis double!

[faginsgirl]

name='jaycad' date='06 July 2010 - 01:06 PM' timestamp='1278417969' post='448395']

'10 rillington place' is by far the best real life serial killer film!

Agreed!



The Americans have done some really good serial killer movies but for me it`s the the historical ones like the ones Jaycad has mentioned that send shivers down my spine. I just find modern day serial killer films quite fast moving instead of atmospheric. And I find them a bit like watching the news, a sad and disturbing case of affairs rather than just sitting down with a piece of fiction of course, that`s if it is purely fiction, a lot aren`t.



xx

[Moor Larkin]

It all depends upon how much time they devote to the killing and particularly the violence. Movies that get too cinematic with the entrails and enjoyment of the murders I do find off-putting, especially if they are those ones that line the victims up like targets in some faux intellectual manner.



On the other hand, Vincent Price despatching deserving media hacks in a Shakespearian manner was quite fun.







As an aside,I was reading that http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099864/ It has made a whole generation of children scared of clowns.







as if the live circus industry wasn't in enough trouble already

[Kitty Whiskers]

Dirty Harry - Scorpio may have been a spree killer but that could be too many episodes of Criminal Minds talking.



Definitely 10 Rillington Place. I still jump at the sight of Lord Richard.



I'd also throw in From Hell and Ravenous as favourites.

[Lord Brett]

As a format, especially on TV and in crime novels, I'm finding the whole "super intelligent killer with near paranormal powers" schtick very boring and played out. The Beeb's recent show 'Luther' was a half decent effort, but audiences had simply seen it all before too many times.

[Kitty Whiskers]

name='Lord Brett' date='06 July 2010 - 01:24 PM' timestamp='1278422658' post='448424']

As a format, especially on TV and in crime novels, I'm finding the whole "super intelligent killer with near paranormal powers" schtick very boring and played out. The Beeb's recent show 'Luther' was a half decent effort, but audiences had simply seen it all before too many times.

Yes - almost as boring as the quirky, super-intelligent psychologist/detective with poor social skills and a down-to-earth partner. Almost makes me long for Starsky and Hutch.

[Lord Brett]

name='Kitty Whiskers' date='06 July 2010 - 02:34 PM' timestamp='1278423268' post='448432']

Yes - almost as boring as the quirky, super-intelligent psychologist/detective with poor social skills and a down-to-earth partner. Almost makes me long for Starsky and Hutch.

Yes, I forgot about that one - Luther managed to bag the double in the cop show cliche championships.

[batman]

Daughter of Darkness (1948), with Siobhan McKenna as a female serial killer, is excellent, even more so 'cos it features Maxwell Reed.



My favourite modern serial killer film is The Crimson Rivers with Jean Reno and Vincent Cassell. This is an excellent adaptation of Jean Christophe Grange's terrific novel (even allowing for the sequel friendly change to the end of the story) and well deserved it's international success.



Apart from some of those already mentioned, others that I am partial to include David Fincher's Zodiac and the Korean film Memories of Murder, both of which tell true stories in which the killer is never caught.



US TV movies that I like are Manhunt:Search for the Night Stalker with Richard Jordan and The Case of the Hillside Stranglers with Richard Crenna.



On UK TV, the best one for me has to be This Is Personal with Alan Armstrong, which is about the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper murders. Told from the perspective of senior police officer George Oldfield (brilliantly played by Armstrong) this is an exceptional piece of TV.



I can also endorse the recommendation for Murder in the Heartland (the true story on which Badlands is based) which is a fine two-parter.

[GoggleboxUK]

Nice selection Bats.



In particular Memories of Murder which is a fantastic movie and one that has flown under the radar for most.



Thanks also for the reminder about The Crimson Rivers, another excellent movie which I'll be digging out to watch again now that my memory has been jogged.



I haven't seen This is Personal but will try and track down a copy.

[dremble wedge]

As for productions that don't feature Dennis Price



I would nominate See No Evil: The Moors Murders which I found to be very good indeed...

[batman]

name='GoggleboxUK' date='06 July 2010 - 04:02 PM' timestamp='1278428571' post='448478']



I haven't seen This is Personal but will try and track down a copy.

My poor ol' PC still can't do copies, however .....



LINK: http://www.ioffer.com/i/this-is-pers...-dvd-116657283

[GoggleboxUK]

name='batman' date='06 July 2010 - 04:16 PM' timestamp='1278429390' post='448488']

My poor ol' PC still can't do copies, however .....



LINK: http://www.ioffer.com/i/this-is-pers...-dvd-116657283

Cheers Bats, my order is in.



While I'm here, I can't believe I forgot to mention Seven amongst my list of fave non-real SK films and Monster with the delectable Charlize Theron looking remarkably unlike the delectable Charlize Theron.

[will.15]

I know it's only me, but I thought Monster was a tedious bore. I gave up on it long before the end.

[batman]

Does Angels and Demons count? I know I am in a minority but I thought it was really good and did feature a serial killer and a lot of the elements of the genre.



ps - Crimson Rivers 2 is OK, but not in the class of the original.

[Steve Crook]

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. (1920)

M (1931)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Psycho (1960)

Monster (2003)



Plus quite a few of the ones already mentioned



Steve

[Timmy_Lea]

I find the 'based on a true story' ones a bit ghoulish for the most part, by their very nature the true to life ones often ignore the victims concentrating on an at times sensationalist study of the killer. They are very much a pornography of violence.