CAST
CHARLIZE THERON, CHRISTINA RICCI, BRUCE DERN, LEE TERGESEN, ANNIE CORLEY

DIRECTED BY
PATTY JENKINS

The 2003 true crime thriller Monster stood out for two reasons: its chilling and confronting story of Aileen Wuornos and her descent into murder, and the transformation of Charlize Theron who bagged an Oscar for her memorable performance as Aileen.

Unflinching in its brutality, yet tender in its love story between Theron and Christian Ricci, Monster is a serial killer movie that will move and sicken you with equal measure.

CAST
JULIETTE LEWIS, WOODY HARRELSON, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., TOM SIZEMORE, TOMMY LEE JONES

DIRECTED BY
OLIVER STONE

Oliver Stone’s hyper kinetic meditation on violence and the media headlined a pair of lovebird serial killers, Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis), whose love for bloodshed rivals that for one another.

Featuring a story by Quentin Tarantino and a supporting cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones and Tom Sizemore, Natural Born Killers is easily one of Stone’s most brutal and controversial films.

CAST
SEAN BEAN, PADDY CONSADINE, ANDREW GARFIELD, REBECCA HALL, DAVID MORRISSEY

DIRECTED BY
JULIAN JARROLD, JAMES MARSH, ANAND TUCKER

The three feature TV movies which make up the Red Riding trilogy easily surpass the big screen drivel in both quality and acclaim.

Based on the bestselling books by David Peace, each film focuses on a specific serial killer set loose on the blue collar English town of Yorkshire, while also delving into the corrupt police force that also have blood on their hands.

Fine storytelling, excellent production value and actors such as Andrew Garfield, Sean Bean and Rebecca Hall feature. A big screen remake is currently in the works, but why mess with this type of stellar quality?

CAST
CHRISTIAN BALE, WILLEM DAFOE, CHLOE SEVIGNY, JARED LETTO, REESE WITHERSPOON

DIRECTED BY
MARY HARRON

Before he was Batman, Welsh born method man Christian Bale was Patrick Bateman in the pitch black comedy thriller, American Psycho.

A creation of acclaimed author Bret Easton Ellis, the homicidal Bateman is a psychopath in the purest form, acting the part of slick stock broker during the day while revelling in this true nature of killer and sadist after work hours.

Although pitch perfectly directed by Mary Harron, and featuring memorable turns by Jarred Leto and Resse Witherspoon, in the end American Psycho lives and dies by Christian Bale’s bravura, manic performance. Truly something to behold.

CAST
JOHNNY DEPP, HELENA BONHAM CARTER, ALAN RICKMAN, TIMOTHY SPALL, SACHA BARON COHEN

DIRECTED BY
TIM BURTON

Fancy a song during your homicidal bloodshed? Then Sweeney Todd is just the serial killer thriller for you.

The seventh collaboration between director Tim Burton and his equally eccentric star player Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd saw the pair at their darkest and indeed bloodiest, with crimson red splattered across the screen in this tale of wronged barber Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) and his revenge on the aristocrat (Alan Rickman) who destroyed his life, with numerous innocent souls feeling the sting of Sweeney’s blade.

Based on the musical created by Steven Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, the film features Depp and his co-stars Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen all singing a tune as the blood count raises making this a one of a kind serial killer movie.  

CAST
ANTHONY PERKINS, VERA MILES, JOHN GAVIN, MARTIN BASLAM, JANET LEIGH

DIRECTED BY
ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic Psycho is still a powerful horror experience, even in these post-torture porn times.

It is hard to deny the influence which this film holds over violence in cinema, with the now infamous shower scene featuring a naked Janet Leigh, a knife wielding murderer, and a stream of blood running down the drain, an iconic and nightmare inducing sequence which set the bar for many to follow.

Perhaps more important is that Psycho thrust the thriller genre into the twisted psychosis of the serial killer, with Hitchcock peeling away at the normal facade of hotel owner Norman Bates (a chilling Anthony Perkins) and revealed an out of control psyche with a bad case of “mommas boy” syndrome.

CAST
JODIE FOSTER, ANHTONY HOPKINS, TED LEVINE, ANTHONY HEALD, SCOTT GLENN

DIRECTED BY
JONATHAN DEMME

30 years on from Psycho, and the serial killer thriller saw the bar raised again with The Silence of the Lambs.

Not the first film to feature famed fictional psychopath Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lector (Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter wins that prize), The Silence of the Lambsfeatured a unique mix of police procedural, gothic horror, and psychological thriller to enthral and scare the bejesus out of many a movie goer.

Jodie Foster turned in her best work as FBI agent Clarice Starling, who forms a unique bond with psychotic psychiatrist Hannibal Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins who also delivers career best work.

Upping the ante was the addition of another serial killer in the human skin collecting Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). After me: “It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again.”

CAST
MORGAN FREEMAN, BRAD PITT, GWENYTH PALTROW, R. LEE ERMEY, KEVIN SPACEY

DIRECTED BY
DAVID FINCHER

The greatest buddy cop movie of all time (think about it) is also one of the best serial killer movies, with Se7en offering two mismatched cops (Morgan Freeman & Brad Pitt) on the trail of a killer with a taste for the theatrical, and the works of Dante for inspiration.

Perhaps most important is that Se7en gave us the first classic from master filmmaker David Fincher, who bounced back from the critically panned Alien 3 with a crime thriller that has seared the minds of film fans everywhere, with its intelligent mystery and soul crushing conclusion.

With an uncredited Kevin Spacey delivering chills as the murderous John Doe, and an ending to end all endings, Se7en is an undeniable classic.

CAST
PETER LORRE, ELLEN WIDMANN, INGE LANDGUT, OTTO WERNICKE, THEODOR LOOS

DIRECTED BY
FRITZ LANG

Fritz Lang’s classic noir M gave us a chilling minster in the form of Peter Lorre’s whistling child murderer Hans Beckert.

Despite it being 77 years old, M is a film which still packs quite a punch. Not many scary movie moments have been able to top the chilling scene where Hans studies his reflection in the mirror, nor have many movies tackled with the emotions of the families of his victims, as seen in the final confrontation between Hans and those he hurt.

An American remake was released in 1951. Justifiably, it bombed both commercially and critically.

CAST
JAKE GYLLANHAAL, MARK RUFFALO, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ELIAS KOSTEAS, ANTHONY EDWARDS

DIRECTED BY
DAVID FINCHER

Who is the Zodiac? It is a question that has haunted authorities and crime buffs for decades, and is the focus of David Fincher’s masterful true crime thriller Zodiac.

As well as being a top rate thriller, Zodiac is a tale of obsession told through the investigations of a detective (Mark Ruffalo), a journalist (Robert Downey Jr), and a cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), who oddly enough came closer than anyone in solving the mystery.

It was that cartoonist, Robert Graysmith, whose books on the Zodiac were adapted by the underrated James Vanderbilt, giving a sense of place, impeccable detail, and strong characters for Fincher to create a sprawling, intelligent and engrossing mystery that is as horrifying as it is addictive.

Fincher’s methodical approach and knack for the visual left no stone unturned in his recreation of these events and the environment they were set in. Perhaps more important for his list is Fincher’s ability to scare his viewers in his recreation of the Zodiac’s many atrocities with a deft hand for tension and realistic approach to violence, with some sequences too horrific to endure.

Then there are the performances. Gyllenhaal, Ruffalo, and especially Downey Jr. are stellar in their roles, as are supporting players Anthony Edward, Elias Kosteas, and John Carroll Lynch as prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen.

Zodiac my run for 3 hours, yet it is time well spent.