Serial killers (fictional and real)
A list of movies about real and fictional serial killers. Movies , for cinema, dvd and/or television. SO: no tv series, video games, just movies about serial killers. Also no slasher movies light friday the thirteenth or halloween (though the difference between slashers and serial killers is sometimes hard to see.
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- DirectorDavid JacobsonStarsJeremy RennerBruce DavisonArtel GreatBiopic about notorious American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, taking place in both the past and the present.
- DirectorHeitor DhaliaStarsAmanda SeyfriedJennifer CarpenterWes BentleyA woman is convinced her kidnapper has returned when her sister goes missing.
- DirectorJennifer LynchStarsVincent D'OnofrioEamon FarrenEvan BirdA young man held prisoner by a cab-driving serial killer must make a life or death choice between following in his captor's footsteps or breaking free.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsJohn CusackAlice EveLuke EvansWhen a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMorgan FreemanBrad PittKevin SpaceyTwo detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
- DirectorMary HarronStarsChristian BaleJustin TherouxJosh LucasA wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsJodie FosterTerrence HowardNaveen AndrewsStruggling to recover emotionally from a brutal assault that killed her fiancé and left her in a coma, a radio personality begins a quest for vengeance against the perpetrators that leaves a bloody trail across New York City.
- DirectorBruce A. EvansStarsKevin CostnerDemi MooreWilliam HurtA well-respected businessman is sometimes controlled by his murder and mayhem-loving alter ego.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsJake GyllenhaalRobert Downey Jr.Mark RuffaloBetween 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsWoody HarrelsonJuliette LewisTom SizemoreTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
- DirectorSean PennStarsJack NicholsonBenicio Del ToroPatricia ClarksonA retiring police detective pledges to catch the killer of a young child.
- DirectorBrett RatnerStarsAnthony HopkinsEdward NortonRalph FiennesA retired FBI agent with psychological gifts is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer. Aiding him is imprisoned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJon FinchBarry FosterBarbara Leigh-HuntA serial murderer is strangling women with a necktie. The London police have a suspect, but he is the wrong man.
- DirectorPatty JenkinsStarsCharlize TheronChristina RicciBruce DernBased on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.
- DirectorChris GerolmoStarsStephen ReaDonald SutherlandMax von SydowDuring the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsKurt RussellZoë BellRosario DawsonTwo separate sets of voluptuous women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his "death proof" cars to execute his murderous plans.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsAl PacinoRobin WilliamsHilary SwankTwo Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsAnthony HopkinsJulianne MooreGary OldmanLiving in exile, Dr. Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced F.B.I. Agent Clarice Starling, and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsAna TorrentFele MartínezEduardo NoriegaWhile doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
- DirectorDominic SenaStarsBrad PittJuliette LewisKathy LarsonA journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsCasey AffleckKate HudsonJessica AlbaA West Texas Deputy Sheriff is slowly unmasked as a psychotic killer.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsJohn LeguizamoAdrien BrodyMira SorvinoSpike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American Northeast Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.
- DirectorJulie DelpyStarsJulie DelpyDaniel BrühlWilliam HurtA 17th century Hungarian countess embarks on a murderous undertaking, with the belief that bathing in the blood of virgins will preserve her beauty.
- DirectorJuraj JakubiskoStarsAnna FrielKarel RodenVincent ReganWith an unquenchable thirst for blood, Countess Elizabeth Bathory was one of the most prolific serial killers in history.
- DirectorRenny HarlinStarsVal KilmerLL Cool JChristian SlaterA group of FBI trainees are taken to a remote island for simulation training. However, once there, they realize that they are being hunted by a serial killer, who might be someone amidst them.
- DirectorGregory HoblitStarsDiane LaneColin HanksJoseph CrossFBI agent Jennifer Marsh is tasked with hunting down a seemingly untraceable serial killer who posts live videos of his victims on the Internet. As time runs out, the cat and mouse chase becomes more personal.
- DirectorMichael FeiferStarsAntonio Sabato Jr.John BurkeKelly CurranThe true story of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.
- DirectorHarry BradbeerStarsMartin ClunesKeeley HawesRichard HopeJohn George Haigh, the notorious "acid bath murderer" in 1940s England, becomes the subject of this dramatization.
- DirectorJohn BorowskiStarsOto BrezinaJoe ColemanBob DunsworthA documentary about Albert Fish, who was a sadistic and cannibalistic serial killer.
- StarsEmily WatsonDominic WestRobert GlenisterDramatisation of the case of serial killers Fred and Rose West, focusing on the way in which they were brought to justice.
- DirectorMichael FeiferStarsCorin NemecKane HodderJen NikolaisenBased on the true story of one of history's most demented serial killers.
- DirectorMichael FeiferStarsKane HodderAdrienne FrantzMichael BerrymanThe twisted and murderous appetites of the notorious Ed Gein, whose depredations in his small town of Plainfield come as quite a shock to his neighbors, especially Deputy Mason, whose mother Vera and girlfriend Erica have gone missing.
- DirectorChuck ParelloStarsSteve RailsbackCarrie SnodgressCarol MansellThe story of Ed Gein, who dug up the corpses of over a dozen women and made things out of their remains before finally shooting two people to death and butchering their bodies like beef sides.
- DirectorDavid GriecoStarsMalcolm McDowellMarton CsokasRonald PickupA disgraced communist schoolteacher in Kyiv becomes a brutal, unfeeling serial killer. Based on the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo.
- DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsJohnny DeppHeather GrahamIan HolmAfter five ritualistic murders are committed in 1888 London, Inspector Abberline's assignment is to investigate the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Along with a string of mutilated prostitutes, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the government.
- DirectorClive SaundersStarsMark HoltonAdam BaldwinTom WaldmanModel citizen, devoted father, loving husband and serial killer John Wayne Gacy - a man with over 30 dead men and boys entombed in the crawl space underneath his family house. Based on a true story.
- DirectorStephen KayStarsRobert ForsterMichael MicheleMaury ChaykinAfter 31 years at-large, detectives in Wichita, Kansas home in on the serial killer known as BTK.
- DirectorMichael FeiferStarsKane HodderAmy LyndonOdessa RaeDennis L. Rader systematically tortured and killed innocent victims for over two decades, evading the police for over 30 years while living a seemingly normal life as a husband, father, security officer and church president.
- DirectorJoel BenderStarsLaura PreponMisha CollinsPatrick BauchauBased on real events, Paul Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, kidnap, sexually abuse, and murder three young girls.
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsVirginia MadsenXander BerkeleyTony ToddThe Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
- DirectorRick BitzelbergerStarsChristopher StapletonRobert SiskoSean ThomasA film based on the true story of Ed Kemper, a serial killer who murdered ten in Santa Cruz, CA during the late sixties and early seventies.
- DirectorChris FisherStarsBret RobertsJoseph McKelheerRoxanne DayRichard Ramirez, aka the Nightstalker, who terrorized people in Los Angeles during the 1980s, and the police had no clue with him.
- DirectorJeremy TurnerStarsDenis AdamenkoAlexander PichushkinTim Pigott-SmithThe story of 'chessboard killer' Alexander Pichushkin, who aimed to kill 64 people - one for each square on the board of the game - but was caught before he could complete his task.
- DirectorByron WernerStarsBrent TaylorShannon LucioJerry KrollIn 1958 Nebraska 19 year old garbageman Charles Starkweather goes on a murder spree with his 14 year old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate killing 11 people in three months, introducing America to spree killing.
- DirectorUlli LommelStarsGeorge KiseleffJacquelyn AuroraGeorgie DonovanAlong twenty years, the deranged serial-killer Gary Ridgway has killed at least forty-eight prostitutes and dumped their bodies in Green River.
- DirectorRob SchmidtStarsEliza DushkuCary ElwesTimothy HuttonBased on the true story of the double initial killings in Rochester, NY.
- StarsMark HarmonFrederic ForrestGeorge GrizzardThe story of serial killer, Ted Bundy.
- StarsAlun ArmstrongRichard RidingsJames LaurensonTwo part ITV drama based on the long police investigation and hunt for serial killer the Yorkshire Ripper, in late 1970s Northern England. It shows the effect that it had on the health and career of ACC George Oldfield who led the enquiry.
- StarsBrian DennehyMichael RileyMargot KidderGood friend and neighbour John Wayne Gacy entertained children and ran a business. However, he hid a dark secret as a violent serial killer who raped and murdered over 30 young boys.
- DirectorNorma BaileyStarsGary ColeLaura HarrisRossif SutherlandThe riveting film is based on the true story of a powerful and respected military officer who committed numerous brutal crimes and was eventually brought down by a tenacious small town police detective.
- DirectorJohn BorowskiStarsTony JayEd BertagnoliCary CallisonTorture chambers, acid vats, greased chutes and gassing rooms were just some of the devices of death designed by the Torture Doctor, H.H. Holmes in his castle of horrors. Follows Holmes' entire life as a criminal mastermind.
- DirectorMatthew BrightStarsMichael Reilly BurkeBoti BlissJulianna McCarthyThe story of serial killer Ted Bundy.
- DirectorBenjamin RossStarsHugh O'ConorAntony SherTobias ArnoldThis film is based on a true story about a British teenager who allegedly poisoned family, friends, and co-workers. Graham is highly intelligent, but completely amoral. He becomes interested in science, especially chemistry, and begins to read avidly. Something of a social misfit, he is fascinated by morbid subjects such as poisons and murder. His family environment is intolerable to him and, in particular, his stepmother torments him. He decides to poison those who annoy him, first with antimony and later with thallium. He smugly thinks himself cleverer than all those around him, but nevertheless he is caught and sentenced to 'rehabilitation' at a psychiatric institution. Once there, he undertakes to deceive the new eminent psychiatrist sent there to 'cure' him, thereby securing his release.
- DirectorJon AvnetStarsAl PacinoAlicia WittBen McKenzieOn the day that a serial killer that he helped put away is supposed to be executed, a noted forensic psychologist and college professor receives a call informing him that he has 88 minutes left to live.
- DirectorBill EaglesStarsBruce GreenwoodSam JaegerSarah ManninenA series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.
- DirectorJohn PieplowStarsKevin GageElizabeth PeñaDee SniderA detective pursues a sadist specializing in body modification rituals who lures teenagers through the internet.
- DirectorNicholas McCarthyStarsCaity LotzCasper Van DienMark StegerAs a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother's death and the disappearance of her sister, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home.
- DirectorMark BlairStarsRobert A. BurnsDennis HillBerkley GarrettAfter being arrested, a Texas man begins confessing to the brutal murder of over 200 women. He recounts his random selection of victims and his traveling companions, his friend and friend's sister. But the police can't be sure whether to believe him or not until he locates a body and shows them some polaroids. Based on the true story of Henry Lee Lucas.
- DirectorPeter WebberStarsGaspard UllielRhys IfansGong LiAfter the death of his parents during World War II, young Hannibal Lecter moves in with his beautiful aunt and begins plotting revenge on the barbarians responsible for his sister's death.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWilliam PetersenKim GreistJoan AllenFormer FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
- DirectorDuncan RoyStarsElizabeth HurleyJeremy SistoOliver TobiasA celebrity actress who gets her dream role playing real-life 19th century serial killer Belle Gunness in a feature film, starts to take on the characteristics of the character both on-screen and off.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsAl PacinoEllen BarkinJohn GoodmanA detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.
- DirectorMorgan O'NeillStarsJohn CusackDallas RobertsVincent MessinaAn obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsRachel WeiszMark WahlbergSaoirse RonanCenters on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsDenzel WashingtonAngelina JolieQueen LatifahA quadriplegic ex-homicide detective and his partner try to track down a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsJessica BielJodelle FerlandWilliam B. DavisWhen her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsTerence StampSamantha EggarMona WashbourneA man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there.
- DirectorJoe CharbanicStarsJames SpaderKeanu ReevesMarisa TomeiDavid Allen Griffin is a cool killer- time and time again, he chooses a female victim, studies her for weeks till he knows her routine to the smallest detail, makes meticulous preparations using his forensic knowledge to gain entry when she's quite alone, subdues her and administers a long, torturous death. Joel Campbell got so frustrated by his failure to capture Griffin in Los Angeles, that he quit the FBI, moved to Chicago, and remains in psychiatric therapy, unable to function normally. Then he realizes, when opening his mail very late, that a new murder victim is Griffin's, and the killer sent him pictures of her. Campbell reports this to the police, but is unwilling to join them in the search, suggesting Griffin is too slick and clever; yet he won't get out of it that easily.
- DirectorGary FlederStarsMorgan FreemanAshley JuddCary ElwesPolice hunting for a serial kidnapper are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time.
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsNathan PhillipsCassandra MagrathKestie MorassiThree backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
- DirectorSteven R. MonroeStarsSarah ButlerJeff BransonAndrew HowardA writer who is brutalized during her cabin retreat seeks revenge on her attackers, who left her for dead.
- DirectorJon AmielStarsSigourney WeaverHolly HunterDermot MulroneyAn agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past.
- DirectorMarcus DunstanStarsJosh StewartAndrea RothJuan FernándezDesperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.
- DirectorPhilippe MoraStarsJames CoburnBill HunterReb BrownBased on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The accused killer claims to have killed 3 women in order to possess their voices. Despite the defense lawyer's concerns that the killer is not fit to stand trial, the US military presses forward with the case and its desire to have the killer executed in order to strengthen the shaky alliance. The real person who did this was Eddie Leonski.
- DirectorSvetozar RistovskiStarsWilliam ForsytheJesse MossEmma LahanaA chronicle of the interaction between college student Jason Moss and the object of his obsession, serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
- DirectorArmand MastroianniStarsDon ScardinoCaitlin O'HeaneyElizabeth KempA young bride-to-be is being stalked upon by a serial killer in Staten Island. She gets help from a former lover, but will they manage to escape?
- DirectorRob ZombieStarsSid HaigKaren BlackBill MoseleyTwo young couples traveling across the backwoods of Texas searching for urban legends of murder end up as prisoners of a bizarre and sadistic backwater family of serial killers.
- DirectorJohn EyresStarsA.J. CookBruce PayneRyan NorthcottA massacre survivor (A.J. Cook) studies serial killers under a famous expert (Bruce Payne), but her classmates soon start dying at the hands of a Jack the Ripper copycat.
- StarsMichael CaineArmand AssanteRay McAnallyA Scotland Yard police inspector, battling the booze, investigates the Jack the Ripper murders and discovers a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the Queen.
- DirectorUlli LommelStarsRudolf Waldemar BremKatja RupéKornelia BojeA young man who works at a nursing home uses the legendary Zodiac killer's M.O. to kill people who neglect their elderly relatives.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsAshley JuddSamuel L. JacksonAndy GarciaJessica, whose father killed her mother and committed suicide, is a police officer. While investigating a murder, she finds herself in the center of her own investigation, when her former lovers start being murdered.
- DirectorD.J. CarusoStarsAngelina JolieEthan HawkeKiefer SutherlandAn FBI profiler is called in by French Canadian police to catch a serial killer who takes on the identity of each new victim.
- DirectorLeonard KastleDonald VolkmanStarsShirley StolerTony Lo BiancoMary Jane HigbyAn obese, embittered nurse doesn't mind if her toupee-wearing boyfriend romances and fleeces other women, as long as he takes her along on his con jobs.
- DirectorTodd RobinsonStarsJohn TravoltaSalma HayekJared LetoBased on the true story, two homicide detectives track Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez, a murderous pair known as the "Lonely Hearts Killers" who lured their victims through the personals.
- DirectorNick BroomfieldJoan ChurchillStarsAileen WuornosNick BroomfieldTerry Humphreys-SlayNick Broomfield's second documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, focusing on her mental state on death row.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsDebra WingerTheresa RussellSami FreyA federal investigator tracks down a gold-digging woman who moves from husband to husband to kill them and collect the inheritance.
- DirectorDavid MortinStarsMartin TielliSarah SleanMary Margaret O'HaraA film noir-style musical telling the story of how a man met his end by getting sucked into a web of lies and deceit by a beautiful, dark-haired singer.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsPatsy KensitPatrick MuldoonAmy LocaneA psychiatric patient terrorizes her psychiatrist, whom she believes is the reincarnation of Jack the Ripper.
- StarsJoanne FroggattMaxine PeakeSean HarrisA vivid drama which documents the notorious Moors murderers; Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
- DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsDonnie WahlbergBeverley MitchellFranky GA detective and his team must rescue 8 people trapped in a factory by the twisted serial killer known as Jigsaw.
- DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsTobin BellShawnee SmithAngus MacfadyenJigsaw abducts a doctor in order to keep himself alive while he watches his new apprentice put an unlucky citizen named Jeff through a brutal test.
- DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsTobin BellScott PattersonLouis FerreiraDespite Jigsaw's death, and in order to save the lives of two of his colleagues, Lieutenant Rigg is forced to take part in a new game, which promises to test him to the limit.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsMichael DouglasSharon StoneGeorge DzundzaA violent police detective investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist.