"What's that sound in your heart?" "Murder."

I went through a serial killer phase in middle school, as I am sure most mildly disturbed children did. Me and my friend Betsy would read Helter Skelter, and mindhunter and watch the X-Files. We didn’t want to be serial killers we were just extremely fascinated. This was also the period of my life where I wanted to be a coroner. We would stay up until dawn discussing Zodiac and Green River and work ourselves into a hysteria. It didn’t help that Wayne Nanc was from Missoula or that Bestsy mom had known one of Ted Bundy’s victims. Years later, long after Betsy and I had stopped being friends, I thought of her when they finally caught the green river killer.
Anywhoo here is my round up of the best Serial killer movies.
6. Scream
Okay, so it’s not a “thriller” but it was the first horror movie I ever saw (and it traumatized me greatly.) It totally fulfills the serial killer requirements: methodological murder, and tormenting of victims.
5. Se7en Fulfills the genre requirements of serial-killer-being-obscenely-smart. Also totally paved the way for Saw with its focus of bizaro deaths. Its remembered for being incredible gross and graphic but what I found most powerful was when they only showed bodies through photos. Its coy is a very weird and effective way.
4. M Fritz Lang’ moody, take on how the criminal underworld fights back against someone too deranged, even for them. Features on of the most tense chase sequences ever.
3. Zodiac Not so much about a serial killer as it is about people obsessed with serial killers (see! I can relate!) It’s violence is brief but so effective and it really captures the paranoia of the time.
2. Silence of the Lambs
I don’t really need to say anything. Everyone has seen it and every one agrees that it is great. It IS great. It would be the greatest. Except:
1. Memories of Murder Ever since I saw this Korean movie by the guy who directed the Host I have been trying desperately to convince people to see it. First of all it is beautiful, the cinematography is stunning. There are lots of shots in rain and wind and wheat that I don’t actually know HOW they were able to get. Second: a lot of the tropes of Serial killer movies, the search for DNA, the pristine crime scene, etc. are flipped on their head by the lack of technology in 1970’s Korean added to the ineptitude of a rural police force that has never encountered a serial killer before. A foot print is run over by a tractor, for instance. Third, like Zodiac, it charts the madness of the people pursuing the killer but I find that it does it in a much more heart breaking way. See it. Please. Its amazing. (Also that poster is just bizare)