Serial killer movies have been a cinematic mainstay for close to a century now.
People are clearly morbidly fascinated by murderers.
With this in mind,this list looks at some of the very bestserial killer movies ever made.
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Some present methodical investigations into real-life cases, while others plunge viewers into the minds of the killers themselves.
They initiate the gamut from the old-school psychological horror ofPsychoto the neo-noir mystery ofZodiac.
The movie was incredibly controversial on release, so much so that it nearly ended director Powell’s career.
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Indeed, this movie is one ofthe all-time best cinematic statements on voyeurism, up there withHitchcock’sRear Window.
It practically gallops."
He becomes increasingly exasperated, with Grant nailing his shocked expressions and frantic double takes.
You just have to be motivated."
It’s also thematically rich.
LikePeeping Tom,Man Bites Dogbecomesa meta commentary on filmmaking itself and society’s fascination with killers.
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What a lean, mean, audacious film.
In the process,he becomes an exaggerated avatar of Wall Street soullessness.
Bale delivers a phenomenal lead performance, single-handedly establishing himself as a major force.
Through them, the movie examines the costs of such fixations on mysteries and theories.
Everything is steeped in paranoia, as the killer taunts authorities with cryptic letters yet evades their searches.
Aesthetically,David FincherconstructsZodiacwith near-surgical precision, reveling in incomplete details, dead-end leads, and frustrating contradictions.
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Every element is bolted into its right place;it’s all killer, no filler.
For all these reasons, though not a big success on release,Zodiachas since become a cult film.
If Zodiac was a commentary on obsession, thenBong Joon-ho’sMemories of Murderisan examination of incompetence.
4’M' (1931)
Directed by Fritz Lang
“I cant help myself!
“Mis aninfluential movie by German ExpressionistmasterFritz Lang, the filmmaker behindMetropolisandWoman in the Moon.
This one featuresPeter Lorreas Hans Beckert, a child murderer whose crimes send an entire city into hysteria.
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Finally, on the acting front, Perkins captures the low unraveling of Norman’s fractured psyche.
The Oscar-nominated actor plays the character with a boyish innocence that later gives way to complete depravity.
I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
This approach could have crashed and burned were it not for the towering,mesmerizing performance from Hopkins.
He’s utterly electrifying, elevating Lecter to the ranks of cinema’s all-time greatest villains.
1’Se7en' (1995)
“What’s in the box?”
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The crimes are gruesome and elaborate, each staged as a twisted moral lesson.
“I agree with the second part.”
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