Subgenre Sampler

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No Man of God (2021): Dir. Amber Sealey
Feat. Elijah Wood, Luke Kirby, Aleksa Palladino…; Engrossing thriller based on the relationship between FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Ted Bundy. Set in Bundy's final years on death…
Des (TV Mini-series) (2020): Feat. David Tennant, Daniel Mays, Jason Watkins; Grisly TV miniseries based on the 1983 arrest of Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen, one of the most infamous criminal cases in UK…
Little Things, The (2020): Dir. John Lee Hancock
Feat. Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto…; Neo noir murder mystery from writer–director John Lee Hancock (THE BLIND SIDE) with Denzel Washington and Rami Malek playing a pair of…
Clovehitch Killer, The (2018): Dir. Duncan Skiles
Feat. Dylan McDermott, Charlie Plummer, Samantha Mathis; A tense, effectively slowburn horror–thriller from the writer of COP CAR that stars Charlie Plummer (so good in LEAN ON PETE) as the dutiful…
House That Jack Built, The (2018): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman…; Matt Dillon plays a po–faced serial killer across 12 years, intimately exploring his mental state and beliefs about life and art. From Danish…
Rillington Place (TV Mini-series) (2016): Dir. Craig Viveiros
Feat. Tim Roth, Samantha Morton, Nico Mirallegro…; Three–part crime drama starring Tim Roth as serial killer John Christie, who strangled a string of victims during the 1940s and early 1950s…
Catching Milat (TV Mini-series) (2015): Feat. Richard Cawthorne, Malcolm Kennard; Rigorous psychological thriller based on the investigation into the 1990s backpacker murders leading to the arrest and conviction of serial killer…
Child 44 (2015): Dir. Daniel Espinosa
Feat. Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace…; Disturbing thriller with Tom Hardy as disgraced member of the military police investigating a series of nasty child murders during the…
Legend of Barney Thomson, The (2015): Dir. Robert Carlyle
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Emma Thompson, Ray Winstone…; A uniquely Glaswegian black comedy directed by and starring Robert Carlyle as an awkward middle–aged barber whose life of desperate mediocrity…
Bosch (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Titus Welliver; Titus Welliver stars as Michael Connelly's famed detective in this acclaimed series in which Bosch pursues a murderer while standing trial for the…
Hannibal - Season 2 (TV Series) (2014): Feat. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas…; Further episodes in the grisly, ultra stylised thriller based on Thomas Harris' ubiquitous crime novels, with the grimly compelling relationship…
Marshland (2014): Dir. Alberto Rodriguez
Feat. Javier Gutiérrez, Raúl Arévalo, Maria Varod; A brooding, exceptionally controlled thriller set in an unsettled post–Franco Spain of 1980 in which two homicide detectives who appear to be…
True Detective - Season 1 (TV Series) (2014): Dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Monaghan…; This superlative HBO policier – a marquee television event in 2014, and the first in an anthology of bespoke detective stories – pairs…
Following, The (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Kevin Bacon, Natalie Zea, Annie Parisse…; Relentlessly grisly crime series concerns the dogged pursuit of an escaped serial killer by a weathered FBI agent (Bacon), whose job becomes more…
Hannibal - Season 1 (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas…; A grisly, ultra stylised thriller based on Thomas Harris' ubiquitous crime novels, with the grimly compelling relationship between FBI agent Will…
Alex Cross (2012): Dir. Rob Cohen
Feat. Tyler Perry, Edward Burns, Matthew Fox…; An exceedingly derivative serial killer film hatched from James Patterson's best–selling crime novels. Prolific director Tyler Perry steps…
Gone (2012): Dir. Heitor Dhalia
Feat. Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, Wes Bentley…; Amanda Seyfried suspects the same serial killer who kidnapped her has now taken, but no–one believes her, of course. Heavily telegraphed…
Faces in the Crowd (2011): Dir. Julien Magnat
Feat. Milla Jovovich, Julian McMahon, Marianne Faithfull; An oddly balanced thriller, which juggles illness–of–the–week earnestness with the occasionally suspenseful movements of a serial…
Snowtown (2011): Dir. Justin Kurzel
Feat. Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris…; Australian serial killer John Bunting is the controversial subject of this disturbing yet persuasively told recreation of the 'scum' murders that…
Texas Killing Fields (2011): Dir. Ami Canaan Mann
Feat. Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chloe Grace Moretz…; Muddled, though distinctly helmed serial killer saga set amid the sticky marshlands of Texas City, where two stone–faced homicide detectives…
Dear Mr. Gacy (2010): Dir. Svetozar Ristovski
Feat. William Forsythe, Jesse Moss, Emma Lahana; Haunting cautionary tale – based on a true story – chronicles the interactions between an ambitious college student and the notorious…
Revenge: A Love Story (2010): Dir. Ching-po Wong; 'Hammer and tong' serial killer potboiler centres on a lowly store clerk who begins murdering policemen (and their pregnant wives) after his…
Lodger, The (2009): Dir. David Ondaatje
Feat. Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane West…; Remake of the Hitchcock original takes Jack the Ripper out of Whitechapel and places him on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip, pursued by grizzled…
Murderer (2009): Dir. Roy Chow
Feat. Aaron Kwok, Ning Chang, Tam Chun Yat; Serial killer convention receives an enjoyable, shameless workout with this Hong Kong policier, centred on a police investigator framed for a series…
Red Riding Trilogy (1974, 1980, 1983) (2009): Dir. Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker
Feat. Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey…; David Peace’s gritty quartet of crime novels receive a stunning translation to the screen with this threesome of British detective thrillers, based…
Acolytes (2008): Dir. Jon Hewitt
Feat. Joel Edgerton, Michael Dorman, Hanna Mangan Lawrence…; Chilling, if somewhat uneven, low–budget Aussie thriller concerning a group of teens who blackmail a serial killer to help them extract revenge…
Chaser, The (Chugyeogja) (2008): Dir. Hong-jin Na
Feat. Yun-seok Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Yeong-hie Seo; As much concerned with criticizing the police force as it is deftly juggling plot twists, murders, and other serial killer conventions, this Korean…
Mentalist, The (TV Series) (2008): Feat. Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang; Superior crime series sees Simon Baker play an ex–'psychic' who now uses his remarkable powers of scrupulous observation in the name of the…
MR 73 (The Last Deadly Mission) (2008): Dir. Olivier Marchal
Feat. Daniel Auteuil, Olivia Bonamy, Philippe Nahon; Rock solid policier stars Daniel Auteuil as a drunken, burnt–out cop whose shot at redemption comes in the form of a woman requiring protection…
Surveillance (2008): Dir. Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Feat. Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James…; Divisive thriller following two FBI agents who must piece together three very different eyewitness accounts of a murder in a small town, in order to…
Untraceable (2008): Dir. Gregory Hoblit
Feat. Diane Lane, Billie Burke, Colin Hanks; Contemporary cyber–thriller starring Diane Lane as an FBI agent tracking a serial killer who uses Internet hits to decide how quickly he will…
Whitechapel (TV Mini-series) (2008): Feat. Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis, Steve Pemberton; Atmospheric detective show focused on a group of detectives who are trying to track down a Jack The Ripper copycat. Filmed entirely in the East…
Anamorph (2007): Dir. Henry Miller
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Clea Duvall; Moody thriller in which Willem Dafoe plays detective to a delusional psychopath who leaves each crime scene in the style of a painting…
Death Proof (2007): Dir. Quentin Tarantino
Feat. Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan…; Tarantino, that great galloping genre geek, further indulges his jones for '70s B flicks and sexual kicks with his half of the 'Grindhouse' double…
Disturbia (2007): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Carrie-Anne Moss, Shia LaBeouf, David Morse…; Highly suspenseful retake of Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW, about a high–school senior who suspects his neighbour is a notorious serial…
Fallen Angel (TV Series) (2007): Dir. David Drury
Feat. Emilia Fox, Charles Dance, Clare Holman; Disquieting Brit crime thriller fixed on the story of a murderess, starting at her most recent crime then winding back through time to reveal her…
Hannibal Rising (2007): Dir. Peter Webber
Feat. Gaspard Ulliel, Rhys Ifans, Gong Li…; SILENCE OF THE LAMBS creator Thomas Harris pens this original back–story to Hannibal Lecter’s murderous reign, in which we’re privy to the…
Mr. Brooks (2007): Dir. Bruce A. Evans
Feat. Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, Dane Cook…; Cool, conceptual psycho–drama in which Costner and Hurt play two sides of the same character: an on–the–wagon serial killer from…
No Country for Old Men (2007): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones…; A masterfully executed thriller from the Coen brothers, who return to the suspense–driven fatalism of their most admired films (BLOOD SIMPLE,…
Roman De Gare (Crossed Tracks) (2007): Dir. Claude Lelouch
Feat. Audrey Dana, Dominique Pinon, Fanny Ardant; Playfully pulpy French thriller from veteran director Claude Lelouch (A MAN AND A WOMAN) depicts the intersecting lives of two strangers oddly…
Zodiac (2007): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards…; Intense, painstaking thriller from the dir. of SEVEN magnifies San Francisco's unsolved ‘Zodiac’ killings with obsessive compulsion and…
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006): Dir. Jonathan Levine
Feat. Amber Heard, Anson Mount, Whitney Able; Above–average slasher flick following a group of Texan teens who invite the unobtainable 'hot girl' at their school to a remote weekend…
Blood Trails (2006): Dir. Robert Krause
Feat. Rebecca R. Palmer, Ben Price, Tom Frederic; Low budget horror sees a cyclist woman and her boyfriend pursued by a psycotic fellow rider through the wilderness. This is an effective little…
Lonely Hearts (2006): Dir. Todd Robinson
Feat. John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto…; The true tale of 1940s “lonely hearts killers”, Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez who would lure war widows through personal ads and…
Perfume - The Story of a Murderer (2006): Dir. Tom Tykwer
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Ben Whishaw…; Lush, faithful adaptation of Patrick Suskind’s 1985 novel, with Ben Whishaw as Jean–Baptiste Grenouille, the gifted ‘nose’ turned…
See No Evil - The Story of the Moors Murders (2006): Dir. Christopher Menaul; Well–made, sensitive teledrama that depicts in grim detail the story of the notorious "Moors murderers" Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who…
Bystanders (Diary of June) (2005): Dir. Kyung-Soo Im
Feat. Yunjin Kim; Proficient Korean thriller grapples with a murder mystery of cryptic diary notes left inside the bodies of murder victims; the handwriting matched to…
Suspect Zero (2004): Dir. E. Elias Merhige
Feat. Ben Kingsley, Aaron Eckhart, Carrie-Anne Moss; A foreboding blood hunt in the stylish tradition of SEVEN, with serial–killer Kingsley and FBI–man Eckhart circling each other in a fog…
Taking Lives (2004): Dir. D. J. Caruso
Feat. Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland…; Expert FBI 'profiler' Jolie is recruited onto a case in deepest Canada involving a serial killer who murders blonde–haired men then assumes…
Twisted (2004): Dir. Philip Kaufman
Feat. Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia…; Judd plays a detective hunting a serial killer on the San Francisco waterfront in this overly shadowy thriller. It's chief distinction occurs when…
In the Cut (2003): Dir. Jane Campion
Feat. Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh…; An uncomfortable, darkly ‘feminist’ thriller for which Meg Ryan deflowers her star persona, playing a troubled forty–something who…
Killing Words (Palabras encadenadas) (2003): Dir. Laura Mana
Feat. Darío Grandinetti, Goya Toledo, Fernando Guillén…; This quality, award–winning thriller has a woman waking to find herself restrained in a dark basement, while a seeming serial–killer,…
Manson Family, The (2003): Dir. Jim Van Bebber
Feat. Marcelo Games; Psychedelic biopic of the notorious hippie anti–icon Charles Manson, who gathered a cult following around him in the late 1960s and programmed…
Memories of Murder (Salinui chueok) (2003): Dir. Joon-ho Bong
Feat. Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim; A darkly lyrical thriller, set around the true–life hunt for South Korea's first documented serial killer in 1986, during the years of Chun…
Monster (2003): Dir. Patty Jenkins
Feat. Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern…; Powerful dramatization of the story of female serial–killer Aileen Wournos, strong enough to support an astonishing, Oscar–winning…
Double Vision (Shuang tong) (2002): Dir. Chen Kuo Fu
Feat. David Morse, Tony Leung (Kar-fai), Rene Liu; A slickly effective horror film, in which cross–cultural cop buddies Leung and Morse hunt a demonic serial killer in Taiwan. Imbued with a…
Red Dragon (2002): Dir. Brett Ratner
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes…; Betraying the odds after the lackluster “Hannibal”, this accomplished ‘prequel’ based on Thomas Harris’ novel of the same name more than…
Ted Bundy (2002): Dir. Matthew Bright
Feat. Michel Reilly Brooke; For those not wearied of the serial–killer genre, this is a memorable portrait of America’s first acknowledged specimen, Ted Bundy…
Wire in the Blood (TV Series) (2002): Feat. Robson Green, Hermione Norris, Simone Lahbib; Terrific tough–as–nails UK detective show focused on a compassionate clinical psychologist (Green) and an ambitious Detective Inspector…
From Hell (2001): Dir. Hughes Brothers
Feat. Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm; Johnny Depp goes Goth again, this time buttoned–up in Victorian garb, as a drug–afflicted cockney detective hired to sniff out legendary…
Hannibal (2001): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ray Liotta; Anthony Hopkins reprises his iconic role as Hannibal Lechter in this controversially gruesome sequel to the serial killer classic, SILENCE OF THE…
Messiah (TV Series) (2001-2005): Feat. Ken Stott, Frances Grey, Michelle Forbes; Grisly BBC serial in the tradition of PRIME SUSPECT and CRACKER shadows the case solving of a partially–deaf detective with a disturbed nose…
Murder In Mind (TV Series) (2001): Excellent star–studded series of self–contained stories on the theme of murder, generally centered around apparently 'normal people' who…
Sleepless (Non ho Sonno) (2001): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Max von Sydow, Stefano Dionisi, Chiara Caselli; A welcome return to his 'giallo' roots by dir. Argento, turning a tangled tango between a serial–killer and recently–retired detective…
Crimson Rivers, The (2000): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel; A bizarre murder in the French Alps draws detectives Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel into the killing–cycle of a particularly grisly…
Eye of the Beholder (2000): Dir. Stephan Elliot
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, k.d. Lang…; Intriguing in concept, this surveillance thriller sees British agent Ewan McGregor tracking the movements of vicious serial killer Ashley Judd from…
Frequency (2000): Dir. Gregory Hoblit
Feat. John Caviezel, Dennis Quaid; Time–travel thriller tuned to an interesting premise – a NYPD cop speaks to his dead father via a ham radio. Features some…
Bone Collector, The (1999): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie; Denzel Washington's acting skills are put to the test playing a quadriplegic forensics expert helping to track down a particularly grisly serial…
In Dreams (1998): Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Annette Bening; Clairvoyant mother Annette Bening starts having visions through the eyes of a serial killer. Rising far above its no – I'm not crazy!''…
Stalker's Apprentice, The (1998): Dir. Marcus D.F. White
Feat. Peter Davison, James Bolam, Kathleen Turner; A book editor uses a writer's manuscript about a serial killer as a template for his own homicidal fantasies in this punchy, at times lurid British…
Assassin(s) (1997): Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz, Michel Serrault; Disappointing followup to LA HAINE for dir./star Kassovitz, plumping for a story of an apprentice hitman (Kassovitz) to aging pro Michel Serrault,…
Desperate Measures (1997): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Andy Garcia, Michael Keaton; Cop Andy Garcia needs to secure a bone marrow donor for his son, and finds a perfect match in Michael Keaton, an incarcerated serial killer, who…
Kiss the Girls (1997): Dir. Gary Fleder
Feat. Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd; Raincoated detective Morgan Freeman and bottle–brunetted Ashley Judd seek the psychotic 'Casanova', who kidnaps beautiful woman for his…
Copycat (1996): Dir. Jon Amiel
Feat. Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Harry Connick Jnr.; Psychologist Sigourney Weaver and cop Holly Hunter collaborate to track a serial killer who stages his murders like famous crimes of the past. Much…
Crimetime (1996): Dir. George Sluzier
Feat. Stephen Baldwin, Pete Postlethwaite, Sadie Frost…; An educated, grisly thriller from director of THE VANISHING, set in a near–future where TV re–enacts, week by week, the latest efforts of…
Citizen X (1995): Dir. Chris Gerolmo
Feat. Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Max von Sydow; A suitably disturbing account of the world's most prolific serial killer, Viktor Burakov, a man whose eight year, 52–victim reign of terror…
Seven (Se7en) (1995): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Director David Fincher imbues the hackneyed serial–killer genre with astonishing directorial flair, while bringing an influential 'underground'…
Virtuosity (1995): Dir. Brett Leonard
Feat. Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington; Russell Crowe plays a computer–generated composite of 200 serial killers who escapes cyberspace and proves a formidable opponent for…
Hawk, The (1994): Dir. David Hayman
Feat. Helen Mirren; Helen Mirren brings edgy believablity as a mother–of–two who watches the evidence mount against her husband as the notorious serial…
Ghost in the Machine (1993): Dir. Rachel Talalay
Feat. Karen Allen, Chris Mulkey; Computer effects ala THE LAWNMOWER MAN punctuate this high–tech thriller in which a serial–killer does some heavy–duty destruction…
Kalifornia (1993): Dir. Dominic Sena
Feat. Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny…; Crime–movie–on–wheels that rises above its fashionably glossy veneer with a script and performances that progressively whitens the…
Jennifer 8 (1992): Dir. Bruce Robinson
Feat. Andy Garcia, Lance Henriksen, Uma Thurman…; Dark tale in which cop Andy Garcia falls for blind girl Uma Thurman who may be a serial killer's next victim. Mostly engrossing and often scary. John…
Knight Moves (1992): Dir. Carl Schenkel
Feat. Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, Tom Skerritt…; Chess champion Christopher Lambert finds his psychological profile and alibi make him a prime murder suspect. A battle of intelligent wits ensues…
Overkill: The Aileen Wournos Story (1992): Dir. Peter Levin
Feat. Jean Smart; Jean Smart vividly incarnates the infamous female 'serial killer' who, at the time of this film, was awaiting execution on death row. Solid TV movie.
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991): Dir. Jonathan Demme
Feat. Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn…; Celebrated adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel follows the hunt of a gruesome serial killer by a rookie cop (Jodie Foster), 'aided' by an incarcerated…
Amsterdamned (1988): Dir. Dick Maas
Feat. Huub Stapel, Monique Van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valcke; Around the canals of the Dutch capital, an elusive serial killer is manhunted. Huub Stapel stars in this sleek, exotic thriller from genre stylist…
Jack the Ripper (TV Mini-series) (1988): Dir. David Wickes
Feat. Michael Caine, Armand Assante, Jane Seymour; This British television series adds a new solution to the ever–intriguing and grisly case of Jack the Ripper, who preyed on women in Victorian…
Fantasist, The (1986): Dir. Robin Hardy
Feat. Moira Harris, Christopher Cazenove, Timothy Bottoms; Belated and little known second film from the director of “The Wicker Man” about a rural Irishwoman whose teaching stint in Dublin finds…
Manhunter (1986): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Brian Cox, William Petersen; Brooding 'psycho'–drama based on Thomas Harris' novel 'Red Dragon', featuring an appearance of the pre–iconic Hannibal Lechter character…
Fear City (1984): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Tom Berenger, Abel Ferrara, Melanie Griffith…; Pimp Tom Berenger hunts through the neon–lit NY night for a stripper–slaying serial killer. Early item from dir. Abel Ferrara…
Road Games (1981): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis; Inventive and at times intense, this road thriller has truckdriver Keach traversing the outback, while a serial killer is on the loose. Effectively…
Driller Killer (1979): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Abel Ferrara; Somewhat notorious as a 'video nasty' of the 80s video boom, this debut from bad boy auteur Abel Ferrara was perhaps misunderstood (like The Texas…
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978): Dir. Irvin Kershner
Feat. Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif…; A tightly made popcorn suspenser, with Dunaway playing a fashion photographer who believes she can see through the eyes of a serial killer as he…
Night Stalker, The / Night Strangler, The (1972-1973): Dir. John Llewellyn Moxey, Dan Curtis
Feat. Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland…; Two excellent and groundbreaking tele–movies from the early 70s starring Darren McGavin as wise–cracking 'regular guy' reporter Carl…
10 Rillington Place (1971): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt…; Richard Attenborough re–creates the activities of UK serial–killer John Christie.
Two Mrs Carrolls, The (1947): Dir. Peter Godfrey
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith; Bogie plays the baddie in this tense psychodrama – a mad artist who paints his female models before killing them. Barbara Stanwyk is the latest…
M... Worst Crime of All (1931): Dir. Fritz Lang
Feat. Peter Lorre; A chilling expressionist classic starring Peter Lorre as psychotic child molester. Dir. Lang masterfully fills the screen with understated but…

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Subgenre Sampler