Quality Serial Killer Films/TV Shows
by idoru2099 | created - 23 Jan 2012 | updated - 24 Jan 2013 | PublicThere are a lot of movies/shows dealing with serial killers, but few are worth watchings. These are the best of them, in my humble opinion...
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1. Se7en (1995)
R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,797,777 | Gross: $100.13M
2. Sea of Love (1989)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker
Votes: 44,871 | Gross: $58.57M
3. American Psycho (2000)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A 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.
Director: Mary Harron | Stars: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage
Votes: 714,672 | Gross: $15.07M
4. Manhunter (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
Votes: 80,879 | Gross: $8.62M
5. Body Double (1984)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton
Votes: 38,125 | Gross: $8.80M
6. Blue Velvet (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern
Votes: 215,579 | Gross: $8.55M
7. Nightwatch (1994)
R | 107 min | Thriller
A law student starts working as a night watchman at The Department of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen. His mad friend gets him on a game of dare that escalates. As a serial-killer's victims start piling up at work, he becomes a suspect.
Director: Ole Bornedal | Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sofie Gråbøl, Kim Bodnia, Lotte Andersen
Votes: 17,853
8. Insomnia (1997)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
In a Norwegian city with a 24-hour daylight cycle a Swedish murder investigator has been brought in on a special case. Sleep deprived, he makes a horrible mistake which is discovered by the killer he has been hunting.
Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg | Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Maria Mathiesen, Gisken Armand
Votes: 15,579 | Gross: $0.22M
9. The Crimson Rivers (2000)
R | 106 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A murder detective must follow the footsteps of a brutal killer within the secrets of a classist college.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz | Stars: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Farès, Dominique Sanda
Votes: 65,606 | Gross: $0.63M
10. From Hell (2001)
R | 122 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After 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.
Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes | Stars: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane
Votes: 164,158 | Gross: $31.60M
11. The Hitcher (1986)
R | 97 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.
Director: Robert Harmon | Stars: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 52,500 | Gross: $5.84M
12. Repulsion (1965)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 57,255
13. Jennifer 8 (1992)
R | 124 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
John Berlin, a former Los Angeles homicide detective, investigates a multiple murder case in San Diego. The only witness is a blind girl to whom he is immediately attracted.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman, Lance Henriksen, Graham Beckel
Votes: 18,499 | Gross: $11.39M
14. No Country for Old Men (2007)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 1,059,368 | Gross: $74.28M
15. Messiah (2001)
152 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After two horribly mutilated bodies are discovered, DCI Red Metcalfe is assigned to the case and plunged head-on into a nightmare.
Stars: Ken Stott, Frances Grey, Jamie Draven, Kieran O'Brien
Votes: 2,074
16. Messiah 2: Vengeance Is Mine (2002–2003)
180 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A man is buried alive, and Metcalfe must delve into a serial killer's psyche.
Stars: Frances Grey, Gillian Taylforth, Emily Joyce, Dani Biernat
Votes: 959
17. Twin Peaks (1990–1991)
TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook
Votes: 215,236
18. Dexter (2006–2013)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
He's smart. He's lovable. He's Dexter Morgan, America's favorite serial killer, who spends his days solving crimes and nights committing them.
Stars: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, James Remar
Votes: 765,057
19. Luther (2010–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
John Luther is a brilliant homicide detective with a knack for getting inside the minds of murderers. Unfortunately, his unconventional methods and personal demons put him at odds with his team.
Stars: Idris Elba, Dermot Crowley, Michael Smiley, Warren Brown
Votes: 154,209
20. From Hell (2001)
R | 122 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After 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.
Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes | Stars: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane
Votes: 164,158 | Gross: $31.60M
21. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 306,637 | Gross: $47.00M
22. Citizen X (1995 TV Movie)
R | 105 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
During 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.
Director: Chris Gerolmo | Stars: Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Max von Sydow, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 22,284
23. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 63,196 | Gross: $13.75M
24. Epitafios (2004–2009)
TV-MA | 48 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A series of homicides reunite detectives Renzo Marquez and Marina Segal and leads them on a quest to stop a killer whose modus operandi is to replicate previous slayings as if they were works of art.
Stars: Julio Chávez, Cecilia Roth, Villanueva Cosse, Carlos Portaluppi
Votes: 1,322
25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,547,306 | Gross: $130.74M
26. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 717,862 | Gross: $32.00M
27. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
R | 152 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his search for the killer of a woman who has been dead for forty years.
Director: Niels Arden Oplev | Stars: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Ewa Fröling, Lena Endre
Votes: 223,295 | Gross: $10.10M
28. The Chaser (2008)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Yeong-hie, Kim Yoo-jung
Votes: 72,724
29. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
GP | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An American expatriate in Rome attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of an attempted murder - and is now hunting him and his girlfriend.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi
Votes: 24,065 | Gross: $0.42M
30. Deep Red (1975)
R | 127 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Méril
Votes: 42,606
31. Tenebrae (1982)
R | 101 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An American novelist visiting Rome to promote his latest book is stalked and harassed by an obsessed fan who is committing a string of murders that appear to be tributes to his work.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Anthony Franciosa, Giuliano Gemma, John Saxon, Daria Nicolodi
Votes: 27,400
32. Opera (1987)
R | 107 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi
Votes: 19,469
33. Sleepless (2001)
R | 117 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A retired police detective and a young amateur sleuth team up to find a serial killer who's resumed a killing spree in Turin, Italy after a 17-year period.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Max von Sydow, Stefano Dionisi, Chiara Caselli, Gabriele Lavia
Votes: 7,487
34. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)
Not Rated | 105 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
When a southern Italian town is rocked by a string of child murders, the police and two urban outcasts search for the culprit amid scapegoating within the superstitious community.
Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas
Votes: 10,687
35. Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A masked, shadowy killer brutally murders the models of a scandalous fashion house in Rome.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner, Arianna Gorini
Votes: 12,989
36. Dirty Harry (1971)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.
Directors: Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni
Votes: 168,220 | Gross: $35.90M
37. Blood Rain (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Mystery, Thriller
Blood Rain tells the story of a slew of grisly murders plaguing a small, fairly isolated island village. However, it's not just the mounting death toll that's causing residents to worry, ... See full summary »
Director: Kim Dae-seung | Stars: Cha Seung-won, Park Yong-woo, Ji Sung, Yun Se-ah
Votes: 1,277
38. Phenomena (1985)
R | 116 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A young girl who has an amazing ability to communicate with insects is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Donald Pleasence, Daria Nicolodi, Dalila Di Lazzaro
Votes: 30,024
39. Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966)
GP | 83 min | Horror, Mystery
A Carpathian village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl, prompting a coroner and a medical student to uncover her secrets while a witch attempts to protect the villagers.
Director: Mario Bava | Stars: Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Erika Blanc, Fabienne Dali, Piero Lulli
Votes: 7,589
40. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 216,095 | Gross: $0.01M
41. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,094 | Gross: $0.13M
42. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,358 | Gross: $0.03M
43. Saw (2004)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got there, and soon discover they're pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
Director: James Wan | Stars: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung
Votes: 466,446 | Gross: $56.00M
44. Scream (1996)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich
Votes: 388,184 | Gross: $103.05M
45. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five 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.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,471 | Gross: $30.86M
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