Top 20 Real Life Serial Killer Movies

by mr-right_forever | created - 24 Aug 2019 | updated - 24 Oct 2019 | Public
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1. To Catch a Killer (1992)

Unrated | 182 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

"To Catch a Killer" tells the true gruesome story of John Wayne Gacy - a good friend and helpful neighbour, a great child entertainer, a respectful businessman, and a violent serial killer ... See full summary »

Stars: Brian Dennehy, Michael Riley, Margot Kidder, Meg Foster

Votes: 2,910

2. The Deliberate Stranger (1986)

Not Rated | 185 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

The story of serial killer, Ted Bundy.

Stars: Mark Harmon, Frederic Forrest, George Grizzard, Ben Masters

Votes: 2,670

3. My Friend Dahmer (2017)

R | 107 min | Biography, Drama, Horror

68 Metascore

A young Jeffrey Dahmer struggles to belong in high school.

Director: Marc Meyers | Stars: Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche, Vincent Kartheiser

Votes: 23,607 | Gross: $1.36M

4. Zodiac (2007)

R | 157 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

79 Metascore

Between 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.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards

Votes: 597,554 | Gross: $33.08M

5. Monster (2003)

R | 109 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

74 Metascore

Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.

Director: Patty Jenkins | Stars: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Lee Tergesen

Votes: 161,646 | Gross: $34.47M

6. 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: 22,278

7. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Unrated | 83 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

80 Metascore

Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.

Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas

Votes: 40,387 | Gross: $0.61M

8. The Hillside Strangler (2004)

R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

19 Metascore

Kenneth is obsessed with the police, he moves to LA with his cousin, Angelo convinces him to start a prostitution business. Frustrated decide on revenge, feeling a great pleasure with her death. The two cousins become addicted to death.

Director: Chuck Parello | Stars: C. Thomas Howell, Nicholas Turturro, Allison Lange, Marisol Padilla Sánchez

Votes: 1,982 | Gross: $0.00M

9. The Capture of the Green River Killer (2008)

Not Rated | 89 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

A pair of girls seeking adventure beyond their western Washington trailer park encounter the area's most ruthless serial killer. The series is based on Sheriff David Reichert's book, "... See full summary »

Stars: Tom Cavanagh, Currie Graham, Amy Davidson, Ingrid Rogers

Votes: 1,368

10. The Boston Strangler (1968)

Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

66 Metascore

A series of brutal murders in Boston sparks a seemingly endless and increasingly complex manhunt.

Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy, Mike Kellin

Votes: 10,810

11. Summer of Sam (1999)

R | 142 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

67 Metascore

Spike 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.

Director: Spike Lee | Stars: John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito

Votes: 41,279 | Gross: $19.28M

12. The Gray Man (2007)

R | 97 min | Biography, Crime, Thriller

Obsessive manhunt to identify and capture a despicable serial killer.

Director: Scott L. Flynn | Stars: Patrick Bauchau, Jack Conley, John Aylward, Jillian Armenante

Votes: 1,836

13. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Horror

52 Metascore

The story of a hooded, berserk killer who terrorized the border town of Texarkana, Arkansas in 1946--leaving no fewer than five murder victims in his wake. He was never caught. Based on one of America's most baffling murder cases.

Director: Charles B. Pierce | Stars: Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells, Jimmy Clem

Votes: 9,770

14. The Riverman (2004 TV Movie)

R | 91 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

A 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.

Director: Bill Eagles | Stars: Bruce Greenwood, Sam Jaeger, Sarah Manninen, Kathleen Quinlan

Votes: 1,560

15. Freeway Killer (2010 Video)

R | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

The true story of William Bonin a California serial killer.

Director: John Murlowski | Stars: Scott Anthony Leet, Cole Williams, Dusty Sorg, Michael Rooker

Votes: 1,344

16. The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer (1993)

99 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

Based on the life of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered 17 men and ate many of them before he was caught in 1991.

Director: David R. Bowen | Stars: Carl Crew, Cassidy Phillips, Donna Stewart Bowen, Jeanne Bascom

Votes: 765

17. The Night Stalker (2016 TV Movie)

TV-14 | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

An account of serial killer Richard Ramírez and his rampage in California during the mid-1980s.

Director: Megan Griffiths | Stars: Lou Diamond Phillips, Bellamy Young, Annalisa Cochrane, Louis Herthum

Votes: 909

18. The Case of the Hillside Stranglers (1989 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

The true chilling story of the "two of a kind", killin' cousins Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, better known as the Hillside Stranglers, is told in this TV drama. The movie concentrates ... See full summary »

Director: Steve Gethers | Stars: Richard Crenna, Dennis Farina, Billy Zane, Tony Plana

Votes: 766

19. Dear Mr. Gacy (2010)

R | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A chronicle of the interaction between college student Jason Moss and the object of his obsession, serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Director: Svetozar Ristovski | Stars: William Forsythe, Jesse Moss, Emma Lahana, Cole Heppell

Votes: 3,805

20. Out of the Darkness (1985 TV Movie)

R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

"Out of the Darkness" is a gripping thriller telling the true story of the hunt and capture of David Berkowitz, a.k.a. "Son of Sam" - the infamous serial killer who stalked New York City in... See full summary »

Director: Jud Taylor | Stars: Martin Sheen, Hector Elizondo, Matt Clark, Jennifer Salt

Votes: 484

21. Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker (1989 TV Movie)

PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, History

Based on the true story of Richard "The Night Stalker" Ramirez who terrorized California in 1985 and the two Los Angeles police detectives who try to track him down.

Director: Bruce Seth Green | Stars: Richard Jordan, A Martinez, Julie Carmen, Alan Feinstein

Votes: 485



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