Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "sadistic-killer"
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1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,224,455 | Gross: $107.93M
2. 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: 215,868
3. 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: 1,551,127 | Gross: $130.74M
4. Scream (I) (2022)
R | 114 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
25 years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, Calif., a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past.
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera
Votes: 159,367 | Gross: $81.64M
5. Terrifier (2016)
Unrated | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
On Halloween night, Tara Heyes finds herself as the obsession of a sadistic murderer known as Art the Clown.
Director: Damien Leone | Stars: Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, Catherine Corcoran
Votes: 52,908
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon
Votes: 262,998 | Gross: $25.50M
7. Misery (1990)
R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen
Votes: 236,091 | Gross: $61.28M
8. Palm Springs (2020)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.
Director: Max Barbakow | Stars: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher
Votes: 183,251
9. Dark City (1998)
R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Votes: 212,582 | Gross: $14.38M
10. 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: 146,547 | Gross: $0.13M
11. Natural Born Killers (1994)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Romance
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield
Votes: 252,099 | Gross: $50.28M
12. The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
R | 81 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
In an abandoned house in Poughkeepsie, New York murder investigators uncover hundreds of tapes showing decades of a serial killer's work.
Director: John Erick Dowdle | Stars: Stacy Chbosky, Ben Messmer, Samantha Robson, Ivar Brogger
Votes: 24,849
13. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
R | 97 min | Action, Horror
Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees return to terrorize the teenagers of Elm Street. Only this time, they're out to get each other, too.
Director: Ronny Yu | Stars: Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Kelly Rowland, Monica Keena
Votes: 127,423 | Gross: $82.62M
14. High Tension (2003)
R | 91 min | Horror
Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia's parents' secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls' idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror.
Director: Alexandre Aja | Stars: Cécile de France, Maïwenn, Philippe Nahon, Franck Khalfoun
Votes: 77,976 | Gross: $3.68M
15. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
R | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror
A psychiatrist familiar with knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 90,505 | Gross: $44.79M
16. Summer of 84 (2018)
Not Rated | 105 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After suspecting that their police officer neighbor is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.
Directors: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell | Stars: Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew
Votes: 46,058 | Gross: $0.09M
17. Wolf Creek (2005)
R | 99 min | Horror, Thriller
Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.
Director: Greg McLean | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, John Jarratt
Votes: 78,478 | Gross: $16.19M
18. Halloween (2007)
R | 109 min | Horror
After being committed for 15 years, Michael Myers, now a grown man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution and immediately returns to Haddonfield to find his baby sister, Laurie.
Director: Rob Zombie | Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif
Votes: 130,683 | Gross: $58.27M
19. A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
Director: Scott Frank | Stars: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, David Harbour, Boyd Holbrook
Votes: 127,411 | Gross: $26.31M
20. Vacancy (2007)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
A married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and finds hidden video cameras in their room. They soon realize that unless they escape, they'll be the next victims of a snuff film.
Director: Nimród Antal | Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry
Votes: 107,564 | Gross: $19.36M
21. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
After being announced dead and taken to a morgue, Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives, escapes from the hospital, and stalks a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, Peter Barton, Kimberly Beck
Votes: 59,282 | Gross: $32.98M
22. The Last House on the Left (1972)
R | 84 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
Two teenage girls heading to a rock concert for one's birthday try to score marijuana in the city, where they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychopathic convicts.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln
Votes: 40,345 | Gross: $3.10M
23. Serial Mom (1994)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
She's the perfect all-American parent: a great cook and homemaker, a devoted recycler, and a woman who'll literally kill to keep her children happy.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard
Votes: 32,767 | Gross: $7.88M
24. Cobra (1986)
R | 87 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far-reaching plans.
Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni, Andrew Robinson
Votes: 79,721 | Gross: $49.04M
25. 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: 30,111
26. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Still haunted by his past, Tommy Jarvis, who, as a child, killed Jason Voorhees, is sent to a secluded halfway house in the countryside, where the killing of a young man triggers a brutal series of murders in the area.
Director: Danny Steinmann | Stars: Melanie Kinnaman, John Shepherd, Anthony Barrile, Suzanne Bateman
Votes: 43,997 | Gross: $21.93M
27. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,660 | Gross: $0.01M
28. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
R | 77 min | Horror
A female high school student's slumber party turns into a bloodbath, as a newly escaped psychotic serial killer wielding a power drill prowls her neighborhood.
Director: Amy Holden Jones | Stars: Michele Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael Villella, Debra De Liso
Votes: 17,941
29. Pieces (1982)
Not Rated | 85 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.
Director: Juan Piquer Simón | Stars: Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Frank Braña, Edmund Purdom
Votes: 12,866 | Gross: $2.03M
30. Peeping Tom (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.
Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Karlheinz Böhm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Maxine Audley
Votes: 39,351 | Gross: $0.08M
31. 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: 42,739
32. Harper's Island (2009)
TV-14 | 40 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Harper's Island was once the scene of a gruesome series of murders. Seven years later, family and friends gather on the island for a wedding, but one by one they begin to die.
Stars: Elaine Cassidy, Christopher Gorham, Matt Barr, Gina Holden
Votes: 27,481
33. Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
Jason Voorhees stalks a group of friends who have just arrived to spend the weekend at a cabin near Crystal Lake.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Dana Kimmell, Tracie Savage, Richard Brooker, Terry Ballard
Votes: 60,510 | Gross: $36.69M
34. Secret Window (2004)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.
Director: David Koepp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 209,728 | Gross: $48.02M
35. The Collection (II) (2012)
R | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
A man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as "The Collector" is then forced to help rescue an innocent girl from the killer's booby-trapped lair.
Director: Marcus Dunstan | Stars: Josh Stewart, Emma Fitzpatrick, Christopher McDonald, Randall Archer
Votes: 54,164 | Gross: $12.84M
36. Maniac (1980)
18+ | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.
Director: William Lustig | Stars: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Abigail Clayton, Kelly Piper
Votes: 20,268
37. Friday the 13th: The New Blood (1988)
R | 88 min | Horror, Thriller
Jason Voorhees is accidentally freed from his watery prison by a telekinetic teenager. Now, only she can stop him.
Director: John Carl Buechler | Stars: Terry Kiser, Jennifer Banko, John Otrin, Susan Blu
Votes: 42,432 | Gross: $19.17M
38. Mindhunters (2004)
R | 106 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A group of FBI trainees are taken to a remote island for simulation training. However, once there, they realize that they are being hunted by a serial killer, who might be someone amidst them.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Val Kilmer, LL Cool J, Christian Slater, Eion Bailey
Votes: 64,267 | Gross: $4.48M
39. 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: 27,486
40. Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)
R | 80 min | Comedy, Horror
A sex-changed slasher returns as a camp counselor.
Director: Michael A. Simpson | Stars: Pamela Springsteen, Renée Estevez, Tony Higgins, Valerie Hartman
Votes: 13,376
41. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021)
TV-MA | 47 min | Documentary, Crime, Mystery
This limited docu-series tells the true story of how one of the most notorious serial killers in American history was hunted down and brought to justice.
Stars: Paul Skolnick, Gil Carrillo, Frank Salerno, Pearl Carrillo
Votes: 30,394
42. Pet (I) (2016)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A man bumps into an old crush and holds her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works.
Director: Carles Torrens | Stars: Dominic Monaghan, Ksenia Solo, Jennette McCurdy, Da'Vone McDonald
Votes: 18,859 | Gross: $0.01M
43. Hell Fest (2018)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A masked serial killer turns a horror-themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show.
Director: Gregory Plotkin | Stars: Cynthea Mercado, Stephen Conroy, Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards
Votes: 19,461 | Gross: $11.11M
44. The Golden Glove (2019)
Not Rated | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A serial killer strikes fear in the hearts of residents of Hamburg during the early 1970s.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Jonas Dassler, Vasiliki Georgina Pseimada, Christine Jensen, Greta Sophie Schmidt
Votes: 18,306
45. 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: 24,135 | Gross: $0.42M
46. Shocker (1989)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Michael Murphy, Mitch Pileggi, John Tesh, Heather Langenkamp
Votes: 17,733 | Gross: $16.55M
47. 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: 13,051
48. Massacre at Central High (1976)
R | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A high-school transfer student pushed to the edge by a trio of brutal bullies resorts to murder to reclaim the school from oppression, and later turns against the students wanting to fill the vacuum of their oppressors.
Director: Rene Daalder | Stars: Derrel Maury, Andrew Stevens, Robert Carradine, Kimberly Beck
Votes: 2,758
49. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
R | 79 min | Horror, Thriller
Little Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18 and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa himself.
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr. | Stars: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson
Votes: 18,828 | Gross: $2.49M
50. Wolf Creek 3
Action, Horror, Thriller | Announced
An American family on holiday in the Australian outback catch the attention of notorious serial killer Mick Taylor. A hellish nightmare ensues as the couple's two children escape only to be hunted by Australia's most infamous murderer.
Director: Rachele Wiggins | Star: John Jarratt