100 Stupid Movies About Ridiculously Improbable Serial Killers

95. The Bone Collector

94. Kiss the Girls

93. Identity

92. Serial Mom

91. Kalifornia

I was debating putting From Hell on here given the source material but the movie really does fit the bill

Can't forget sequels or prequels:

90. Saw II
89. Saw III
88. Hannibal
87. Red Dragon
86. Manhunter

OHMIGOD HOW COULD I FORGET:

85. The Cell

That really should be #1. What an awful film that was.

I don't know what this means... I'm referring to movies wherein serial killers are presented as superhumanly intelligent and attentive to details, while also being violently psychopathic and remarkably skillful at psychological manipulation. They are also usually very "cool" and calm and collected.

UH THIS IS ACTUALLY HOW THEY BECOME "SERIAL KILLERS" INSTEAD OF "DUMBASS WHO GOT CAUGHT KILLING A DUDE."

Uh no. It's mostly because the police aren't very good at catching perpetrators of motive-less crimes.

oh man the Cell

84. Exorcist III
83. The Watcher
82. Eye See You

"The Cell" was not in any way, shape or form awesome, yet I still really, really enjoyed it.

81. The January Man

80. The Hitcher

79. May

78. Dirty Harry
77. House Of 1000 Corpses

God, I love stupid movies about ridiculously improbable serial killers.

Serial Mom is stupidly good obv btw, but it's still stupid and improbable. It's also easily the best movie listed so far.

76. Sin City

75. Zodiac

74. Batman

73. Masscre At Central High

72. Scoop
71. Match Point

70. Natural Born Killers

75. Zodiac

I think this is disqualifiable for a number of reasons (as is American Psycho - surprised no one's dropped that one yet)

also wtf Match Point is not about a serial killer?!

69. So I Married An Axe Murderer

hahaha

69. The Frighteners

68. Basic Instinct
67. Basic Instinct 2
66. Jade

the frighteners is awes

the fey dude had a body count of three in Match Point right? Certainly meets improbable and stupid standards.

Why is Zodiac disqualifiable?

(xxpost)I can see how everything Jackson's made since would make you say that, but no it's not.

Serial Mom is stupidly good obv btw, but it's still stupid and improbable. It's also easily the best movie listed so far.

Errr... Manhunter?

"Why is Zodiac disqualifiable?"

Because it wasn't ridiculously improbable.

"Errr... Manhunter?"

Is mediocre.

is "guy sends wacky puzzles after every killing" any less improbable than "cannibal psychiatrist"?

65. Halloween
64. Halloween 2
63. Halloween 4
62. Halloween 5
61. Halloween 6
60. Hallowen H20
59. Halloween: Resurrection
58. Halloween (2007)

I really like all the Hannibal Lecter movies except for "Hannibal", and that one is still kind of "wow that is so retarded it's amazing".

(I stand with 'All serial killers are ridiculously improbable, including the real ones.')

57. Crawlspace

You could show me documentary footage of a woman giving birth to an adult midget and the scene where Hannibal pops the top on Ray Liotta would still top that shit.

"Hannibal" is still kind of "wow that is so retarded it's amazing".

OTM, I'd probably rather see that again than any of the others.

(xxxxpost)As if that was the only improbable thing about Hannibal Lecter!

Alex OTM re: Zodiac. also because it isn't really about the killer, its about obsession and obfuscation and a whole lot of other things... the killer isn't even depicted as being especially superhuman or unusual.

re: Match Point, Rhys-Davies only kills Scarlett Johannsen and the neighbor (and the neighbor's only killed as a cover-up attempt)...? I don't see how he fits the bill of a serial killer at all.

xxxxxxpost

56. Frenzy

is "guy sends wacky puzzles after every killing"

you are aware that he really did this, right?

any less improbable than "cannibal psychiatrist"?

you are aware this type of person has never existed, right?

55. Arsenic And Old Lace

(how the fuck did this get this far w/o mention of)

-30. the stepfather (& sequels)

lol the first power

I kind of love that movie.

I spent all of October talking about how I wanted to watch -25. the devils rejects but then I forgot about it and still haven't seen it.

xp - jeff kober: ridiculously improbable tho his character may have been, u gotta admit that dude looks like a serial killing mf

http://content7.flixster.com/photo/48/42/27/4842277_gal.jpg

E, your reaction to TDR should correspond how well you enjoy 70s-era exploitation horror & the strength of your tolerance for (often comically ott, but still potentially upsetting) sadism & gore. you have been warned!

I'm pretty OK with all of those things tbh which is why I really want to see it.

Plus it's supposed to be much better than his first, right?

once again you prove to be a woman after my own heart!

*sigh*

house of 1000 corpses? supposed to be pretty dud, so I've actually never seen it.

so yeah, TDR is just fine as a standalone narrative (if, by narrative, u mean cavalcade of violence & grotesquery)

-30. the stepfather (& sequels)

Loosely based on a real guy, although he only killed the one family.

It strikes me that, among real-life dudes, the BTK and Green River killers were almost as ludicrous as any of these fictional guys. They got away with that shit for a loooooong time. Also the Zodiac, obvs.

Have there been movies about the Green River Killer? I'm sort of obsessed with that story.

so yeah, TDR is just fine as a standalone narrative (if, by narrative, u mean cavalcade of violence & grotesquery)

― jerkstore cowboy (Pillbox), Tuesday, December 21, 2010 3:44 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yeah, I need to see it. Also want to see it for the final "Freebird" scene which I hear is pretty epic.

although he only killed the one family. - thus not engaging in the ridiculously improbable repeat activity of marrying, mudering, remarrying, murdering etc.

pretty sure this was borrowed (stolen) pretty blatantly from Night of the Hunter, now that I think about it.

he BTK and Green River killers were almost as ludicrous as any of these fictional guys.

yeah, even the most shameless & exploitative of directors wouldn't go near the sort of irl behavior exemplified by someone like Albert Fish, for example (at least I hope not..) - unless it were done as something like a "true crime" police procedural, like Citizen X (about an equally reprehensible soviet-era russian sk).

Personally, I can indulge in the ott fictional stuff all day, but anything having to do with the irl guys just leaves me feeling terrible about humanity, empty inside, nauseous etc. Similarly, I'll gladly take in something absurdly bloody & pus-filled like Martyrs, but try to get me to watch an irl surgery or something & I'll probably faint.

The guy in Night of the Hunter only kills one family too. Technically he only kills Shelly Winters (the kids get away!)

I think they made two movies recently about Fish, weirdly enough.

Finding Nemo and Piranha 3D

ha

I like the less fantastical serial killer movies myself. One of the things I like about Zodiac and Memories of Murder is that both movies make it pretty clear that the main obstacle to catching these guys isn't that they are mad geniuses, it's that the police are poorly equipped to catch people who commit serial murders.

Loved se7en, especially the cinematography, twas ruined by pitts overacting at the end.

is there a thread on pretty looking films/great cinematography type of thread discussions on one of the threads?

Twin Peaks season 2 episodes with windom earl

One of the things I like about Zodiac and Memories of Murder is that both movies make it pretty clear that the main obstacle to catching these guys isn't that they are mad geniuses, it's that the police are poorly equipped to catch people who commit serial murders.

I agree -- most irl serial killers are more likely to be of low or average intelligence, they aren't criminal masterminds.

he main obstacle to catching these guys isn't that they are mad geniuses - gotta admit that those dudes are p interesting, but most sks are just sadistic perverts who get away with it as long as they do b/c of the randomness of their crimes.

lol xp - we seem to have a p fundamental disagreement here.

o wait, never mind. that is what I get for scanning posts too quickly

Ebert FUCKING LOVES (er, loved) The Cell

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-cell-2000

deeply bad last graf there

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/se7en-screenwriter-how-a-mixup-david-fincher-led-gutsy-ending-963957

Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker was working at Tower Records in New York when he wrote Seven, which was optioned in the early 90s with Christmas Vacation director Jeremiah Chechik coming on board to direct. Chechik wanted to make a very different movie. Among the changes Chechik requested from Walker was one to alter that inventive ending. There was to be no head in a box.

-31. Zodiac

God what's that fucking movie with Annabella Sciorra where Alan Alda turns out to be the psycho murderer? Was he serial in that?

― Jon Lewis, Friday, September 7, 2007 5:28 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"The West Wing"?

― HI DERE, Friday, September 7, 2007 5:28 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink