The Best Serial Killer Movies (2020): Movie Monsters

Tales of Terror’s

Movie Monsters 2020

The Best Serial Killer Movies

INTRODUCTION

Steve Hutchison reviews 60 of his favorite serial killer movies. Each article includes a synopsis, a review, and a rating. The movies are ranked. How many have you seen?

#1

Scream

1996

High schoolers recognize horror movie patterns in the recent deaths of other students.

8/8

Slashers were among the most successful subgenres of horror in the 70’s and 80’s, and then they became predictable, tired, soon before they completely ran out of momentum in the early 90’s. Scream reboots the trend by now fleshing out characters that live in the same world horror movie fans do, with Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and other horror villains constantly referenced.

This is both a slasher and a whodunit, but it features protagonists who try to overcome a series of murders by what they ironically have in common, as friends: their knowledge and love of horror movies. The actors are a well assorted and written bunch that does an impeccable job of reminiscing the subgenre while juggling with a complex underlying mystery the movie heavily relies on.

The jump scares are deserved; written and directed with ideal pacing, dialogue, acting and a production value rarely matched by similar movies. The intricate script throws you in all directions, and stays away from the red stuff as much as it can. Scream stimulates you mentally, proving that a good movie, disregarding its classification, can only spawn from a good story.

#2

Child’s Play

1988

A doll possessed by the ghost of a serial killer pursues a young boy in order to trade souls with him.

8/8

Child’s Play isn’t the first instance in which a killer doll terrorizes its owner, but the subject was mostly approached in anthology shorts and with limited animatronics, or in movies that underused the gimmick. This isn’t the case here. While it takes a while for Chucky, the possessed doll, to get its reveal, our imagination fills in the blank as the story unfolds.

There is something creepy about an inanimate object coming to life, especially when it’s after the soul of a young kid. The doll’s design is terrifying and skillfully rendered. The slow pace allows for great suspense and clever jump scares you’ll never forget. There had been Gremlins before, then Critters, but nothing quite like Child’s Play in the miniature department.

Both the writing and the directing come together nicely and give us a virtually perfect product. The actors all give a good, unique performance. Chucky joins Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees in the ranks of famous contemporary horror villains. He’s a strange but highly marketable product of voodoo magic and pop culture. He comes with a set of batteries and a foul-mouth...

#3

Psycho

1960

A woman steals a large sum of money and hides in a motel owned by a strange man.

8/8

Psycho revolutionizes horror simply. It presents itself as a mere thriller, but turns into a kind of darkness unlike the science-fiction approach of the last decade; a time when terror was spectacular, monstrous, not so lethal, and more politically correct. Psycho breaks new grounds in regards to taboos, sexuality and deviance, and never resorts to filler despite being based on dialogue.

The camera work is superb. Hitchcock throws himself challenges that he executes perfectly, as an illusionist would. His techniques are mysterious, purposely complicated, and seem to wink at the student, casual and professional filmmaker and hardcore film fans. This is based on a book, but many freedoms are taken into making the content accessible, yet implicitly twisted.

The movie