Serial killers have long been the stuff of which nightmares are made. The serial killer sub-genre of horror has brought us some amazingly memorable characters that still haunt us to this day. On February 19th Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will bring us a new name in fear with The Factory.
Starring John Cusack and Jennifer Carpenter as detectives tracking a murderer, The Factory is set in the bitter cold of a Buffalo winter. A great place to hunt a hunter. And to celebrate the release of this newest addition to the sub-genre, we’ve compiled a list of the Top 11 Movie Serial Killers.
There is certainly a long list of names to choose from, but we narrowed the field a bit by limiting it to those who were just regular human people. No supernatural involvement here, just a person or group of people who’ve gone off the deep end and made hunting and killing others their main hobby. Not exactly the bunch you want to have over to the house for drinks and a rousing game of Scattergories.
We’ll start the honorable mentions out with a couple of newer faces. Perhaps one of the more popular serial killers right now, whose story is currently unraveling before us, is Joe Carroll, the mastermind behind all the deviousness going on in “The Following.” And we’ve also got to throw a little love to Vincent D’Onofrio for his outstanding work as the killer simply known as “Bob” in 2012’s Chained.
But we mustn’t forget some of our old favorites. Dee Snider’s Captain Howdy in Strangeland was nothing if not unique. And as original stories go, Leslie Vernon’s tale in Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is as original as they come. Billy Loomis and his sidekick, Stu Macher, were genre-revivingly brilliant in Scream. And Kurt Russell brought a whole new meaning to “hell on wheels” and was a completely new style of hunter with the most unlikely weapon you’d ever expect as Stuntman Mike in Death Proof. Just missing the Top 11 was the incredibly creepy, unnamed and basically unseen (aside from a disturbing eyeball shot) killer from 1974’s Black Christmas; the man that taught us never to pick up anyone walking along the side of the road in The Hitcher, John Ryder; and a man just trying to instill love of life in his victims, John Kramer (a.k.a. Jigsaw) of the Saw franchise.
And now we give you…
John Doe (Seven)
Nearly 10 years before Jigsaw started his murderous masterpiece, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman played detectives chasing down Kevin Spacey as a serial killer with a very plain name but a very ambitious plan. In Seven Spacey’s John Doe made it his business to execute seven unfortunate souls who were guilty of breaking the seven deadly sins: sloth, greed, gluttony… oh, what am I doing? If you’re reading this site, you know what the seven deadly sins are. You’ve probably broken a handful of them yourself. Like Jigsaw, John Doe’s intricate pre-planning and execution of that plan were the most impressive parts of the character. And the climax of Seven, John Doe’s swan song, is one of the most tense, memorable and shocking you’ll find in film.
Dexter Morgan (“Dexter”)
Although not found in a movie, there is simply no way Dexter Morgan doesn’t make this list. Television’s darling serial killer has been enamoring viewing audiences for seven seasons while he and his dark passenger face one adventure after another. All this while Dex still manages to do a bang-up job as a blood spatter expert for Miami Metro. Michael C. Hall is absolutely perfect in the role that, after so many episodes, it seems he was born to play. We’ve been with Dex through marriage and the birth of his child, seen his mother murdered and watched the spirit of his adopted father guide him through each and every crossroad in his life. Our familiarity with him, and Dexter’s charisma and charm, has made him one of the most beloved characters on television. Not to mention the fact that he sets up one helluva kill room.
Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Oftentimes we’ll see serial killers set on their murderous rampages by an egregious wrongdoing. That could not be more true than in the case of Sweeney Todd, or Benjamin Barker as he was known before that nasty ol’ Judge Turpin stuck it right up his can, stealing his wife and setting him out to sea to die. Barker was a mild-mannered barber before being set on a path of vengeance. Most recently represented by Johnny Depp in the 2007 version of the story directed by Tim Burton, Sweeeny Todd actually has quite the history, with the original tale being told in a 1936 film, although the Burton/Depp tale much more resembles the 1979 Steven Sondheim musical. Todd disposes of unwanted men in his barber chair (which is advantageously positioned over a trap door), and his literal partner in crime, Mrs. Lovett (played in ’07 by Helena Bonham Carter and by Angela Lansbury in the musical) grinds the bodies up and makes meat pies out of them. Which, surprisingly, the people of London circa 1846 can’t get enough of. As will often happen, the murders get out of control, and things end up going horribly wrong for Todd in this musical tragedy. But a beautiful tale it is.
Curt Duncan (When A Stranger Calls)
Although we’re not privy to much of his past, one has to assume that anyone as creepy as Curt Duncan, who was shipped off to the asylum for literally ripping children apart with his bare hands, had to have a trail of bodies in his wake. Duncan was portrayed by Tony Beckley in When A Stranger Calls; however, while playing the role, Beckley was terminally ill and died in 1980, shortly after the film was completed. Although the killer is not even seen in the iconic opening 20 minutes of the movie outside of a shadow, we find there is just something off-putting about him as we get to know him throughout the rest of the picture. We know the brutality he’s capable of, and when we watch him try to blend into society after his escape from custody, we see just how unsettling he can be. Curt Duncan simply makes the viewers uncomfortable. He’s the kind of guy that makes your skin crawl, and isn’t that the goal? Not to mention he scores huge points for helping make the line “Have you checked the children?” legendary.
The Firefly Clan (House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects)
The number of bodies they may have piled up is unknown, but it’s certain that The Firefly Clan had been in business long before we originally meet them in House of 1000 Corpses. With Otis B. Driftwood, Captain Spaulding and Baby as the main members, the group is fleshed out by the likes of Mama Firefly, Grandpa, Tiny and Rufus. They are as handsome as they are merciful and turn out to be a very amusing group. Sid Haig’s Captain Spaulding provides comic relief for the films, but he shows he can be just as dangerous as Bill Moseley’s deviously deviant Otis. Mama Firefly brings her own matriarchal qualities to the table as well. And Baby? The most beautiful butcher you’ll ever lay your eyes on. And btw, the trailer below was done by Universal Pictures when they were going to distribute the film, long before it ended up at Lionsgate’s door.
Mickey and Mallory Knox (Natural Born Killers)
They embarked on a murderous rampage that thrilled the nation, making them celebrities. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play the loving couple who perfectly dramatize society’s love of danger. Serial killers have long been made into celebrities in society, and with the flash and charisma of Mickey and Mallory, it was no surprise they hit superstardom. With a script penned by Quentin Tarantino and with Oliver Stone at the helm, Natural Born Killers was a can’t miss venture. Harrelson and Lewis could not have been better in roles that would go on to become legendary, and colorful characters brought to life by Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Sizemore and Robert Downey, Jr., assisted in providing the perfect atmosphere for Mickey and Mallory to thrive.
Norman Bates (Psycho)
One of the original, and still most disturbing, serial killers in the history of American film, Norman Bates set the bar for all cinematic depravity to follow in Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic 1960 film Psycho. Norman had the perfect serial killer setup. He never had to go out and skulk around in the dark. The victims came right to him. He even had that handy-dandy peephole so he could scope out the merchandise before buying. Seriously, though, Norman Bates was such a deranged serial killer that his story became legendary. Psycho eventually spawned some sequels that looked to add to the tale, but the entire story was told when Mrs. Bates was revealed in the cellar before a frocked Norman could add to his body total. A simply unforgettable killer.
The Sawyer Clan (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)
Everything’s bigger in Texas? You’re damn right! Sometimes things are done better by a group, and that was certainly the case with The Sawyer Clan in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Sure, Leatherface got all the love, but we’ve got to remember that it was The Hitchhiker that initially found the five kids in the big blue van. And it was The Cook that brought poor Sally Hardesty back for her dinner date with the Sawyers. So even though it was Leatherface’s hulking form and chainsaw handiwork that audiences took away from the film, the serial killing in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was certainly a team effort. And, of course, after losing The Hitchhiker at the end of the film, they replaced him with an even more entertaining member when Bill Moseley’s Chop-Top returned from Vietnam for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 12 years later. You wouldn’t want to see the Sawyers moving into the vacant house next to yours, but they do make one efficient team of serial killers. The saw is family.
Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs)
Anthony Hopkins brought a monster to life with his portrayal of Dr. Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and its sequels. It was the fact that Lecter was so smart, so far ahead of the game, that made him so terrifying, even when incarcerated. But it wasn’t until his escape from custody that we really saw just how vicious Lecter really could be. Sure, we saw him talk ol’ Miggs into swallowing his own tongue, but it was the escape where we really saw Lecter at work. A slash, slash here and a slash, slash there; and the next thing you know, the good doctor was being carried to an ambulance with someone else’s face on, and off to freedom he went. The sequels also carried on with author Thomas Harris’ vision of Lecter, insanely intelligent and brutally violent. The combination of the two make for one the most dangerous serial killers ever.
Henry (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)
Long before he was the foul-mouthed bigot Merle Dixon we’ve all come to love on “The Walking Dead,” Michael Rooker portrayed one of the most realistic serial killers we’ve even seen. Rooker played Henry, a nomadic drifter based loosely on real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. The film was the definition of gritty, realistic and downright chilling. Henry’s remorselessness and robotic persona were the most frightening things about him. He killed randomly and without emotion, and what could be more frightening than that…a killer who will simply pick anyone out of a crowd, murder him or her, and then sleep tight at night without a second thought of his heinous act. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is one of the most realistic and acerbic looks into the mind of a killer we’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. It’s a docu-drama made long before the style became in vogue, and it worked perfectly in this case. A voyeuristic journey into madness.
About The Factory
A Dark Castle Entertainment production, The Factory stars John Cusack (The Raven, 2012, Identity), Jennifer Carpenter (“Dexter”), Mae Whitman (“Parenthood,” “Arrested Development,” Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Dallas Roberts (“Supernova”), Sonya Walger (“Lost”) and Mageina Tovah (“Joan of Arcadia,” Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3). It’s directed by Morgan O’Neil (Drift, Solo) from a screenplay by O’Neil & Paul A. Leydon (Tatua) and is produced by Joel Silver (The Matrix trilogy), Susan Downey (Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) and David Gambino (Whiteout, The Brave One).