It’s strange to write this, but serial killers are a fascination for many people. For different reasons, people find intrigue in the psychology of these criminals. It’s a morbid study that reflects our own curiosity about our mortality and how someone can just take a life away in such a methodical manner. Whether real or inspired by true events, films that fit the mold of the serial killer genre will always have an audience.
Update July 19, 2025: Looking for a thriller to watch this Halloween? This article has been updated with underrated gems that are worth checking out.
These films mainly fall into a subgenre of the horror-thriller category. Classics like David Fincher’sSevenandZodiaccome to mind, as well as iconic slasher films such asThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreandPsycho. But with many held high in regard to its audience, there are still a lot that must not go unnoticed. Here are 10 of the most underrated serial killer films of all time.
10The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
The trailer aloneforThe Poughkeepsie Tapesis enough to put you on edge. When ten bodies are found in a residential home in Poughkeepsie, New York, the police also discover something more disturbing. 800 tapes of footage shot by the killer himself, committing all his vile acts on his victims. Blending found footage with the mockumentary genre, the fictional film at times doesn’t feel fictional. The interview footage may not have some of the best acting performances, but the footage from the tapes that were discovered feels at times like a snuff film.
The fact that the film wasn’t released when it was supposed to only added to the legend of it feeling moredangerous and potentially controversial. It’s definitely a movie you dare yourself to watch. It never crosses the line, but it does walk right up to it.
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9Sisters (1972)
An earlyBrian De Palmadirectorial effort that proves he was made to work in this genre.Sistersis about a journalist (Jennifer Salt) who witnesses her neighbor murder someone and calls the police about it. She is met with skepticism from law enforcement and the suspect herself (Margot Kidder). There are massive twists and turns that will have you seeing double.Sistersfeels like an homage to the standoutfilms of Alfred Hitchcock, yet it stands on its own two feet as a suspenseful cult classic.
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Pat Quid is driving a semi across Australia. On the way, he encounters various other drivers and the occasional hitchhikers as they’re traveling on the same road. He begins to suspect that another driver is picking up hitchikers and killing them.
The Australian outback is the setting for this film, and it soaks up the atmosphere well.Road Gamesstars Stacy Keach as an American truck driver by the name of Pat Quid. While on a job, he becomes suspicious of the driver of a mysterious green van and suspects that he is murdering young women along his route. Quid picks up a hitchhiker by the name of Pamela (Jamie Lee Curtis), who eventually goes missing, and it turns into a race against time to save her.
Road Gameshas its moments of playing around in suspense, but it never goes full horror. There’s a comedic feel to Keach’s carefree performance, and Curtis doesn’t play her role as a damsel in distress. But it is a film that fans of the genre have welcomed and hold in high regard.
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7Frailty (2001)
An unforgettable dark gothic tale with amazing plot twists.Frailtyis the dark and twisteddirectorial debut of Bill Paxton, who also stars in the film as a man who is told by God to kill those he believes to be demons. And what makes it even scarier is that he brings along his two sons to help him do it. The film is a product of its time, with its suspenseful scares. It lacks in gore but makes up for it in psychological horror.
The twists and turns and surprise endings were tropes of the era that may have hurtFrailtyupon its release. But movie lovers have gone back to this and realized its cult film status.
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6The Snowtown Murders (2011)
The Snowtown Murders
Based on a true story,The Snowtown Murdersis a bleak look at what is called the ‘bodies in barrels murders’. A series of killings in southern Australia during the nineties. Most of the cast is relatively unknown, and that assists with the believability of their performances, which can leave you with chills. Daniel Henshall heads up the cast as a violent predator who takes his girlfriend’s son under his wing to assist in a violent crime spree. The film is gritty due to its documentary feel at times. And is another testament to the fact that nobody can do crime films like the Aussies can.
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5Deep Red (1975)
You can’t have a list of serial killer films without at least one Italian Giallo on it. If you need a gateway intoDario Argento’s filmography,Suspiriais one way to go. The other isDeep Red. The film follows a musician trying to solve the murder of a psychic whose dead body he discovered. It’s a great introduction to Italian murder mystery films that were prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, as it is one of Argento’s finest works.
Everything in his director’s toolbox is on display here: bloody set pieces, creative camera work, and a fun soundtrack.Deep Redis a time capsule that is an exercise in suspense that pays off in surprise endings and a lot of bloodshed along the way. And let’s not forget the creepy doll.
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4The Clovehitch Killer (2018)
The Clovehitch Killer
After its 2018 release,The Clovehitch Killercaught traction on streaming during the pandemic. The film tells the story of Tyler (Charlie Plummer), a teenage boy who grows up in a religious household and uncovers information that could tear all of that apart. He discovers disturbing images in his father’s possession that link him to the murder of 13 girls, 10 years prior. Dylan McDermott plays Tyler’s father, Don.
It’s a role that feels like a change of pace for him, and it works really well.The Clovehitch Killeris a different kind of serial killer movie that also deals with the loss of innocence for its protagonist and has shades of a coming of age drama to it as well.
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3Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
You could argue thatHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killeris one of the most disturbing films of all time. Yet there is a method to its madness. In its eighty-three-minute run time, the film is a slow, tight burn that doesn’t give us cheap, quick kills from the main character. Every heinous act that Henry (Michael Rooker) takes part in is slow and in your face. There is a dirty, grimy tone to the film, almost like how a snuff film would make you feel. And oddly, it never feels like exploitation.
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Credit for that belongs to director John McNaughton and Michael Rooker in the title role, whose presence on screen is unnerving even if all he’s doing is staring in a mirror.
Not long afterMetropolis, Firtz Lang would give us the template for the serial killer genre with 1931’s,M. The film focuses on a city-wide manhunt to catch a man who kidnaps children and murders them. The interesting thing about this film is that both the police and organized crime go on the hunt to catch the killer. Cinema was still a very young art form at the time, and yet people still utilizeMas a reference point. The film is nearing one hundred years old, and to this day, there are a lot of serial killer movies that stand on its shoulders.
1Manhunter (1986)
Manhunter is a psychological thriller directed by Michael Mann. Released in 1986, the film follows former FBI profiler Will Graham, portrayed by William Petersen, as he tracks down a serial killer known as “The Tooth Fairy.” The film features strong performances from Brian Cox as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor and Tom Noonan as the chilling antagonist. Manhunter is known for its atmospheric tension and complex character studies.
Five years before Jonathan Demme would directThe Silence of the Lambsand Anthony Hopkins would play Hannibal Lecter, there was another film that was the first of the Hannibal stories,Manhunter.Directed by Michael Mann and an adaptation of Thomas Harris' novelRed Dragon, it stars Brian Cox as Lecktor (spelled differently) and William Peterson as Will Graham, an FBI Profiler brought out of retirement to track a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy. And as the formula goes, Lecktor assists Graham in catching the killer.
The film opened to mixed reviews, and for a while, struggled to step out of the shadow of the Hannibal films that would follow. One of which the2002 filmRed Dragon, another direct adaptation of the same source material asManhunter. Eventually, it would get its flowers, achieve cult film status, and be another great part ofdirector Michael Mann’s filmography.
