The Couch (1962)

The Couch (1962)

[6] Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man) stars as a serial killer who goes to therapy about his dark compulsion. Turns out the guy has serious Freudian issues involving his mother, father, and sister -- anyone who reminds him of…
The Watcher (2000)

The Watcher (2000)

[2] James Spader and Keanu Reeves star in this tired, busily boring, and wretchedly made thriller about a serial killer who likes to play games with the FBI agent on his trail. I can't fault Spader for doing his best…
The Snowtown Murders (2011)

The Snowtown Murders (2011)

[7] Director Justin Kurzel tells the true story of Australia's most notorious serial killer through the eyes of his teenaged accomplice. Teenager Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) falls in with his mother's new boyfriend, John Bunting (Daniel Henshall). Bunting becomes a father…
Hangover Square (1945)

Hangover Square (1945)

[6] A composer suffers from frequent black-outs and begins to wonder if he's not responsible for a series of murdered women in the area. Hangover Square is a very good dark drama featuring a great performance by Laird Cregar. Some…
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

[5] A London couple begin to suspect their new lodger might be a serial killer who preys on blonde women. And it just so happens their daughter is blonde. And dating one of the detectives on the case. Even though…
Tightrope (1984)

Tightrope (1984)

[5] Clint Eastwood plays a detective (who isn't Dirty Harry) assigned to a case involving a serial rapist and murderer whose victims begin to include Eastwood's acquaintances. This is a paint-by-numbers serial killer movie, full of all the old cliches…
Monster (2003)

Monster (2003)

[8] Charlize Theron stars as Aileen Wuornos, the infamous Florida prostitute who became a serial killer, in this film chronicling her last few months of freedom before being captured and executed in 2002. Writer/director Patty Jenkins doesn't shy away from…
Kiss the Girls (1997)

Kiss the Girls (1997)

[6] Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd mostly succeed in saving this somewhat pedestrian thriller from Lifetime Movie territory. Freeman plays a policeman in search of a possible serial killer and Judd plays the one woman who was able to escape…
Cruising (1980)

Cruising (1980)

[8] Al Pacino plays a New York police detective who goes deep under cover within the city's S&M community to catch a serial killer preying on gay men. Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) stirred controversy for his…
Maniac (2013)

Maniac (2013)

[6]

If you wanted to remake William Lustig’s 1980 slasher cornerstone with an abundance of point-of-view shots, you probably couldn’t do a better a job than Franck Khalfoun did with this remake. Maniac is beautiful and imaginative, photographed almost entirely from the killer’s (Elijah Wood’s) point of view. You really only see him in mirrors and other reflective surfaces. On one hand, the conceit is clever and cool, but on the other hand, it ends up being what I’m paying attention to — not the thin storyline or the operatic depiction of its psychologically scarred central character. I think less would have been more where the back story is concerned, and I’m not sure the perpetual POV tactic is the best way to tell this story.