10 Iconic Horror Movie Serial Killers

WatchMojo

The calls are coming from inside the house! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those mortal serial killers that haunted our dreams in horror movies. Beware! Heavy SPOILERS lie ahead!

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those mortal serial killers

00:08that haunted our dreams in horror movies. Beware, heavy spoilers lie ahead.

00:2110. Mark Lewis – Peeping Tom The disturbing modus operandi of Mark Lewis

00:40in Peeping Tom was seriously ahead of its time for 1960. Indeed, the film was released

00:45around the same time as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, yet this film from director Michael

00:49Powell received much more censorship and negative criticism. Lewis takes his voyeuristic

01:02tendencies beyond the pale in this film, murdering young women and filming the moments of their

01:08deaths. This killer's ultimate endgame is to construct the ultimate snuff film compilation,

01:13with the execution, pun intended, of Peeping Tom doing a scary good job of influencing

01:18the slasher movie genre.

01:259. Cristiano Berti – Peter Neill – Tenebrae The influence of Dario Argento upon Italy's

01:46cycle of stylish murder mysteries cannot be overstated. Argento's filmography also retains

01:52a number of memorable killers, from Martha Manganiello in Deep Red to Inspector Santini

01:57in Opera. Tenebrae from 1982 is even more bloodthirsty, while also containing double

02:02the killers. It's the stalking and slashing

02:15of Cristiano Berti that pushes crime author Peter Neill over the edge in the film, resulting

02:21in a frenzy of blood. Tenebrae is a ridiculously stylish film, yet the motivations of repressed

02:27memories turn Neill's murder spree in the second half into the realm of the psychosexual.

02:368. Pearl Douglas – X Franchise Horror cinema received a new icon when Mia

02:46Goth's Pearl Douglas hit the screen in 2022's X. That said, it was probably that film's

03:01narrative prequel Pearl that further fleshed out the obsessive motivations of this character.

03:06Life doesn't always turn out the way we think, or want, and it's this realization that ultimately

03:11pushes a young Pearl past the brink of madness. Fast forward to the events of X, and the character

03:23has become murderously resentful of the life she wasn't allowed. The arrival of an adult

03:27film crew to her house only serves to underline Douglas' bitterness towards the younger generation's

03:32sexual freedom, reawakening the now-old woman's murderous desires.

03:457. Billy Loomis and Stu Macker – Scream Fans of this neoclassic horror franchise

03:51likely have their own personal favorite villain who's worn the cowl of Ghostface. That said,

03:56there's just something special about the original serial killers from 1996's Scream.

04:01The reveal of both Billy Loomis and Stu Macker as the villains wasn't the first time a slasher

04:06movie had multiple killers, but it did do a great job at reinvigorating this trope.

04:15The metamovie commentary of Scream also wasn't a totally original idea,

04:19with films such as 1991's There's Nothing Out There predating Kevin Williamson's script.

04:26That said, Loomis and Macker's realistic motivations and amoral glee helped cement

04:39Ghostface as a slasher baddie for the ages. 6. Patrick Bateman – American Psycho

04:49Here's a question – does it matter that the ending of American Psycho heavily implies that

04:53the murders committed by Patrick Bateman are all imaginary? We don't think so, at least not when

05:10it comes to the final execution of director Mary Harron's film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis'

05:15American Psycho. The slaying set pieces of the film more than lend American Psycho its well-

05:20deserved reputation as a cult classic. Meanwhile, Bateman's profoundly troubled

05:33mind and disturbed psyche makes him an incredibly compelling antagonist. The character's final

05:38confused monologue, where Bateman admits that he wishes his pain to be inflicted upon others,

05:43is among 2000's horror's most iconic moments. 5. Henry and Otis – Henry, Portrait of a Serial

06:01Killer Some true crime adaptations have been

06:04accused of glamorizing their subjects to the point where these antagonists become too sympathetic.

06:09This is thankfully not the case with 1986's Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer.

06:24Director John McNaughton and co-screenwriter Richard Fire craft a narrative that remembers

06:29to frame its central characters of Henry and Otis in the worst possible light.

06:33Leads Michael Rooker and Tom Toles base their performances upon the real-life serial murderers

06:43Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole. As a result, Henry is grimy and unrepentantly realistic

06:49in its nihilism. The 16mm film stock retains a graininess that adds to the

07:03gruesome behavior at play, an air of discomfort that is omnipresent around the pair's crimes.

07:094. Leatherface – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Franchise

07:13The legend of Leatherface may loom large over the world of horror, but let's not forget that

07:16this member of the Sawyer family isn't a supernatural entity. Nope, Leatherface is a

07:25man – and a horror icon – whose creation was inspired by the crimes of another real-life killer,

07:30Ed Gein. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has played around with Leatherface's origin

07:39stories over the years, sometimes portraying him in a more sympathetic light. This Sawyer

07:44sibling's mental disabilities often make it easy for the other family members to order him around,

07:49but make no mistake, Leatherface has committed more than his fair share of intentional killings.

08:003. John Kramer aka Jigsaw – Saw Franchise

08:17Just as the Scream franchise debuted a new horror icon, Ghostface, for the 90s,

08:22so too did Saw introduce John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, to fans in the early millennium.

08:28Tobin Bell brings with him a cunning malevolence as he portrays a serial

08:32killer with a penchant for elaborate traps. Jigsaw seeks to exploit the personal flaws

08:48and foibles of his victims, although his traps are not impossible to escape.

08:52That said, the endgame of Jigsaw's riddles is almost always at the expense of his victims,

08:57via their mutilation or demise. This killer seeks to uncover, in his words,

09:02the survival instinct that Jigsaw feels is missing, an appreciation for life at the doorstep

09:08of death. 2. Norman Bates – Psycho Franchise

09:21It speaks volumes to the likability of Anthony Perkins that his character of Norman Bates is

09:26seen, by some at least, in a sympathetic light. The mental anguish and torment that drives Bates

09:40to murder is actually better fleshed out in the excellent and underrated Psycho sequels,

09:45where Perkins' inner conflict is truly allowed to shine. Psycho 2 and 3 showcase a Bates who

09:51vacillates between attempting to live a normal life, yet is always driven back to murder by

09:56the voice of Mother in his head. Furthermore, many of the murders in Psycho 2 aren't even

10:08committed by Bates, although the franchise always comes back around in displaying Perkins'

10:12unhinged attachment from reality. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few

10:26honourable mentions. 1. John Ryder – The Hitcher

10:29Rutger Hauer brings complete menace. 2. Mick Taylor – Wolf Creek

10:45Stalk and slash in the outback. 3. Jack – The House That Jack Built

10:54A 12-year trip into hell. 4. Billy – Black Christmas

11:07Unseen, unknown, and still out there.

11:251. Hannibal Lecter – Hannibal Lecter Franchise

11:37It doesn't really matter which excellent portrayal of Hannibal Lecter fans choose,

11:41they'll all provide an excellent look into a psychotic mind. This disgraced psychiatrist

11:46was first portrayed by Brian Cox in 1986's Manhunter, while Mads Mikkelsen popularized

11:52Lecter on the small screen with Hannibal. For many, however, it's Sir Anthony Hopkins

12:07that provided horror fans with their definitive Hannibal, a sharply intelligent serial killer

12:12with a taste for human flesh. Hopkins plays Lecter as bloodthirsty, but

12:22restrained, able to premeditate his crimes until the moment is right. This allows Hannibal Lecter

12:27to always retain an ace up his sleeve when it comes to escaping the law at every turn.

12:44Do you prefer mortal horror villains over supernatural enemies? Let us know in the

12:48comments. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,

12:56and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

Category

Transcript

Recommended