Serial Killers: 177

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) is an American slasher film, produced and directed by Steve Miner in his directorial debut, and written by Ron Kurz. Two months after surviving a massacre at Camp Crystal Lake, Alice Hardy is recovering from her traumatic experience. However, she meets an untimely demise in her own apartment when an unknown intruder attacks her with an ice pick while she is feeding her cat. Five years later, Paul Holt opens a school for camp counselors on the same grounds. Among the trainees are Sandra, Jeff, Scott, Terry, Mark, Vickie, Ted, and Ginny – ...

Halloween II (1981) is an American slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal. It marks his first time as a director and was written and produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. On October 31, 1978, Michael Myers is shot and falls off a balcony by his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis. Despite his injuries, he manages to flee into the night. While wandering through alleys, he comes across an elderly couple from whom he steals a kitchen knife. He then proceeds to murder a teenage girl next door. Meanwhile, Laurie Strode, who ...

The American erotic psychological thriller film, Dressed to Kill (1980), follows the story of frustrated housewife Kate Miller. In therapy with New York City psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott, Kate’s plans to spend the day with her teenage son, Peter – an inventor on the cusp of a major breakthrough for a city science fair – are unexpectedly canceled. Instead, she ventures alone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she finds herself flirting with a mysterious stranger. The two engage in a cat-and-mouse game throughout the museum before eventually ending up at his apartment together. Several hours pass before Kate quietly decides to leave while her ...

Friday the 13th (1980) is an American independent slasher film produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, written by Victor Miller. At Camp Crystal Lake in 1958, two counselors are killed by an unseen assailant while they sneak into a cabin to have sex. In present day, camp counselor and cook Annie Phillips is driven halfway to the reopened camp by truck driver Enos, who warns her about its troubled past stemming from a drowning in 1957. After being dropped off, Annie hitches another ride from someone who ultimately slashes her throat. At the camp, owner Steve Christy ...

Time After Time (1979) is an American sci-fi movie written and directed by Nicholas Meyer. Set in 1893 London, it follows H.G. Wells as he showcases his time machine to skeptical guests at a dinner party. He explains its inner workings, including a ‘non-return key’ that locks the traveler’s destination and a ‘vaporizing equalizer’ that maintains equilibrium between the traveler and the machine. Suddenly, police constables interrupt the event, searching for notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper. Upon finding blood-stained gloves belonging to ...

Halloween (1978) is a classic slasher film directed, co-written, and scored by the talented John Carpenter. In 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers committed a heinous act, stabbing his teenage sister Judith to death with a kitchen knife on Halloween night. Years later, his psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis accompanies nurse Marion Chambers to the sanitarium where Michael is held for a court hearing. However, things take a terrifying turn when Michael takes advantage of an opportunity and escapes in Marion’s car. He heads back to his hometown of Haddonfield, where he continues his murderous rampage. Along the way, he ...

Deep Red (1975) is an Italian giallo film directed by Dario Argento. The story takes place over the course of two decades, beginning with a tragic incident at a family Christmas in 1956. Flash forward to Turin in 1975, where parapsychology professor Giordani hosts a conference featuring psychic medium Helga Ulmann. During the event, Helga is suddenly overwhelmed by the ‘twisted, perverted, murderous’ thoughts of someone in the audience. After confiding in Giordani about her suspicions, Helga becomes a victim herself when she is killed in her apartment later that night by an unknown assailant. Jazz pianist ...

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is an American horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who also co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. In the early hours of August 18, 1973, a grave robber steals several remains from a nearby cemetery in Muerto County, Texas. The disturbing scene is spotted by a local resident at sunrise. As five young people travel through the area in a van – Sally Hardesty, Jerry, Pam, Kirk, and Franklin, Sally’s disabled brother- they make a stop at the cemetery to check on their grandfather’s grave. To their relief, ...

Badlands (1973), an American neo-noir crime drama film, marks the directorial debut of Terrence Malick. Holly Sargis, a 15-year-old in Fort Dupree, narrates the story from her perspective. Following her mother’s death from pneumonia, Holly’s relationship with her father, a sign painter, becomes strained. Her admiration for actor James Dean leads her to take notice of Kit Carruthers, a troubled greaser and Korean War veteran who shares similar features. As their bond deepens, Holly learns of Kit’s underlying violent and antisocial tendencies. Despite her father’s disapproval and his consequent ...

The Corruption of Chris Miller (1973) is a Spanish psychological horror film directed by Juan Antonio Bardem. Set in a rural mountain community in Spain, it follows the story of a woman who allows a temporary guest to stay in her home while her husband is away. The man, wearing a Charlie Chaplin mask from the home, turns violent when she asks him to leave and stabs her to death. Meanwhile, teenage Christine ‘Chris’ Miller has recently been discharged from a psychiatric institution after suffering a violent rape and abandonment by her father. She goes to live with her stepmother Ruth in their large country ...

Sisters (1972) is a psychological horror film by American director Brian De Palma. Advertising salesman Philip Woode earns a dinner for two at a Manhattan restaurant on a Candid Camera-style TV show. During the prank, he is charmed by Danielle Breton, a young French Canadian model and aspiring actress, who he agrees to take as his date. After their dinner, they head back to her Staten Island apartment for intimacy. The following morning, she reveals that her twin sister Dominique has arrived to celebrate their birthday. At her request, Philip runs to the drug store and picks up a birthday cake on his way back. However, ...

The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971), an English-language Italian film by Dario Argento, follows the investigation of a mysterious break-in at the Terzi Medical Institute. Despite not taking anything, the perpetrator kills one of the doctors, Calabresi, who had knowledge about the incident. The victim’s fiancée, Bianca Merusi, is told about this by Calabresi before his untimely death at the hands of the thief. A photojournalist captures the moment but misses capturing the killer. Reporter Carlo Giordani, who has been covering the story since its start, publishes an article on Calabresi’s demise and includes ...

The giallo film, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), marks Dario Argento’s directorial debut. It follows Sam Dalmas, an American writer on holiday in Rome with his English model girlfriend, Julia, in an attempt to overcome writer’s block before their impending return to the United States. During a walk home one evening, Sam witnesses a woman being assaulted by a figure dressed in black raincoat and gloves within an art gallery. He tries to intervene but becomes trapped between the gallery’s glass doors as the attacker flees. Monica Ranieri, wife of the gallery owner Alberto Ranieri, survives the ...

Le Samouraï (1967) is a neo-noir crime thriller film directed and written by Jean-Pierre Melville, starring Alain Delon. Jef Costello, an impassive hitman who resides in a sparse single-room apartment in Paris, keeps a small caged bird as his companion. Using meticulous techniques, he creates foolproof alibis with the help of his lover, Jane. However, after carrying out his latest contract killing on nightclub owner Martey, Jef is spotted by several witnesses including Valerie, the club’s piano player. Despite being brought in for a lineup by the police, none of the ...

Psycho (1960), an American horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was based on the eponymous 1959 novel by Robert Bloch. The screenplay, penned by Joseph Stefano, brought the chilling story to life. In it, Phoenix real estate secretary Marion Crane steals $40,000 from her employer after her boyfriend, Sam, laments his financial troubles are delaying their marriage. As she heads towards Fairvale, California in her car, a suspicious policeman prompts her to switch vehicles. When a heavy rainstorm forces Marion to seek ...

The American movie House of Wax (1953), directed by Andre de Toth and released by Warner Bros, is set in New York City during the early 1900s. The main character, Professor Henry Jarrod, is a talented sculptor who owns a wax museum featuring historical figures who have met gruesome ends. However, his business partner Matthew Burke is dissatisfied with Jarrod’s refusal to create more sensational exhibits that would draw larger crowds, like their competitors’. Burke decides to end their partnership and proposes burning down the museum for its twenty-five thousand dollar insurance money. When wealthy art critic ...

Shadow of a Doubt (1943) is an American psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Newton, a restless teenage girl from Santa Rosa, California, receives exciting news: her mother’s younger brother (her namesake), Charles Oakley, will be visiting. Charlie is thrilled upon his arrival, especially when he presents her with an emerald ring as a token of their affection. However, she soon discovers that the ring has someone ...