20 Underappreciated Serial Killer Movies (To Remember to Lock the Door at Night)
![20 Underappreciated Serial Killer Movies (To Remember to Lock the Door at Night)](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/5/8/866058_320x180.jpg)
The Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, Scream. We all know these serial killer movies. Plus, we all know their quintessential genre: the slasher. It seems we have a good grip on all there is to know about these sorts of movies, right? Hell, we could even mention some other classics and everybody will know them as well: Seven, American Psycho, Wolf Creek, or Black Christmas. But what about the somewhat forgotten movies, those serial killer flicks that flash through your mind once in a million years and that you should definitely check out.
Hey, we’re Cracked Dot Com, and we care about you. A lot. Did you lock the door today? Go lock the door. It’s a scary world out there, go lock the door, have a drink of water, and, erm, we don’t know, go watch Tenebrae? The slasher is not the only serial killer genre out there, you know. Also, here we bring you 20 underappreciated serial killer movies. Some of them are old-timey classics, others are trashy fun, and others are artsy cinematic experiments. In every case, however, they’re creepy movies about those fascinating psychos that deserve to be brought to your attention once again. You know, for you to lock the door. We’re waiting for you right here, after all.
Manhunter
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1986 Manhunter Based on the same novel as the later Red Dragon, Michael Mann brings all his hyper-stylized dark moodiness to this peak-'80s crime thriller. It's pretty much Vaporwave: The Movie while, oh yeah, also being Hannibal Lecter's very first on-screen appearance. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/6/866076.jpg)
The Pledge
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 2001 The Pledge Jack Nicholson plays a detective obsessed with finding a serial killer targeting children. Sean Penn directed this pseudo-remake of 1958's It Happened in Broad Daylight, which actually adds the haunting ending that the original didn't dare to have. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/1/866071.jpg)
The Minus Man
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1999 The Minus Man This dreamy and forgotten indie drama follows Owen Wilson's drifting serial killer as he's chased by the cops and plans his next victims. The cast is full of familiar faces, and it's the only movie directed by the writer of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/4/866074.jpg)
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 2007 The Poughkeepsie Tapes This found-footage mockumentary intertwines the investigation aimed at capturing a serial killer with scenes from his VHS collection. The shlock and tastelessness are redeemed when a survivor is finally interviewed. Fair warning: The scene will leave you with a hole where your soul was. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/8/0/866080.jpg)
Summer of 84
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 2018 Summer of 84 A nerdy kid suspects his neighbor is a serial killer, gets his friends and even the girl he likes in on the amateur investigation, and things escalate out of control. Think Stranger Things, only with less idealized nostalgia and way darker. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/8/866078.jpg)
Sisters
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1972 Sisters Margot Kidder plays a woman whose life is ruined when her disturbed twin sister kills her one-night stand. What follows is an investigation by a reporter, trippy and bloody visuals, and a killer ending. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/9/866079.jpg)
Frailty
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 2001 Frailty Bill Paxton starred in and directed this twisted religious thriller about a man murdering sinners because God told him so - and the two sons who become his accomplices. This is absolutely a cult- horror movie, dark and violent and surprising enough to deserve a more people giving it some love. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/6/866066.jpg)
Frenzy
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1972 Frenzy By the early '70s, Alfred Hitchcock was growing stale and struggling to compete with the grittier horror that was already brewing. But he still had it in him, and profited from the looser censorship of the time by making his bloodiest, most violent film. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/5/866065.jpg)
Resurrection
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1999 Resurrection A Seven knock-off about a serial killer chopping up victims to reconstruct the body of Christ. Everything is rainy and green, the kinetic camerawork was way ahead of Saw, and David Cronenberg has a cameo, so you know you're in for a body horror cheese-ride. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/7/866077.jpg)
Deep Red
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1975 Deep Red The start of Dario Argento's golden age, the movie has all his trademarks: the creative camerawork, the psychedelic music, the bloody murder set pieces, and even an awesome twist ending. If you've never seen an Italian giallo, now you know where to begin. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/2/866072.jpg)
Pieces
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1982 Pieces A chainsaw killer butchers his way through a college campus, with a clumsy investigation and a gratuitous shower scene ensuing. Yes, this is shlock, but fun schlock, complete with gruesome FX, nonsensical scenes, and overacting. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/5/866075.jpg)
Serial Mom
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1972 Serial Mom Master of campy sleaze John Waters directed this movie about an adorable suburban, erm, serial killer. It has all the weirdness you can expect from Waters romp, while also being overt in its ahead-of-its-time criticism of true crime (and of us, for consuming it and making psychos famous). CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/9/866069.jpg)
Memories of Murder
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 2003 Memories of Murder Based on the true story of South Korea's first confirmed serial killer, this crime thriller is a true classic, easily on par with films like David Fincher's Seven and Zodiac. And it was directed by Parasite and Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho, what else could a movie buff want? CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/3/866073.jpg)
The Eyes of Laura Mars
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1978 Nikon The Eyes of Laura Mars This forgotten gem (directed by The Empire Strikes Back's Irvin Kershner and written by friggin' John Carpenter) is about a fashion photographer who begins having visions of a serial killer's murders. It's twisted, sexy, and sad - classy '70s sleaze. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/7/0/866070.jpg)
M
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1931 M Metropolis' Fritz Lang directed this groundbreaking masterpiece about the manhunt to catch a serial killer. It pretty much set the template for the subgenre, with tons of narrative innovations from a time when cinema was still a young art form. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/7/866067.jpg)
Kiss the Girls
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1997 Kiss the Girls This average movie made (late) in the wake of Silence of the Lambs has some clunky plot mechanics, and would be rightly forgotten if it weren't for its final confrontation. Then the movie truly cranks up the campy violence and finally shows some fun insanity. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/8/866068.jpg)
Eyes Without a Face
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1960 Eyes Without a Face A surgeon kidnaps young women to cut off their faces and fix that of his deformed daughter. Badly received when it came out, the movie is now treasured as an influential masterpiece of intimate, deeply disturbing horror. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/2/866062.jpg)
Deranged
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1974 Deranged A farmer digs out his mother's rotting corpse and becomes a murderer in order to put her back together, so maybe don't watch this one with your family. Lost for almost two decades, the movie was rediscovered in the mid-'90s. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/1/866061.jpg)
Creep
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 2014 Creep A guy answers an online ad for a cameraman. The person who posted it is, of course, an absolute creep. This found-footage film is as gimmicky as it comes, but it also offers pure anxiety and even a few good scares. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/3/866063.jpg)
Copycat
![Underappreciated serial killer movies 1995 Copycat Sigourney Weaver plays a expert on serial killers who joins two FBI agents to hunt a murderer mimicking other serial killers. It's a fun gimmick and the movie uses it very effectively. Plus, it features Holly Hunter in full Clarice Starling mode, to really transmit the Silence of the Lambs-copycat feel. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/6/4/866064.jpg)