12 shows and movies that make for killer viewing

Whether serial killers are fictionalised like Dexter or true-life murderers like Charles Manson, we can’t help being fascinated by them. And there’s a very good reason, explains criminology professor Scott Bonn.

“The public’s fascination with serial killers on television is multifaceted and complex. Serial killers tantalise people much like traffic accidents, train wrecks or natural disasters. The public’s fascination with them can be seen as a specific manifestation of its more general fixation on violence and calamity. In other words, the actions of a serial killer may be horrible to behold but much of the public simply cannot look away due to the spectacle.”

Now you’ve heard from the expert, here’s where to get your serial killer fix with series, documentaries and movies on internet TV.

Local series Die Byl follows troubled detective Piet Van der Bijl (Waldemar Schultz) on his quest to arrest ordinary criminals, but he and his team are also tasked with capturing a serial killer who targets everyone from gangsters on the Cape Flats to prisoners and emergency first-responders.

The drama is intense and gritty, it’s based on late super-cop Piet Byleveld’s work and it contains other elements like personal woes to bring us closer to the characters.

IMDB rating: 7.5/10

Dark, dark, dark! The anthology series follows new cops and new killers each season, but what is constant is that the detectives are deeply flawed and their prey are sadistic, twisted, brutal individuals. This is not the kind of series to watch if you’re afraid of things that go bump in the night.

And don’t expect things to develop at a rapid pace – each episode is drawn out, going at its own creeping speed for a very good reason: to make you feel like you’re in the middle of the action. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is not where you want to be while the killers are on the loose. Because they are monsters!

IMDB rating: 9.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 78%

This drama based mostly on real-life events follows the LA Police Department’s introduction to future cult leader serial killer Charles Manson.

As if detective Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny) wasn’t busy enough dealing with brutal crimes and gangsters, he’s now got a trainee following his every move and his boss keeps bugging him about a small-time crook named Charles Manson who is becoming more of a nuisance as the months go by. Little does Sam (or anyone, for that matter) realise, but Charles is busy putting together his cult and they’re about to be a far bigger problem…

IMDB rating: 7.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 77%

How better to understand a serial killer than to investigate them in-depth? That’s the job of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Trench (Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany) with help from psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) during the late 70s and early 80s, at a time when the concept of a “serial killer” was still very new.

The three run the all-important Behavioural Science Unit at the FBI’s training facility and they basically spend their time in the company of death. Season 1 is fictionalised in terms of the serial killer characters, but Season 2 is the real deal – it’s based on Wayne Williams, who was arrested in 1981 but only convicted of two of the 28 murders he allegedly committed.

IMDB rating: 8.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%

The Moors Murders are famous in the United Kingdom because they shocked the nation between 1963 and 1965 as Ian Brady and Myra Hindley sexually assaulted and murdered five kids between the ages of 10 and 17.

They were labelled “the two most sadistic killers of the utmost depravity” for their crimes, made worse by the fact that neither was willing to give their victims’ families closure by revealing where the bodies were buried, information they took to their graves. Deeply disturbing even though it’s a movie and contains no actual real-life footage.

IMDB rating: 7.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 62%

See what we mean when we say that Charles Manson was one of the world’s most infamous serial killers? This 90-minute drama film tells the story of Charles and his Family’s best-known murder: pregnant Hollywood starlet Sharon Tate (Hilary Duff).

While there is creative licence, what’s important to note is that Sharon saw the problem coming and tried to warn people that Charles and his posse were dangerous long before they went on their murder spree in the 60s.

IMDB rating: 2.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 33%

For the first time, Ted Bundy’s long-term girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall, her daughter Molly, and other survivors come forward to share their experiences with unsettling new details about Bundy, the pull he had on women and an abundant archive of never-before-seen family photos. Once you’ve watched it, stream Conversations With A Killer: Ted Bundy on Netflix.

IMDB rating: 7.9/10

The story about Ted Bundy, told from the perspective of his long-time girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe he was a serial killer. Zac Efron stars as Bundy, with Lily Collins playing Kloepfer.

IMDB rating: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 54%

When a teenager is killed, his death is linked to a serial killer who’s been dormant for years. The events surrounding his death lead two dads living in a quiet community on a downward spiral.

IMDB rating: 6.6/10

A brilliant portrait of a true psychopath, the serial killer of the title is Patrick Bateman. The movie is based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis, and even if you don’t want to read it for the blood and guts, it’s remarkable for Bateman’s extensive, brilliant, chapter-long reviews of current music and artists (current being the 1980s, when the story is set).

Christian Bale stars as Bateman, a Wall Street hotshot who murders in his spare time. Also in the cast are Willem Defoe, Reese Witherspoon and Jared Leto.

Fun fact: Dexter Morgan, an impressive serial killer himself, albeit one with a code of conduct, used Patrick Bateman MD as one of his aliases.

IMDB rating: 7.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 69%

Seven days in the week, seven deadly sins. Coincidence? Perhaps. This movie stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as they hunt a killer whose victims are held up as extreme examples of those sins…pride, greed, lust, and all the rest. Also in the cast, Kevin Spacey and Gwyneth Paltrow. Fun fact: Brad and Gwyneth started dating while making this movie in 1994, and broke up three years later when the paparazzi got too much for them.

Stylised as Se7en, it was the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year when it was released in 1995. Critics praised it for its darkness and brutality, which seems a little messed up but hey, there you go.

“Director David Fincher, who previously helmed the equally gloomy Alien3, creates an overwhelming sense of unease, presenting a world of irredeemable ugliness, a grim, melancholic, depressing, decaying society from which there is no escape,” says Empire.

IMDB rating: 8.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 82%

Well, would you look at this – another David Fincher-directed movie. He also directed Fight Club if you require more street cred, and has had a long and illustrious career. This pyscho thriller is based on true events, when a killer roamed the streets of the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s and 70s…but was never caught. This despite him being another one of those “please catch me” unsubs who corresponded extensively with the police.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, the true-crime author who wrote the book upon which this movie is based. He’s joined by an impressive cast that includes Robert Downey Jr (who can do no wrong, fight me), Mark Ruffalo, Dermot Mulroney, Donal Logue, Adam Goldberg, Zach Grenier (yes, you know him from The Good Wife and The Good Fight), and Chloë Sevigny.

IMDB rating: 7.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 89%

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