The 90s was a decade that saw a lot of movies get extremely edgy as being right up in your face was the way to be for a lot of films. There wasn’t much of a problem with this except for the idea that things really had to go to a new level with each additional film since the shock factor just had to keep increasing. If you’re wondering why you don’t see films like Saw and Red Dragon on here there are a couple of good reasons. Red Dragon was a great film but it felt more like another chance to see Hannibal Lecter, while Saw was all shock and awe and if you want to get technical Jigsaw came up with the devices and the terms of escape, so in truth he did facilitate the killing, but he always offered the people a chance, however gruesome, to survive. Serial killers don’t often let their prey have a chance to walk away.
Here are a few of the best serial killer movies from the 90s.
5. Identity
This movie had a host of great actors in it and yet it didn’t receive nearly enough attention since it was possibly deemed as less than shocking and even a bit dull throughout parts of it. The trick of this movie is that it does keep you guessing for a while, but if you were really quick on the uptake you started to figure out that something was wrong the moment that Jake Busey’s character ran off into the desert only to somehow double back and end up right where he started. Aside from that it started getting weird when everyone revealed they had the same birth date. If that didn’t clue you in then John Cusack’s character and the sudden reveal during his ‘interview’ was the last bit that would have made it painfully obvious.
4. Zodiac
Based on a real-life killer that was never found the Zodiac is an enigma that haunted police and possibly still does since the guy that initiated this has probably passed on or is at least too old to continue. But the Zodiac killings are something that eluded anyone and everyone that was involved in them and even today has yielded no results since the killings did eventually stop. However, if the killings were to ever start up again it would be for much higher stakes considering how much law enforcement has advanced since those days. The disturbing part of that is thinking of the person that would go that far.
3. Monster
Calling her misunderstood or just plain nuts doesn’t seem to scratch the surface of Aileen Wuornos, though it’s a start. The movie was based off the real life events that were instigated by Wuornos and even allowed Charlize Theron to be awarded for her efforts. What’s disturbing about this is that there are those out there that sympathize with her and make their pleas that she was just misunderstood make sense in some ways. The fact is that the she knew what she was doing and she knew that it was wrong, but she didn’t want to stop. Once a person walks down that path it seems difficult to find another way.
2. American Psycho
If there’s anything truly disturbing about Patrick Bateman it’s his calm and composed delivery when he speaks that would greatly unnerve anyone right before the ax fell. This guy probably doesn’t feel his heartbeat spike for anything other than those moments that get him the most excited. It’s almost like the basic parts of being a human being weren’t fully packaged when it came time to make him, and therefore the things like compassion, decency, and a love for one’s fellow human being were somehow left off the menu and therefore cut out of his personality altogether. That’s just one explanation though.
1. From Hell
Jack the Ripper is a legend in Whitechapel that went on for a couple of months before it was finally put to rest not long after, as it was assumed that the killer was institutionalized, dead, or had otherwise left the area. In this movie there’s a great deal more drama and insidious explanation given to the matter since it was commonly believed that the Ripper was someone with a working knowledge of anatomy given the cuts and the pieces of the body that were removed. Unfortunately at that time it never seemed to factor into anyone’s mind that an uneducated butcher could have done the same thing and never been suspected.
No matter how they did it or how many they tallied up, serial killers in 90s movies were portrayed as absolutely gruesome and even maniacal at times in their methods, taking the time and effort needed to make sure that their kills would be made into something worthy of legend.Charlize Theron
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