Being smart and self-aware (in general, that is…) has given us monkeys a lot of advantages: we were able to get out of our caves and into nice, comfortable homes with central heating, running water, and, preferably, a high-speed internet connection. And since intelligence and curiosity go hand in hand, we also went out and explored: first our own world, then the rest of the universe. We want to know. We want to know what’s out there, past that horizon. We want to know what that is, that big bright light in the sky: is it a god? Or just a ball of plasma? And if so, what is holding it together? Why is it plasma and not something else? And what happens when I die?
Ah, yes… Death! The Big Unknown… He takes as many forms as there are living beings to undergo them. And in our attempts to get a grip on our fear for the grim reaper, we try to give him names and a face. Whether that face be hairy, extra pale, or somewhat peeling, we invent all sorts of boogeymen to project our biggest fear on. And that brings us neatly to the next chapter in this series: serial killers!
Our biggest fear-fascination with these guys – apart from the fact that they, unlike our previous monsters, actually exist out here, in the real world – is, of course, that they could be anybody. Your next-door neighbor. That friendly colleague at work. Your partner. Anybody…
So, let’s get stabby!
Jack the Ripper (1888)
Who else? He was by no means the first killer to stalk our streets, but he was one of the very first who became famous, and that’s important, because his case provides the blueprint for all those other real-life monsters. The media whipping the public into an (all too welcome) state of frenzy; a healthy mix of fear and sensationalism to help us forget our own miserable lives for a while: this is where it all started. Not only did he himself spark an entire universe of books and movies, but as a phenomenon, he’s also the forebearer of all those that follow.
Psycho (1960)
Just as Jack the Ripper wasn’t the first serial killer, Psycho wasn’t the first movie about them, but it is one of the most iconic, of course. (It was actually Hitchcock himself who made one of the very earliest examples of the genre: in 1927 he made The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, based on… Jack the Ripper!) For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s about Norman Bates and his creepy motel. He went full reverse Oedipussy: killed his mother, hid her corpse in the basement, and sometimes wears her clothes. And whenever he feels attracted to a woman, he stabs her to death, because all women are Mommy, so all women must die. So… psycho! (What? No, I’m not going to mention the word ‘shower.’ Why would I?)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
It’s hard to imagine these days, with that Insane Murder Clown taking up residence in that White House of yours, but back in 1974, when this movie came out, the brutal and random killing of other human beings actually caused some upheaval… I wonder why, though – it only shows people getting clubbed with hammers, impaled by meat hooks, and dismembered with chainsaws. So, basically, your average modern-day Fox News episode. Made purely for the schlock & shock effect, it became famous for many things: apart from being banned in several countries due to its excessive violence, it was actually the first in which power tools were used as a murder weapon! There’s a joke in there, somewhere… As with Jack the Ripper, it led to a whole franchise of prequels, sequels, and even comic books! I wonder when the musical is coming out… Leatherface for president!
Lecter, I presume? Yes, indeed. Psychiatrist, genius, penchant to eat people. Nice to meet you. Would you like some fava beans? With a nice Chianti, perhaps? How about some liver? With a side of brains, maybe? No? Then why don’t you take a whiff of this substance I prepared for you? Yes, that’s right, inhale it, nice and deep… Hm… Nice, isn’t it? Yes… How does it make you feel? Happy? Yes? You’re feeling alright? That’s great! Now, why don’t you claw your own face off? What? Yes, of course that’s a good idea! It’s the greatest idea of all! Wouldn’t you agree? Yes, I knew you would! Now, go on, take out that eyeball… Yes, there you go! That wasn’t so bad, was it? How does it feel having your own eyeball in your hand? Nice, no? Now, eat it.
Natural Born Killers(1994)
“It’s just murder. All God’s creatures do it. You look in the forests and you see species killing other species, our species killing all species including the forests, and we just call it industry, not murder.”
Thank you, Mickey, for explaining the plot of this movie – so I can focus on how it looks, because holy crap! This film is one long, insane, psychedelic-psychotic visual extravaganza, full of weird images, strange noises, flashbacks in 50s sitcom style, animated sequences, drug-fueled episodes of hallucinations, and, of course, lots and lots of murdering. Damn! I, for one, absolutely loved it. Supposedly it’s also meant as a comment on how the media is responsible for our love of killers, but I don’t care, man… By the power invested in me, as God of my world, I declare this movie awesome.
Seven (1995)
What if I were to present you with the severed head of your wife? And you had a gun in your hand? Would you kill me? What if, at the moment of the actual severing, she was pregnant? Oh, you didn’t know? Yes, she was. Will you kill me now?
I mean, oops, spoilers, but this is basically the question Seven asks: what does it take for an average human being – if there is such a thing – to become a killer? Brad Pitt plays a young cop who is partnered with Morgan Freeman, playing the one-week-from-retirement role (quite literally, in fact). They get confronted with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who takes out his victims based on the seven deadly sins from Catholic lore. A classic of the genre, as far as I’m concerned.
American Psycho (2000)
One of my favorites. Actual, real-world psychopathy is, in fact, pretty rare: less than 1% of the population meets the official criteria. And of those that do, very few become actual killers. One of its core principles is, of course, the inability to feel empathy or remorse, enabling them to do all the horrible things they can do. Most of them do very well in the corporate environment… And you’re born with it. It’s caused by abnormalities in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. So, as Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) comes to discover, there’s something horrible happening inside of him… and he doesn’t know why! That’s the thing: it just happens. Today, you’re killing it in the boardroom; tomorrow, you’re killing them in the boardroom. And stomp on little doggies.
What fascinates me about this particular affliction is this: it seems that psychos don’t necessarily kill because they want to or must, but simply because the inhibitors that ‘normal’ people have (empathy, remorse, shame, guilt, etc.) are gone. As if, to channel Mickey once more, we are all natural born killers, but some of us are held back, frustrated, if you will, by being ‘normal,’ while what we call ‘psycho killers’ are actually just acting out our most basic instincts. Like they’re truly free…
Monster (2003)
If actual psycho killers are very rare, even more so are female ones. This one, featuring an unrecognizable Charlize Theron, is based on one of those exceptional real-world cases: that of Aileen Wuornos. Between the years 1989 and 1990, while working as a prostitute in Florida, she shot, killed, and robbed seven of her male clients. She was sentenced to death for six of the murders and was executed in 2002.
Death Proof (2007)
Quentin Tarantino’s take on the type. It stars a scarred Kurt Russell and his car, which he made ‘death proof,’ only to get the benefit of it, honey, you REALLY need to be sitting in his seat… Part of Tarantino’s Grindhouse double feature, a love letter to the trashy, violent B-movies of the ’60s and ’70s. It shared the bill with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, and in between were fake trailers for movies that didn’t exist – some of which later became real films, like Machete and Hobo with a Shotgun. Full of Tarantino’s typical dialogue fireworks and lots of brutal murdering, of course. “There are few things as fetching as a bruised ego on a beautiful angel.” Unless she has a shotgun.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Of course! Why wouldn’t there be a musical about serial killers? We made musicals about everything else: the Second World War. Grease. Oedipus, reversed or otherwise. So, yeah, why not about serial killers? From Tim Burton, working again with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, it tells the story of how a barber named Sweeney (Depp) in 1840s London gets revenge on the judge who got him banned to Australia so he could rape his wife, after which she kills herself. When Sweeney returns, he also learns that the evil judge (Alan Rickman) not only stole his daughter but abused her as well. So, all the reason in the world, one would say, to strike up a deal with your downstairs neighbor (Carter) and her meat pie shop, to turn said judge into lovely pastry and then sell him, one pie(ce) at a time, to all of London…
And then sing songs about it.
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