Despite their obvious macabre stories and themes, serial killer movies are inherently interesting. At least for some of us. Many movies centered around serial killers have become quite famous throughout the years - both movies based on fact and movies entirely fabricated for entertainment purposes.
In fact, it may prove surprising just how many fictional serial killers are based on real people. Maybe not directly, but the influence is clear and made obvious upon further research. And some movies just drop the pretense altogether and tell a real story based on real events.
Real: Henry
One of the most grounded and disturbing films to follow a serial killer is 1986's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. The movie stars Michael Rooker as a man named Henry and Tom Towles as his prison friend, Otis. The film proceeds to follow Henry and Otis as they embark on a killing spree across America. These two characters are loosely based on both Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole. Their murderous crimes spanned from 1960 to 1983, with three deaths officially attributed to Lucas and six to Toole. However, they claimed to have killed "hundreds" more.
Made Up: Michael Myers
Everyone knows Michael Myers. He is the literal face of the Halloween franchise, and his body count is unbelievably high. Of course, he is also completely fictional. Part of what makes Michael Myers so relentlessly enduring is that he embodies the very concept of evil. It doesn't really matter that he's not real, as the concept behind him is real. He is the masked and silent horror of American suburbia, the face of thousands of murders that have gone cold and unsolved. And that's arguably even scarier than any real life story could be.
Real: Leatherface
There was never a serial killer named Leatherface who killed people with a chainsaw and worse masks made of human skin. But the character was greatly inspired by the story of Ed Gein. Also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, Gein is a famous body snatcher who dug up corpses and fashioned homemade trinkets out of their bones and skin. He also directly murdered two people - a tavern owner named Mary Hogan and a hardware store owner named Bernice Worden.
Made Up: Bob Rusk
Frenzy isn't a particularly popular film, although it's known for being Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate creation (followed by Family Plot in 1976).
The story concerns a serial killer named Bob Rusk, who successfully manages to implicate his friend Richard Blaney for the murders. The movie was adapted from a novel written by Arthur La Bern titled Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square. The novel was published in 1966 - six years before the film. And while Hitchcock noticed similarities between Bob Rusk and real life killer Neville Heath, he remains entirely fictional.
Real: Aileen Wuornos
Charlize Theron is unrecognizable as Aileen Wuornos in Monster. The movie was critically acclaimed when it was released in 2003, and Theron won basically every major award of the following awards season, including the coveted Oscar. It would be her first of three nominations (and her only win to date). Wuornos was a real life prostitute who murdered seven men by shooting them at point blank range. She was convicted on six first-degree murder charges and ordered to death by lethal injection. She was executed on October 9, 2002.
Made Up: John Doe
Seven makes for a fantastic story. But that's just it - a fantastic story too elaborate to believe. The film follows two homicide detectives who investigate the killings of an anonymous John Doe, who murders his victims based on the seven deadly sins. Kevin Spacey plays the villain, who famously wins in the end by turning Detective Mills into wrath, completing his mosaic of death, and dying for the cause. There's not even a real life murderer who inspired the creation and actions of John Doe - this one is pure imagination.
Real: John Christie
Richard Attenborough is quite famous for his "old man" roles, including John Hammond in Jurassic Park and Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street. Long before either of those roles, he played John Christie in a movie called 10 Rillington Place.
Christie was a real-life serial killer who killed eight (and possibly more) people in his London flat, 10 Rillington Place. When he moved out in 1953, various bodies were found throughout the house and the garden. He was eventually executed by hanging in July of 1953.
Made Up: Patrick Bateman
Patrick Bateman is one of the most popular fictional serial killers of all time. Played wonderfully (and horrifyingly) by Christian Bale, Patrick Bateman is the villain protagonist of American Psycho and its source novel by Bret Easton Ellis. Bateman is a greedy, capitalistic investment banker and serial killer. Ellis was inspired to write the story after having dinner with his Wall Street friends, and he proceeded to research murder cases at the New York Public Library. Patrick Bateman is entirely fictional, an amalgamation of research and Ellis's Wall Street buddies.
Real: Hannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter is not based on a real person, but he is largely inspired by the story of Alfredo Ballí Treviño. Writer Thomas Harris met Treviño during a trip to Mexico in the 1960s. Harris was working as a reporter, and he was interviewing a serial killer named Dykes Askew Simmons. While there he began talking to a mysterious doctor named Salazaar, who was later revealed to be Dr. Treviño. Treviño was in prison for murdering and disfiguring his lover, Jesus Castillo Rangel. It's also suspected that he killed and disfigured numerous hitchhikers throughout the '50s.
Made Up: Hans Beckert
M is a massively influential film. Released back in 1931, the movie stars Peter Lorre as Hans Beckert, a pedophile and child serial killer who is branded with an M as means of identification within the neighborhood. Like Michael Myers, Hans Beckert is meant to personify an idea - that of child endangerment. The film ends not with Beckert's imprisonment or death, but with the mother of a victim claiming, "One has to keep closer watch over the children." When the screen fades to black, she adds, "All of you," a not-so-subtle thematic message regarding the killer and the movie's theme.