The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Harold Schechter, David Everitt Page B
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Authors: Harold Schechter, David Everitt
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bloody scalps of his murder victims. Tom Savini served up the stomach-churning effects.
Peeping Tom (1960). The movie that effectively ended the career of British director Michael Powell (best known for his ballet fantasy, The Red Shoes ). A young, psychopathic voyeur films his victims while impaling them with a blade concealed in his camera tripod. Vilified upon release, the movie is now considered a classic of psychocinema.
Psycho (1960). Not only a certified cinematic masterpiece but the seminal work from which the entire genre of so-called slasher movies springs. The crème de la crème of psychofilms.
Se7en (1995). From the opening credits to the climactic scene, director David Fincher creates an atmosphere of unsurpassed creepiness in this grim, grueling thriller about the kind of high-concept psycho-killer only a Hollywood screenwriter could dream up: a madman whose murders are based on the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Jonathan Demme’s deluxe, Oscar-winning version of Thomas Harris’s brilliant bestseller. Anthony Hopkins’s portrayal of Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter became such a crowd pleaser that the actor reprised the role in a 2001 sequel, Hannibal, and a 2002 prequel, Red Dragon (a remake of Michael Mann’s 1986 Manhunter, in which Lecter was played by Brian Cox). Like Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence owes a large debt to the true-life atrocities of Wisconsin ghoul Ed Gein .
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The Citizen Kane of dismemberment movies. Tobe Hooper—who, sadly, has never been able to duplicate (or even approximate) his greatest achievement—creates the scariest interpretation of the Ed Gein story ever put on film. The movie achieves its shocks through a potent combination of relentless brutality, sickening atmosphere, rampaging sadism, and even a dash of black humor (which first-time viewers tend to miss, since they are generally covering up their eyes with their hands). The 2003 remake has much slicker production values but only a fraction of the scares.
The Vanishing (1988). A gripping, low-key chiller from (of all places) Holland. Don’t look for splashy Hollywood-style effects, hyperkineticaction, or graphic gore—just one of the most creepily effective serial-killer stories ever filmed, with an absolutely shattering climax. Viewer Warning: Do not confuse with the lame 1993 American remake, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges.
“Watching him act like a psychopathic killer with a mommy complex is like watching someone else throw up.”
New York Times film critic Vincent Canby on Joe Spinnell’s performance in Maniac
M ULTIPLE P ERSONALITY
Ever since a mild-mannered motel keeper named Norman Bates became possessed by the evil spirit of his dear, departed mother, people have associated serial killers with split personalities. In reality, however, multiple personality disorder (or MPD, as it’s known in the psychology biz) is an extremely rare condition. Still, that hasn’t kept a whole string of serial killers from trying to blame their crimes on their ostensible alter egos.
William Heirens—the “Lipstick Killer,” who is best known for the desperate message he scrawled on the bedroom wall of one murder scene (“For heaven’s sake catch me before I kill more”)—claimed that an alternate personality named George Murman was responsible for the three vicious sex murders he committed in 1945 and 1946. Likewise, John Wayne Gacy insisted that his thirty-three torture killings were actually the work of an evil personality he called “Jack.”
Kenneth Bianchi—one of the “ Hillside Stranglers ”— was so convincing in inventing a second homicidal personality (named “Steve”) that he managed to bamboozle several psychiatrists before being exposed as a fraud.
Indeed, despite all claims to the contrary, there hasn’t been a single authenticated case of a split-personality serial killer (see Insanity ). Crime maven
Peeping Tom (1960). The movie that effectively ended the career of British director Michael Powell (best known for his ballet fantasy, The Red Shoes ). A young, psychopathic voyeur films his victims while impaling them with a blade concealed in his camera tripod. Vilified upon release, the movie is now considered a classic of psychocinema.
Psycho (1960). Not only a certified cinematic masterpiece but the seminal work from which the entire genre of so-called slasher movies springs. The crème de la crème of psychofilms.
Se7en (1995). From the opening credits to the climactic scene, director David Fincher creates an atmosphere of unsurpassed creepiness in this grim, grueling thriller about the kind of high-concept psycho-killer only a Hollywood screenwriter could dream up: a madman whose murders are based on the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Jonathan Demme’s deluxe, Oscar-winning version of Thomas Harris’s brilliant bestseller. Anthony Hopkins’s portrayal of Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter became such a crowd pleaser that the actor reprised the role in a 2001 sequel, Hannibal, and a 2002 prequel, Red Dragon (a remake of Michael Mann’s 1986 Manhunter, in which Lecter was played by Brian Cox). Like Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence owes a large debt to the true-life atrocities of Wisconsin ghoul Ed Gein .
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The Citizen Kane of dismemberment movies. Tobe Hooper—who, sadly, has never been able to duplicate (or even approximate) his greatest achievement—creates the scariest interpretation of the Ed Gein story ever put on film. The movie achieves its shocks through a potent combination of relentless brutality, sickening atmosphere, rampaging sadism, and even a dash of black humor (which first-time viewers tend to miss, since they are generally covering up their eyes with their hands). The 2003 remake has much slicker production values but only a fraction of the scares.
The Vanishing (1988). A gripping, low-key chiller from (of all places) Holland. Don’t look for splashy Hollywood-style effects, hyperkineticaction, or graphic gore—just one of the most creepily effective serial-killer stories ever filmed, with an absolutely shattering climax. Viewer Warning: Do not confuse with the lame 1993 American remake, starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges.
“Watching him act like a psychopathic killer with a mommy complex is like watching someone else throw up.”
New York Times film critic Vincent Canby on Joe Spinnell’s performance in Maniac
M ULTIPLE P ERSONALITY
Ever since a mild-mannered motel keeper named Norman Bates became possessed by the evil spirit of his dear, departed mother, people have associated serial killers with split personalities. In reality, however, multiple personality disorder (or MPD, as it’s known in the psychology biz) is an extremely rare condition. Still, that hasn’t kept a whole string of serial killers from trying to blame their crimes on their ostensible alter egos.
William Heirens—the “Lipstick Killer,” who is best known for the desperate message he scrawled on the bedroom wall of one murder scene (“For heaven’s sake catch me before I kill more”)—claimed that an alternate personality named George Murman was responsible for the three vicious sex murders he committed in 1945 and 1946. Likewise, John Wayne Gacy insisted that his thirty-three torture killings were actually the work of an evil personality he called “Jack.”
Kenneth Bianchi—one of the “ Hillside Stranglers ”— was so convincing in inventing a second homicidal personality (named “Steve”) that he managed to bamboozle several psychiatrists before being exposed as a fraud.
Indeed, despite all claims to the contrary, there hasn’t been a single authenticated case of a split-personality serial killer (see Insanity ). Crime maven
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