Top 10 Scariest Movie Serial Killers

WatchMojo

There's nothing scarier than humans! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at memorable movie serial killers.

Transcript

00:00And like a dutiful son covered up all traces of the crime he was convinced his mother had

00:05committed. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're looking at memorable movie serial killers.

00:10You're to tell him nothing personal, Starling. Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter

00:15inside your head. These killers must be fictional characters and they must be unambiguously human,

00:20so we'll be excluding the likes of Jason, Michael and Freddy.

00:25Number 10. Sweeney Todd. Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.

00:38There are dark musicals and then there's Sweeney Todd. The acclaimed play was adapted to film in

00:432007, with Johnny Depp portraying the titular serial killer. Played to macabre perfection by

00:48Depp, Sweeney Todd is a deranged barber who slits the throats of his victims and has their

00:54remains baked into meat pies. He kills at least 10 people in the movie, including a number of

01:09innocent customers, evil Judge Turpin and even his partner in crime Mrs. Lovett, whom he burns

01:14inside of an oven. We place a lot of trust in barbers, especially when they get near our

01:19throats with a straight razor. To watch that trust betrayed is completely chill-inducing.

01:34Number 9. Peter and Paul. Funny Games.

01:37Michael Haneke's subversive horror film has drawn incredible controversy since its

01:46release in 1997. It concerns two young men named Peter and Paul, who torment and eventually kill

01:52the Schober family in their holiday home. The biblical names of Peter and Paul are immediately

02:01noticeable, and almost certainly an intentional choice on the part of Haneke. Three humans and

02:07one dog become victims of Peter and Paul, and at the end of the film, it's implied that they will

02:12also kill neighbors Gerda and Robert, bringing their body count to at least six. Their motive

02:18is entirely unknown, and we infer that they do it simply for sadistic entertainment.

02:24The idea that people like that actually exist is a truly terrifying thought.

02:37Number 8. Pearl. The X Franchise.

02:51Ty West crafted a modern classic with his X series, which chronicles the life of a serial

02:56killer named Pearl. The series is quite creative in that it spans multiple decades and styles,

03:02portraying Pearl as both an aged woman and youthful aspiring actress. Whatever her age,

03:07Pearl is an incredibly dangerous individual, and she's played to perfection by Mia Goth,

03:13even under 20 layers of makeup. She kills several people in Pearl, including her own parents,

03:24but that's just the beginning. Her psychopathy continues well into old age,

03:29and she kills more with her husband Howard and ex. We can only imagine

03:33how many lives she took in the interim. Actually, we don't want to think about that.

03:44Number 7. Mickey and Mallory Knox.

03:50A divisive film, Natural Born Killers is a scathing indictment of mass media and

03:55its obsession with violence. The grislier, the better. The story follows Mickey and Mallory

04:00Knox, two mass murderers played to eerie perfection by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis.

04:05Along the way, they become national celebrities, known far and wide for their almost mythical

04:11killing spree. The couple murders dozens of people before getting caught, and they murder many more

04:20while breaking out of prison. Even scarier than their ridiculous body count is their total lack

04:26of empathy, with Mickey calling himself a natural born killer. There's nothing scarier than that.

04:43Number 6. Billy Loomis and Stu Mocker, Scream.

04:50There are a ton of ghost faces throughout this iconic series, but come on,

04:58we have to go with the OGs. One gone insane from past trauma and the other just along for the ride,

05:03Billy and Stu make one of the creepiest movie duos. They partner up to conduct

05:09the Woodsboro murders, killing a total of six people throughout two years.

05:20Their spree begins with Sidney's mother Maureen, and continues to include the school principal,

05:29a news cameraman, and even Stu's girlfriend. It doesn't really matter who gets in their way,

05:34they will die, and often quite violently. Casey's death is an all-timer, and it alone places Billy

05:40and Stu in the horror villain hall of fame. Number 5. Patrick Bateman,

05:50American Psycho. Like natural born killers, this is a film with deeper thematic ambitions

06:02than mere entertainment. Often seen as a black satire, American Psycho lets you know what you're

06:07getting from the very title. He's American, and he's a psycho. What more do you want? The psycho,

06:13of course, is Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street yuppie who moonlights as a serial killer.

06:20Patrick is truly deranged, obsessed with nothing but status and murder. He takes 17 lives throughout

06:28the course of the movie, including one dog, but he confesses to Harold that he's killed up to 40.

06:34Much of Patrick's eeriness comes through Christian Bale's dead-eyed performance,

06:38portraying a soulless husk of a man who has lost any semblance of humanity he may have once had.

06:50Number 4. Jigsaw, the Saw franchise.

06:56Sure, you can make the argument that John Kramer never actually killed anyone, but come on,

07:01that would never hold up in court. He's a serial killer through and through,

07:05a broken man who kidnaps people and subjects them to horrific...

07:10Let's put the biggest quotation marks possible around those words.

07:13Those who don't appreciate life do not deserve life.

07:17My son appreciates his life.

07:19Jigsaw has a truly warped mind, not only believing that what he's doing is right,

07:24but subjecting people to grotesque traps that often result in their painful deaths.

07:29Maybe we can sympathize with Jigsaw's tragic backstory, but what he did with it is,

07:34shall we say, a little difficult to digest. In fact,

07:38it is one of the most deplorable things we've ever seen in movies.

07:42I could use your assistance in locating some people that are in need of our services.

07:50Number 3. John Doe, Seven.

07:53Wait a minute, I thought all you did was kill innocent people.

07:58Innocent? Is that supposed to be funny?

08:00Fed up with the state of the world, John Doe orchestrated his murder spree around the seven

08:05deadly sins, with each of his victims representing a different sin. John claimed a total of seven

08:10lives throughout his spree, including Rachel Slade, who took her own life after John mutilated

08:15her face. Each of these deaths is devastating and horrific in their own right, but David Fincher

08:25saves the worst for last, delivering a crushing plot twist that has reverberated throughout

08:30pop culture. John Doe is the scariest type of killer, obviously apathetic and cruel,

08:36but also manipulative and very, very smart. And worst of all, he wins.

08:44He didn't know.

08:45Number 2. Norman Bates, Psycho.

08:48We all go a little mad sometimes.

08:50Anthony Perkins gives one of the all-time great villain performances,

08:54portraying the twisted Norman Bates. What makes Norman so scary is his deceptive charm.

09:00He's a very attractive and well-dressed man, and he comes across as very friendly,

09:04albeit with some major mommy issues. But that's obviously hiding a very violent reality,

09:13with Norman often dressing as his dead mother and killing the female guests of his hotel.

09:18He kills two people on screen, but the psychiatrist reveals that he's murdered

09:22four others, bringing his body count to six. Of those four, two were innocent women,

09:28and the others were his own mother and her lover.

09:34Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about

09:46our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.

09:51If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

09:57Number 1. Hannibal Lecter, The Hannibal Lecter Franchise.

10:04And speaking of deceitful, here we come to the most deceitful villain of them all.

10:13Playing Hannibal Lecter must be an incredibly difficult assignment. Like Norman Bates,

10:18he's charming, but not so charming that you immediately lower your guard.

10:22No matter how friendly he appears, there's always an obvious undercurrent of darkness,

10:27whether it comes through in a malicious glance or an offhanded comment.

10:34In the Anthony Hopkins canon, including Hannibal Rising, Lecter has a confirmed 26 kills,

10:41not including a number of proxy deaths and attempted murders. And yes, most of these

10:46victims were cannibalized to some degree. He's an utterly terrifying figure, and Hopkins gives

10:52a masterful performance depicting his predatory behavior. Which of these killers scared you the

10:59most? Let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips

11:10from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

Category

Transcript

Recommended