Day five of our 31 Days of Horror series brings us to a relevant subject. The recent release of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has been met with equal parts plaudits and naysayers, some saying it’s Evan Peters best work playing the psychotic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and others chastising the show for how it handled the content, accusing it of glorifying the man, almost making him a sympathetic character and forgetting the victims.
Which side of the argument you fall on aside, the show is one of the better serial killer content offerings out there, and for lovers of serial killer and murderous content, we’re looking at five shows you’ll love if you enjoyed Netflix’s latest offering.
Mindhunter
The only show on the list that uses real life as its inspiration, Mindhunter currently sits in the unfavourable position of being on indefinite hold not cancelled, not renewed. Featuring a multitude of real life serial killers throughout the series, it was praised in many ways, but the casting of said serial killers was eerily bang on.
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A show following a stalking serial killer should be a no-brainer with regards to whether or not to hate the main character. You somehow manages to walk the fine line of Joe being a despicable human being who also happens to be charming, funny and oddly protective of certain people in his life. Don’t let that make you forget he still imprisons and/or murders those he considers in his way or those he’s bored of.
Dexter
A serial killer who works for the police and eases his murderous compulsions by killing other serial killers? Sounds like an easy win, and to be fair, it was for the first four seasons. After that it went off the rails in quite a spectacular way and the recent revival wasn’t particularly well received either, but we’ll always have those first four seasons and the amazing season long guest starring of John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer.
Hannibal
One of the most outrageous cancellations in recent years, Hannibal was the television retelling of the books and films seen in previous years. Starring Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter in a performance arguably closer than anyone else’s to Anthony Hopkins portrayal, the show is a beautiful, gripping and bloody rendition of the famous psychiatrist. With imaginative deaths and brutal portrayals of them, the show will stay in your mind long after you finish the third and final season…
Bates Motel
A prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, the series charts Normate Bates descent into the murderous character we see in the film.
Showing the mental health issues, problems his mother faces and the incredibly strange, co-dependent, almost Oedipal level relationship between mother and son, watching the series will give you a better understanding of the character if you then choose to watch the film.
Certainly more of a slow burner than others included in the list, it is still worth your time and effort, plus the show is much more than you may well think after watching the first episodes…
True crime, or true crime inspired television shows and movies are definitely on the up, with the many streaming services heavily marketing some of their biggest crime shows as the demand for serial killer content increases.
As already mentioned, there has been a lot of pushback over the years with some people claiming the content is sympathising towards the perpetrators and glorifying their horrendous deeds, but that’ll never go away.
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