The Silence of the Hams (1994)
Psycho-Thriller Parody
An Airplane/Naked Gun styled parody of The Silence of the Lambs
Psychos and Serial Killers
Psychos and Serial Killers is an all-embracing term that refers to anybody of murderously psychopathic disposition in genre cinema. This can range from general murderers and Stalkers to persons of Disturbed Psychology and to those that fall under the modern description of a serial killer.
In textbook psychology terms, a psychopath is merely someone who displays antisocial behaviour and is lacking empathy – so we will specify here that a psycho refers to those with murderous intent and disturbed psychology in a horror context (so as not to include general all-purpose villains too).
The field is so prolific it is hard to say who the first screen psycho would have been. The first time this became a major genre was with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and its memorably gender-contorted, split-personalitied Norman Bates. The Psycho-Thrillers and Giallo Films that followed offered up a range of similarly gender-conflicted characters with strange psychological quirks.
This morphed into the psycho films of the 1970s, which placed less an emphasis on the thriller aspects and more on disturbed individuals and their often sordid states of mind. Plentiful psychos were found lurking in backwoods America to attacks passers-by in the Backwoods Brutality cycle.
The 1980s brought the Slasher Film where the psycho became a hulking Boogeyman or else a member among a group of teens nursing some troubled psychic split. Fatal Attraction (1987) produced a series of stalker films with vengeful women (usually) striking back for past or perceived slights.
The success of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) brought a public fascination with the term ‘serial killer’ and created the Serial Killer Thriller. In these, what was previously lumped together as being just ‘disturbed psychology’ was examined in terms of behavioural patterns that drove an individual to act, all of which could be deduced by minute examination of forensic evidence that gave key clues to their identity.
There is also a sizeable body of films about true-life psychopaths and serial killers. These are discussed under True Crime Films.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Serial Killer Thriller
This caught on in a big way with the public, created a fascination with serial killers and forensic psychology and was nominated for a host of awards. Personally, one finds it one of the more overrated films of modern vintage
The Silencing (2020)
Hunt for a Serial Killer
Thriller where Nikolaj Coster Waldau is the alcoholic manager of a game preserve who becomes drawn in to the search for a serial killer who hunts girls
Silent But Deadly (2011)
Movie-Set Psycho Comedy
Jason Mewes of Jay and Silent Bob fame is cast as a rarely speaking, goat-loving hick psycho. The film comes with a number of other offfbeat characterisations that you feel should have made for an amusing horror comedy but instead everything slips into a shrill one-note pitch
Silent Night (2012)
Christmas Slasher Film/Psycho Santa
This is a very loose and somewhat desultory remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night that seems to imagine it is being far more hardcore and controversy defying than it is
Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch Out! (1989)
Christmas Slasher Film/Resurrected Killer
The third in the Christmas slasher series where the killer’s brother is resurrected like a Frankenstein monster and develops an obsession with a blind girl. Played with far more seriousness than it deserves
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Christmas Slasher Film/Psycho Santa
Not the first but the most famous of the psycho Santa films. At the time, it was just another slasher film exploiting a holiday title. However, this does the slasher movie formula rather well while digging into Christmas sentiment with a bite that takes you aback
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
Christmas Slasher Film
The first sequel to the Santa slasher film. This has become a bad movie classic because half the film brazenly consists of footage recycled from the first, while the other half is dominated by the hilariously bad acting of psycho Eric Freeman
Silent Rage (1982)
Action Film/Resurrected Psycho
A Chuck Norris horror film! One of his earlier films where Chuck is pitted against a psycho who is resurrected from the dead and becomes a near-invincible killing machine
The Silent Scream (1979)
Slasher/Family Secrets
Halfway reasonable entry in the 1980s slasher cycle that sits with one foot in the Old Dark House genre. This also comes with a great cast of genre veterans.
Sin City (2005)
Graphic Novel Adaptation/Ultra-Violent Film Noir Tales
Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novels is groundbreaking and one of the most visually adventurous films in years. A trio of film noir-styled tales where he sets out to replicate the look of Miller’s comic panels
Skinner (1993)
Psycho Film
A serial killer film that is fairly strong stuff, starring Ted Raimi as a killer who skins his victims and wears their bodies. This pushed the censorship envelope considerably back in its day. With Ricki Lake as an innocent housewife who befriends Raimi
Slasher.com (2017)
Backwoods Brutality/Internet Killer
The title is misleading – we expect some kind of internet based horror film but the show telescopes down to being no more than a Backwoods Brutality effort. On the other hand, it is not taking itself too seriously and some of the twists become entertainingly absurd
The Slasher … Is the Sex Maniac! (1972)
Giallo Film
A giallo film about a killer who is murdering adulterous women. Standard material but some of the film’s dated sexual attitudes cause quite a double take today
Slaughter High (1986)
Slasher Film
A cheap and very poorly made British variant on the slasher film with much unintentional laughter potential, including a 36 year-old Caroline Munro cast as a teenager
Slaughter of the Innocents (1993)
Serial Killer Thriller
Reasonable copy of The Silence of the Lambs with Scott Glenn as an FBI agent tracking a killer obsessed with Noah’s Ark
Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers (1988)
Slasher Film
Sleepaway Camp with its unforgettable twist ending stood out in the wasteland of most 80s slasher films. This was the first of four sequels where Bruce Springsteen’s younger sister inherits the role of Angela. While the original stood out, this merely slips into unmemorable formula
Sleepaway Camp 3: Teenage Wasteland (1989)
Slasher Film
The first Sleepaway Camp was a classic of the slasher film for its unforgettable ending. This was the second of two back-to-back shot sequels starring Bruce Springsteen’s younger sister Pamela as the murderous Angela
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Slasher Film
Classic from the heyday of the slasher film. While the plot only recycles Friday the 13th, everything else is above average from the characterisations to the novelty deaths, before the film reaches one of the great unforgettable endings of the cycle
The Sleeper (2012)
Slasher Film
Not to be confused with the Woody Allen film, this is a modern slasher film that pays homage to its 1980s counterparts – in particular, the sorority house slasher as a maniac who deep-breathes down the phone stalks assorted co-eds. Unexceptional in all regards
Sleepless (2001)
Giallo Psycho-Thriller
One of the more routine of Dario Argento’s giallo psycho-thrillers. The artily stylistic set-pieces are disappointingly average and even the plot relatively straightforward
SleepStalker (1995)
Boogeyman
Clearly influenced by A Nightmare on Elm Street, this is a film about an executed killer who returns as a dream boogeyman who transforms from a flow of sand
Slumber Party Massacre (2021)
Slasher Film
The original feminist slasher film gets the remake treatment with interesting results
Slumber Party Massacre III (1990)
Slasher Film
Second film to follow-on from The Slumber Party Massacre. While the original was a straight-up slasher film, the second became completely ludicrous as it veered off in trying to copy the A Nightmare on Elm Street films but this returns to the slasher basics for a vigorous workout of the formula
Smiley Face Killers (2020)
True Crime/Cult of Mysterious Killers
A film based on the so-called Smiley Face Killings, a series of theorised true-life serial killings. With a script by Bret Easton Ellis of American Psycho fame
The Sniper (1952)
Psycho Sniper
An interesting early psycho film with an unbalanced Arthur Franz driven to jealousy and picking up a rifle and shooting women whenever he sees couples together
The Snowman (2017)
Norwegian Serial Killer Thriller
International production based on a series of books about a Norwegian detective. This flopped badly and was called confusing. Mostly, it is a serial killer thriller that fails to hold you gripped with its unfoldings
Snowtown (2011)
True-Life Serial Killings
Underrated and quite brilliant film about a series of true-life Australian serial killings, this has an extraordinary dangerousness in the way it observes highly disturbing things with calm detachment
Someone’s Watching Me (1978)
Stalker Psycho-Thriller
One of the lesser known John Carpenter films, a tv movie in which Lauren Hutton is stalked by a neighbour spying on her from the apartment building opposite
Something Weird (1967)
Psychic Powers
One of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s film, this features a totally demented plot involving a man who develops psychic powers and his encounters with witches and LSD trips
The Sore Losers (1997)
Gonzo Exploitation Homage/Alien Spree Killers
Film that seems to be trying to cram in as many exploitation elements as possible from UFOs to spree killers, zombies, Women in Prison and rock’n’roll
Sorority House Massacre (1986)
Slasher Film
A Roger Corman produced slasher film, which spawned two sequels. The plot draws heavily on Halloween and comes with all the usual scenes of co-eds being stalked by a maniac escaped from an asylum
Speak No Evil (2022)
Sinister Hosts/Black Comedy
A darkly funny Danish film about a couple who accept an invite to visit another couple who seem to have no boundaries, before everything gets nasty
Speak No Evil (2024)
Sinister Hosts
The Danish original was a darkly brilliant film about guests in a home of people who step over boundaries. This is the English-language remake from Blumhouse that lacks the same dark bite
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
Killer’s Sadistic Games
The Saw series is revived sort of, featuring the activities of a Jigsaw copycat, otherwise this offers up all the familiar essentials in all but name
The Spiral Staircase (1975)
Psycho-Thriller
A remake of the classic film noir psycho-thriller. Now the story is conducted in colour and with a name star cast but misses all the atmosphere the original had by a wide mile
Stage Fright (2014)
Slasher Musical
A slasher musical??? The mind does a double takes trying to process the incongruity of the genre mash-ups. That said, this works exceedingly well – neither compromising on the slasher aspects, yet equally delivering some clever and witty musical numbers
StageFright – Aquarius (1987)
Giallo Psycho-Thriller
A Giallo thriller about a series of murders that take place during the rehearsal for a play. Michele Soavi directs a series of vivid suspense set-pieces
The Stalker’s Apprentice (1998)
Psycho Film
British tv psycho film that works through a multi-layered plot of dexterous twists and a handsomely engaging lead actor
Stan Helsing: A Parody (2009)
Horror Parody
Film from one of the producers of Scary Movie that heads for the same lowbrow comedy routines while spoofing 80s horror films
The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)
Giallo Psycho-Thriller
One of the less effective films in the oeuvre of Dario Argento. Another giallo thriller, this has the same flourishes of style in sporadic moments but the plot is even more confusing than usual
The Stepdaughter (2000)
Psycho-Thriller
Psycho-thriller with Andrea Roth as a woman who enviegles herself into a household with malevolent intent
The Stepfather (1987)
Psycho Stepfather
Great psycho-thriller with Terry O’Quinn as a man determined to marry into the perfect family who then slaughters the family when they fail to meet expectations. This digs into 80s Family Values with scabrous regard
The Stepfather (2009)
Psycho Stepfather
Disastrous remake of the classic 80s horror film, which comes shorn of its biting satire on Family Values and turned into just another teen horror film
Stepfather II (1989)
Psycho Stepfather
Sequel to the hit psycho-thriller. Terry O’Quinn is back and on fine form but this just repeats the original, bumps up the number of killings with extra gore to become no more than a B psycho film
Stepfather III (1992)
Psycho Stepfather
A shabby sequel where the classic original where Terry O’Quinn is replaced by another actor and everything reduced to no more than a routine slasher film
Stoker (2013)
Sinisterly Charming Uncle
The English-language debut from South Korea’s Park Chan-wook is a supremely controlled film, more like a period arthouse film than drenched in the buckets of gore we expect of Park … Essentially a reworking of Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, a film that takes place all in smouldering tensions
Stone Cold Dead (1979)
Detective Thriller/Serial Killer
A dull Canadian-made police procedural with detective Richard Crenna on the trail of a sniper that is killing prostitutes
Straight on Till Morning (1972)
Hammer Psycho Film
A psycho film (as opposed to one of their psycho-thrillers) from Hammer Films where innocent and unworldwise Rita Tushingham arrives in London only to be lured in by ice cold killer Shane Briant
Strange Darling (2023)
Psycho Film
An incredibly refreshing and original psycho film, made with a furious energy. Every bit of the way it is constantly messing with us and turning everything we think is going on on its head
Strangeland (1998)
Psycho Sadist
80s outrage rocker Dee Snider writes and stars in this horror film where he plays a freakish serial killer who is demonised by parents
The Stranger Beside Me (2003)
True-Life Serial Killer
True crime film based on a woman who was best friends with serial killer Ted Bundy
The Stranger Game (2006)
Psycho Nanny
Routine psycho-thriller where Mimi Rogers’ home is invaded by psycho babysitter David Orth
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Film Noir Psycho-Thriller
Cited as the first film noir, this is a fascinating psycho film about a man tormented by guilt over convicting the wrong man
The Strangers (2008)
Home Invasion and Brutality
A harrowing home assault film that highlighted the debut of Bryan Bertino, a new director of considerable promise. The surprise about the film is just how much influence it has had on other works subsequently
The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)
Home Invasion and Brutality
The Strangers was one the sleeper hits of the 2000s. This is the first chapter in a three film reboot. On the minus side, it has been handed over to Renny Harlin, who should be on any worst directors list
The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)
Mysterious Masked Killers
The Strangers was an incredibly eerie home invasion story that has become a modern classic. This is the second chapter in a trilogy of reboot films that have been handed over to the perpetually terrible Renny Harlin
The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026)
Mysterious Masked Killers
The concluding chapter in a desultory trilogy of films based on the eerie home invasion classic The Strangers. The surprise is that this ends up being the best of the three films
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Murder Pact Between Strangers/Psycho-Thriller
One of the most darkly engrossing of Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers, a classic about two strangers who make a murder pact after meeting on a train. Where any other director would have made a straight thriller, Hitchcock lingers on the mordant humour with unnerving effect
The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018)
Home Invasion and Brutality
The Strangers has been cited as one of the best horror films of the 2000s. This sequel emerges as a by-the-numbers entry that plays out no differently than a generic teen slasher film
Stream (2024)
Livestreamed Murders
Horror film with a substantial cast of genre veterans where Jeffrey Combs imprisons guests in a hotel and livestreams as a group of killers compete to rack up the most creative kill
Streets (1990)
Teenage Runaways vs Psycho Cop
Gritty urban drama with Christina Applegate as a teenage runaway on the mean streets of L.A. harassed by a psycho cop
Striking Distance (1993)
Action/Psycho-Thriller
Action thriller with Bruce Willis as a river patrol detective hunting a serial killer
Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)
Giallo Film
A giallo film about a masked man killing models. This comes with an attention-grabbing title that proves more sensational than most of what happens in the film
Stripped to Kill (1987)
Undercover in a Strip Club Psycho-Thriller
The very first film with the plot of a woman cop going undercover in a strip club. The police procedural plot and psycho element takes a very clear backseat to the stripper set-pieces, some of which are imaginatively staged. On the plus side, the film is directed by a woman
A Study in Terror (1965)
Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper
Largely forgotten Sherlock Holmes entry that was the first film to pit Holmes against Jack the Ripper. Both sides are treated with respect amid lush production values
Summer of 84 (2018)
Retro 80s Film/Teens Believe Neighbour May Be a Serial Killer
The second film from the trio that made Turbo Kid. This taps 80s nostalgia focusing on a group of kids who believe a neighbour may be a serial killer but was overshadowed by tv’s very similar Stranger Things
The Summer of Massacre (2011)
Anthology of Slasher Tales
The unique idea of an anthology made up of five different slasher tales. Unfortunately, the film’s only raison d’etre is serving up serial gore scenes, which have the effect taken out of them because they are all conducted digitally and look biologically preposterous
Summer of Sam (1999)
True Life Serial Killer/Urban Paranoia
A Spike Lee film, a fictional work set during the real-life Son of Sam killings, although Lee seems less interested in the true crime aspect than the various storylines of his characters
Superhost (2021)
Psycho AirBNB Host
A film that one entered with no expectation whereupon it turned into a quite reasonable effort with Gracie Gillam owning the show as a splendidly mad AirBNB host
Supernova (2005)
Solar Disaster
Disaster TV mini-series about the end of the world due to the sun about to go supernova. Cliche plotting, canned action scenes and bad science ensue
Suspect Zero (2004)
Serial Killer Thriller
Serial killer thriller with Aaron Eckhart on the trail of an ambiguous Ben Kingsley. This offers some interesting twists but fails in the core issue of developing it into an absorbing thriller plot
Sweeney Todd (2006)
Murderous Barber
Released before the Tim Burton version, this is a British tv production that offers a grimly realistic, non-musical historical portrait of Sweeney Todd with Ray Winstone in the title role
Sweeney Todd: Slice & Dice (2025)
Murderous Barber
Another version of the Sweeney Todd legend. Rather than a musical, this is a straight horror version, produced on low-budget. Here we learn that Sweeney is on a mission to kill off members of the aristocracy
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936)
Murderous Barber
NOT the Tim Burton film, this is one of several earlier versions of the Sweeney Todd story. Crudely made, it is lit up by the lurid melodramatics of the forgotten British horror actor Tod Slaughter
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Murderous Barber Musical
Tim Burton takes on the film version of the Stephen Sondhiem musical about a murderous barber, featuring Johnny Depp in the title role. But disappointingly, Burton still makes the same film he always does
Switchback (1997)
Psycho-Thriller
Directorial debut from the Die Hard scriptwriter Jeb Stuart is a solid thriller but the film was a surprise flop despite bringing together an impressive cast
TAG: The Assassination Game (1982)
Psycho in a Campus Mock Killing Game
Film based on the popular campus mock killing game where one player snaps and starts to kill for real. Featuring the screen debut of Linda Hamilton
Tainted Love (1995)
Psycho-Sexual Thriller
Tawdry copy of Basic Instinct, an erotic thriller about a woman detective going undercover to investigate a series of murders that are linked to a health club
Taking Lives (2004)
Serial Killer Thriller
Serial killer thriller with Angelina Jolie as an FBI profiler tracking a killer in Montreal and becoming involved with suspect Ethan Hawke. The plot falls apart in some shabby twists
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
Horror Anthology/Comic-Book Adaptation
Amicus adapts several stories from the notorious EC Comics as one of their anthology films. Missing is EC’s black humour but this is a worthwhile Amicus anthology
Tales of Halloween (2015)
Anthology of Halloween Horror Stories
An anthology of Halloween-themed horror tales, all from different genre directors, including some interesting high-profile names. The results are uneven with the film providing a couple of amusing segments but nothing truly standout
Targets (1968)
Psycho Sniper
Early film from a young Peter Bogdanovich loosely based on sniper Charles Whitman. Bogdanovich creates something chilling in his depiction of a cleancut kid who goes on a sniping spree for no clear reason
Ted Bundy (2002)
True-Life Serial Killer
True crime film from Matthew Bright based on serial killer Ted Bundy. Bright remains very faithful to the details of the case and he and star Michael Reilly Burke delve into the psychopathic mindset with considerable effect
Tell Me Something (1999)
Korean Serial Killer Thriller
Essentially a South Korean version of Se7en with police tracking a killer dumping severed body parts around the city, all of which lead to a mystery woman
10 Rillington Place (1971)
True-Life Serial Killer
One of the best true crime films, a chillingly good account of British serial killer Reginald Christie with an excellent Richard Attenborough in the role
10 to Midnight (1983)
Cop Pursues Serial Killer
Typical of the hard-boiled thrillers/action films Charles Bronson made during the 1980s for Cannon Films. This borrows the basics from Dirty Harry with Bronson as a cop required to bend the rules to stop a psycho
The Tenderness of the Wolves (1973)
True-Life German Serial Killer
Interesting portrait of a true-life serial killer that was produced under the auspices of Rainer Werner Fassbinder concerning a vampire-like gay killer who operated in Germany during the 1920s. Not without some shock value, this is more arthouse film than it is horror
Tenebrae (1982)
Giallo Psycho-Thriller
Another of Dario Argento’s giallo psycho-thrillers with all the stylistically wild and over-the-top deaths one expects as a horror writer finds people being murdered with pages from his books in their mouths
Terrifier (2016)
Killer Clown
A variation on the killer clown film that does rack up quite a degree of tension and pushes the material for something edgy. A popular hit that has produced two sequels.
Terror Firmer (1999)
Movie Set Killer/Bad Taste Troma Comedy
Troma film in which Lloyd Kaufman turns his own autobiography into a Troma film where the results emerge as something akin to Ed Wood as remade by John Waters
Terror Train 2 (2022)
Trainboard Slasher
Sequel to the remake of the 1980s horror classic, shot back-to-back with its predecessor, this is a better film than the remake was
Terror Train (1980)
Trainboard Slasher
One of the better entries among the 1980s slasher film cycle – and even featuring the era’s quintessential heroine Jamie Lee Curtis. Essentially Halloween aboard a train, at which the film does the basics of the genre with perfect competence and undeniably stylish photography
Terror Train (2022)
Trainboard Slasher
Terror Train starring Jamie Lee Curtis was one of the classics of the original slasher film fad. This is a remake
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Backwoods Brutality
An absolute horror classic, a film that has been conceived as a harrowing assault on one’s nerves. This has become a landmark genre classic and led to numerous sequels and copies but rarely any that matched the original
Texas Chainsaw (2013)
Backwoods Brutality
A Texas Chainsaw sequel in 3D with chainsaws and gore coming out at the screen seems the complete antithesis of the raw savagery of the original. The result is like a formulaic modern slasher, while the film is wrecked by a ridiculous reversal of sympathies in the last half
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Backwoods Brutality
The first sequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre where Tobe Hooper returns and pushes the series into an outrageously black sense of humour
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Backwoods Brutality
A remake of Tobe Hooper’s landmark classic that presaged a host of inferior 70s/80s horror remakes throughout the 2000s/10s. What we have is now a different film although not entirely an uninteresting one
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Backwoods Brutality
The ninth Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, this offers the intriguing idea of Leatherface vs millennials
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
Backwoods Brutality
Prequel to the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, which sets out to tell the origin story of the cannibal family. New director Jonathan Liebesman pushes the gore and sadism to Torture Porn extremes