10 Crime Films Based On Real Events

10. David Fincher Based Zodiac On The Zodiac Killer

The Zodiac Killer is one of the most famous murderers to ever exist: being linked to at least five murders between 1968 and 1969 in Northern California, he shared ciphers and letters to the authorities and public to name his crimes and threaten more. Despite being the person who revealed his own crimes, the Zodiac killer has still never been discovered all these years later. We only know for certain a few of his murders - and none since 1969 - but he’s been attached to over 35 different deaths.

David Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac centres around a San Francisco based cartoonist who becomes fascinated by the Zodiac Killer and attempts to track him down. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the aforementioned cartoonist, Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery the journalist and Mark Ruffalo as inspector Dave Toschi, the film is both a wild crime drama and a monster story.

Zodiac is as fun as it is anxiety inducing, being led by dramatic dialogue, Fincher writes it in such an engaging way that its mammoth run time completely flies by. The film is smart and subdued, harking back to some of the great classic police procedurals and dramas of the genre and oozing absolute class.