10 Best Serial Killers In Movies

Based on the real-life search for the elusive serial killer of the '60s and '70s, Zodiac shows us the sick and twisted world of David Ficher's second dive into the world of serial killers.

The Zodiac Killer was a famous serial killer in the San Francisco Bay area, who famously eluded capture, with theories on his identity still being discussed today.

Zodiac is somewhat unique, in that the serial killer himself is never identified (as with real life), although his gruesome murders are still seen on screen. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a newspaper cartoonist who becomes obsessed with the search for the elusive killer, Zodiac was recently voted 12th in best 100 films of the 21st century.

The film dives straight into the world of serial killing with its very first scene, where we see two young love birds attacked at lover's lane in Vallejo, California.

The killer eventually starts sending his own sick and twisted letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, threatening to kill dozens of people unless his chilling messages are printed in the newspaper.

The film does not leave a definite resolution as to the killer's identity, relying on the audience to draw their own conclusions, however, the film has since lived on as one of the great police-procedurals.

The film's end scene in the basement as Jake Gyllenhaal finally realises that he is in way over his own head, is one of the tensest scenes ever put on screen and something that would have made Alfred Hitchcock squirm in his seat.