6 Real Serial Killers That Defined The Horror Film Genre
4. Ted Bundy
One of the most prolific serial killers to date, Ted Bundy’s manipulation of young women through his handsome looks and charismatic personality remains a source of inspiration for villainous characters in plenty of films, even almost 30 years after his execution.
He serves as a darkly pervasive piece of pop culture as much as a disturbed, murderous, young man - which is a little frightening in itself.
Racking up, at the very least, over 30 kills in his period of activity in the early 60s to late 70s, Bundy’s method of killing involved charming women into helping him by pretending to be injured. By helping him remove things from his car, he could bludgeon them over the head and abduct them, before sexually assaulting and then strangling or beating them to death.
He inspired films such as The Deliberate Stranger, The Stranger Beside Me, and The Riverman, as well as most clearly influencing Buffalo Bill’s capture of Catherine in The Silence of the Lambs.