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Serial Killer
n. A person who attacks and kills victims one by one in a series of incidents.
Serial
killers have always fascinated me. I know, it's a morbid fascination
but I wonder why they do it. Is it chemical, environmental or both? Why
do some seem to stalk their victims over a period of time while others
kill whenever the mood strikes them? The most frightening conclusion
would be that there are no solid answers. That some people are just
born evil and have little to no regard for human life. This conclusion
is the most disturbing to me because there is no therapy; there is no
rehabilitation for evil.
Movies have portrayed serial killers
throughout the years but one never seems to be the same, not in the
better character studies anyway. The following are a sampling of some
movies that are as varied in their depictions of serial killers as the
actors who have played them.
Please note that parts of this article may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution.
THE VANISHING (1993)
The
original Dutch version and the remake were both directed by George
Sluizer. The American version, not surprisingly, was toned down from
its original dire, hopeless and edgier ending. I am usually not a huge
fan of remakes but Jeff Bridges is fantastic as killer Barney Cousins,
a mild mannered sociopath who does something horrible to young and
pretty Diane Shaver (Sandra Bullock). Her boyfriend, Jeff Harriman
(Kiefer Sutherland) spends the rest of the movie wanting to know
exactly what happened to his girlfriend, who has seemed to vanish off
the face of the earth. The part that fascinates me is how Cousins has a
wife and a daughter, whom he loves very much. But at the same time he
has absolutely no regard for Diane or for whoever may miss her and
wonder where she might be. There is a scene where Cousins finds a 'Have
you see this person?' flyer of Shaver, put up by Harriman. He looks at
it and comments that he admires Harriman's "perseverance". The fact
that Harriman is heartbroken, haunted and tortured on a daily basis by
thoughts of what exactly has happened to his girlfriend, doesn't even
dawn on Cousins.
HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986)
To
me, this is the mother of all serial killer movies. Based on the real
life story of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who confessed to
involvement in over 3,000 murders and died in prison in 2001 at age 64.
This movie pulls absolutely no punches. Henry likes to kill, he's good
at it and he enjoys it but we don't ever fully understand WHY. Michael
Rooker is painfully good in the title role. There are many scenes to
choose from in which you would ask,'What the hell is this maniac
doing?' But something I have always wondered is why he killed companion
Becky. He felt SOMETHING for her, well, as much as someone like him
could feel. The scene where Henry and Becky are at the kitchen table
trading horrific childhood tales almost plays sweet to the viewer.
Becky stating to Henry she feels a connection him, like she has known
him her whole life, is heartbreaking given the ending. In this way
Henry is different from Barney Cousins because Henry is completely
unable to form close and loving bonds with people. With Henry you are
left with the feeling he just could not be bothered with Becky any
longer. Maybe he considered her to be a liability; she did watch Henry
kill her brother Otis. The rush in killing her might have been intense
to him because he most likely knew she was the last person in the world
he probably should kill. The suitcase, with her in it, left on the side
of the road at the end of the movie. It's as if Henry was taking out a
bag of trash and it bothered me. This is a movie that will stick with
you.
AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000)
I get a kick out of this
movie. This one is a rare find, a movie that actually makes serial
killing fun and sexy and without any real consequences. Christian Bale
plays Patrick Bateman, good looking, rich, successful and a life all
set to a really cool 80's soundtrack. The only problem here is Patrick
has the need to kill. We all have sides we don't allow others to see
and Bateman is certainly no exception. His side is brutal, darkly
indulgent and completely centers and caters around his favorite person,
himself. Ever the clean freak, he sets down newspaper and wraps himself
in a plastic raincoat to avoid any messy clean ups while killing an
annoying business colleague. Sweet secretary Jean (Chloe Sevigny) can't
bring him around, he is just too narcissistic to notice, although he
DOES spare her a round with a nail gun. Unlike the other characters
pointed out here, Bateman KNOWS something is wrong with him but really
is helpless to do anything other than feed his need. The scene, in
which Bateman finds a homeless man in the alley, bothered me the most.
Bateman asks, "Do you need money? Do you need help?" but his mock
concern turns to downright hatred when Bateman berates the man for
smelling bad and asking him why he doesn't get a job. He ends the man's
life but not before he asks, "Do you realize what a fucking loser you
are? Towards the end you even wonder if Patrick Bateman WAS even
really Patrick Bateman. The business associates were constantly getting
each other mixed up. The only way they really identified each other
were through what it said on their business cards. Ultimately, Bateman
gets away with his crimes but you can tell he almost wanted to get
caught.
MONSTER (2003)
Charlize Theron won an Oscar
playing real life serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Wuornos was a Daytona
Beach highway hooker who ultimately ended up killing her tricks and
taking their cars and money. Watching the film you realize Wuornos had
a really tough life. She really doesn't like men; they have all
betrayed her at one point or another. One bad night with sadistic trick
Vincent (Lee Tergesen) turns that hate into bloodlust. With Vincent she
HAD to kill him or he would have killed her. But it sets off a chain of
events with Wuornos and ALL men having to pay for the crimes of those
that have beaten, abused and raped her. She IS a Monster but you can't
help but think that if she had been born under more loving
circumstances that her life would have been completely different. She
finds love with lesbian Selby (Christina Ricci) but that comes along
just a little too late. By halfway through the movie you DO feel sorry
for Wuornos, in her mind she is doing the right thing. One moment she
is killing a guy who wants her to call him "Daddy" and act like a
little girl and then the next she spares the life of another trick who
is shy, nervous and having his first sexual experience with her. You
think, there IS a heart in there somewhere. Even knowing the fate of
Wuornos up front, (she was put to death via lethal injection in 2002)
you still have some hope that she can turn it all around. An extremely
uncomfortable scene at the end, however, changes all of that for the
viewer. A guy who isnt looking for sex but who just wants to help her
picks her up along the side of a dark road. She ends up robbing him and
making him kneel down before her. He pleads for his life telling her
that he can help her and that he has daughters who need him. She is too
far-gone at this point and she ends up killing him. Ultimately, she is
viewed as a cold-blooded killer who used a bad childhood as a crutch
and she should be viewed that way, in my opinion.
Well, it's time to take off my CSI-style sunglasses, latex gloves and put away my DNA samples. Until next time....
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