Hollywood True Crime Movies (1959-2005)

"Karla" (2005): View The Trailer. A deeply disturbing true story…Serial Killers/Husband & Wife team, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka’s psychological dance with death and depravity.

The Hillside Strangler (2004): The disturbing case of two serial killing cousins that terrorized Southern California in the late 70s is brought gruesomely to film.

Starkweather (2004): In 1956 Nebraska 16 year old garbage man Charles Starkweather goes on a murder spree with his 14 year old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate killing 11 people in three months, introducing America to spree killing.

Monster (2003): Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of Aileen Wuornos, one of America’s first female serial killers.

The Stranger Beside Me (2003): Based on Ann Rule’s real life friendship with serial killer Ted Bundy, before he was exposed as a murderer.

Gacy (2003): Based on a true story of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a man with over 30 dead men and boys entombed in the crawl space underneath his house which he shared with his family.

Chicago (2002): The movie and broadway musical were based on true murder cases – a laundry worker and a cabaret singer who were accused of claiming the lives of their lovers in 1924.

Dahmer (2002): Based on the true crime story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, this movie tells the emotionally riveting story of a man who turned his darkest fantasies into a horrifying reality.

Nightstalker (2002): Based on the life of Robert Ramirez, aka the Nightstalker, who terrorized people in Los Angeles during the 1980s.

From Hell (2001): In Victorian Era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders by Jack The Ripper. Marilyn Bardsley of Crimelibrary.com says Why, over a hundred years later, are there allegedly more books written on Jack than all of the American presidents combined? Why are there stories, songs, operas, movies and a never-ending stream of books on this one Victorian criminal? Why is this symbol of terror as popular a subject today as he was in Victorian London? Because Jack the Ripper represents the classic whodunit. Not only is the case an enduring unsolved mystery that professional and amateur sleuths have tried to solve for over a hundred years, but the story has a terrifying, almost supernatural quality to it.

Summer of Sam (1999): Takes place as the notorious serial killer Son of Sam (David Berkowitz) is stalking New York City.

Citizen X (1995): Based on the story of a Russian serial killer who is thought to have killed more than 50 people and the bureaucracy that hampered the investigation.

Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): Killer Ed Gein, who wore the skin of his victims, was an inspiration for Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and his case also impacted the Chainsaw Massacre movie.

The Amityville Horror (1979): The story of the haunted house can be traced back to Ronald DeFeo, who killed his family while living in the home.

Helter Skelter (1976): Focused on Charles Manson and his “family” and the brutal murders that sent them to jail. A new version was released in 2004.

Jack the Ripper (1976): A serial killer whose mother was a prostitute starts killing streetwalkers as a way of paying back his mother for her abuse.

The Deadly Tower (1975): Tells the story of Charles Whitman, who killed his wife and mother, then went up to the University of Texas Tower, where he shot and killed many people at random.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975): Based on the true story of John Wojtowicz, who with Salvatore Naturale attempted to rob a Chase Manhattan bank in Brooklyn to pay for his lover's sex-change operation. The duo held the bank's employees hostage for 14 hours. Naturale was shot and killed during the standoff, and Wojtowicz was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The French Connection (1971): William Friedkin's thriller about two New York cops who try to bust a drug ring. The film's protagonists, 'Popeye' Doyle and 'Cloudy' Russo, were based on two real-life New York detectives, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. And the title refers to an infamous drug trafficking scheme in the 1960s and '70s, in which heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then the U.S.

The Boston Strangler (1968): About the murders of Boston women in the 1960s and their killer, who became known as the Boston Strangler.

In Cold Blood (1967): Based on Truman Capote’s book about the infamous killing of the Clutter family by two would-be robbers.

Compulsion (1959): Based on the 1924 Chicago murder trial of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two rich, handsome teenagers who killed a 14 year old boy for kicks.

(source: Pulse24.com, Quantum Entertainment MovieBank, Imdb)