Why have serial killer movies and series become so popular?

James Franco, Zac Efron, Mads Mikkelsen, Evan Peters, Michael C. Hall, and soon the famous Elizabeth Olsen, played the on-screen criminals and the list goes on, as serial killer movies and series have become a huge success both on streaming platforms and as well as in cinema, creating an impressive phenomenon.

The fervent proof that the movies and series about serial killers caused a stir in the public is the public response to ‘Dahmer’, the story of the cannibal sentenced to more than 900 years in prison, which is now the most watched miniseries in Netflix history and as if that were not enough, the glasses of the criminal they were sold for $ 150,000.

However ‘Dahmer’ is only the current proof of this phenomenon, present on the screen (small and large) for several years with hits such as’Right’or’ Hannibal ‘which demonstrate that it is not necessary to tell the true story of a criminal to cause a sensation in the audience, or in the cinema’Ted Bundy: In bed with the killer’and’ True Story ‘, the case of Christian Longo, which caused a sensation among the public.

As if that weren’t enough, this phenomenon is accompanied by great Hollywood faces, as in the case of Candy Montgomerythe ax killer, already played in a Hulu miniseries by Jessica Biel, but in 2023 Elizabeth Olsen will tell the same story and again this new HBO miniseries Max (Love and Death) is one of the most anticipated.

Killer series and movies cause “cultural hysteria”

It is a fact that these types of dramas are a hit in both film and television, but the real question is what makes them so attractive and why do they cause an audience frenzy? Writer Harold Schechter, who specializes in serial killers, explains that the collective interest in these kinds of stories stems from “a kind of cultural hysteria”.

Schechter defines serial killer stories as fairy tales for adults, and explains it “There is something in our psyche that forces us to tell stories where we are chased by monsters “and justifies the attraction of the public to this type of production as a response” to the idea that there is something unpleasant out there “.

The recent case of ‘Dahmer’ has generated quite a few controversies not only to raise the question of where the attraction for these stories arises, but also to think how good or beneficial it is that these types of films and series continue to be brought to the screen, because of course it is to create something with a guarantee of success and earnings. monetary but at what cost?