Best movies like John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster

An elusive serial killer known as the Zodiac terrorizes the San Francisco Bay in the late 1960s, while detectives aim to stop him before he claims more victims. Based on a true story.

The San Francisco area is beset by a series of seemingly random murders without motive or pattern. The police are taunted by phone calls and letters. Could the maniac be the violent, truck driver, or the seemingly mild-mannered mailman, or even a cop?

The real story behind the hunt for Theodore J. Kaczynski, later known as the Unabomber, a terrorist who sent several bombs through the mail, alarming authorities and society. The movie follows a postal inspector who tracks down the suspect; a obstinate detective; and Kaczynski's brother, who suspected of Ted after the publishing of his manifesto explaining the reasons for the bombings.

This docu-drama focuses on the true story of the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace by alleged serial killer Andrew Cunanan.

The complicated relationship that formed between the FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Ted Bundy during Bundy's final years on death row.

Dreaded serial killer Peter Kurten voluntarily turns himself over to the authorities. A young lawyer, eager to prove Kurten's mental derangement, agrees to defend a man who terrorized Germany between 1929 and 1931. In studying the case and meeting with the intelligent, cold-blooded manipulator, the young idealist's values become warped.

A film based on the true story of Ed Kemper, a serial killer who murdered ten in Santa Cruz, CA during the late sixties and early seventies.

Three college students, Phil, Ed, and Henry take a road trip into Mexico for a week of drinking and carefree fun only to have Phil find himself a captive of a group of satanic Mexican drug smugglers who kill tourists and whom are looking for a group of new ones to prepare for a sacrifice.

After he calls 911 to report his wife's accident, successful novelist and aspiring politician Michael Peterson (Williams) becomes the prime suspect in her alleged murder.

A man is convicted for killing his father and attempting to murder his mother.

A woman appeared to have a fairy-tale life, but six years into her marriage, the fairytale crumbles when her husband is found buried in the backyard of their home with numerous stab wounds.

The story of the investigation and trial of abortion provider Dr Kermit Gosnell.

A Texas Ranger hunts for a hooded serial killer terrorizing the residents of a small town, set in 1946 Arkansas. Loosely based on a true story.

Henry likes to kill people, in different ways each time. Henry shares an apartment with Otis. When Otis' sister comes to stay, we see both sides of Henry: "the guy next door" and the serial killer.

In the late 1920s, Albert Fish, a seemingly benevolent father and grandfather who reared his family by himself after his wife deserted them, turns out to be a serial child molester and murderer. Based on a true story.

When Mari Gilbert's daughter disappears, police inaction drives her own investigation into the gated Long Island community where Shannan was last seen. Her search brings attention to over a dozen murdered prostitutes.

Inspired by a true story. A petty criminal sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s is caught attempting to make an escape. As punishment he is put in solitary confinement. The maximum stay is supposed to be 19 days, but Henri spends years alone, cold and in complete darkness, only to emerge a madman and soon to be a murderer. The story follows a rookie lawyer attempting to prove that Alcatraz was to blame.

25 years ago, four LAPD officers were acquitted in a state court for beating King, sparking three days of rioting that left 53 people dead. Now, around the anniversary, this Spike Lee-produced one-man show (Roger Guenver Smith) will be streaming on Netflix. A complex, semi-tragic figure, King drowned in 2012. His life was rarely smooth, or simple – its telling makes for a sober, moving watch.

A narrative feature film inspired by the events known as the Beltway sniper attacks.

Docu-drama based on the life of Ted Bundy, a serial killer who killed at least 19 young women during the 1970's (though some sources say as many as 30 to 35 were murdered). Set from his college student years, to his first victims, his capture, escape from prison (twice), his final killing spree to his trial, conviction and execution.

Set in a gritty and decadent 1970s America, American Boogeyman follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase ‘serial killer’.

A drama based on the true story of the time that a serial killer competed on and won a date on the popular TV game show The Dating Game. The killer, Rodney Alcala, was in the midst of a killing spree in 1978 when he brazenly took part in the show.

A small independent news crew investigates a series of unexplained disappearances in a small Midwestern county. They find themselves interviewing a man who possesses an all too intimate knowledge of the details of "The County Line Cannibal" - Cyrus.

After being arrested, a Texas man begins confessing to the brutal murder of over 200 women. He recounts his random selection of victims and his traveling companions, his friend and friend's sister. But the police can't be sure whether to believe him or not until he locates a body and shows them some polaroids. Based on the true story of Henry Lee Lucas.

Steven Keeney is a big corporate lawyer who decides to take on a small-time murder case to discover the true circumstances behind the death of a young girl. Virginia McGinnis is the one suspected of pushing the women off the cliff to collect on a small insurance policy. The further he goes into the case the more he reveals about the background of the suspect. Keeney finds support from others who also want to find out the truth behind the case.

The life and murders of one of the worst serial killers in history, Robert Pickton who went unchallenged for decades.

A series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.

Elizabeth Montgomery plays serial killer, churchgoer, and grandmother Blanch Taylor Moore in this, one of her last films before her untimely passing. Childhood memories of her womanizing and abusive father fill Moore with a hidden rage towards all men. Her former boyfriend, first husband and father all died of arsenic poisoning. Now her fiancé, the town's minister, is stricken the same way. Based on the true crime book Preacher's Girl: The Life and Crimes of Blanche Taylor Moore, the film is buoyed by Montgomery's startling performance, and keeps you on the edge of your seat until its final moments.

When Lonnie Franklin Jr. was arrested in South Central Los Angeles in 2010 as the suspected murderer of a string of young black women, police hailed it as the culmination of 20 years of investigations. Four years later documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield took his camera to the alleged killer’s neighborhood for another view.

"The Karma Killings," is a modern-day crime thriller mixed in with Indian mythology and class warfare. The documentary delves into India's most infamous serial killings and its impact on a nation. Told through the people directly involved, the film unravels the complexities of the case and goes beyond the sensational headlines to present a suspenseful and scary mystery. And has a huge twist - one of the killers maybe innocent?

The true story of a woman's suspicious disappearance after ending an affair with a powerful, married attorney.

The chilling true story of the "two of a kind" killing cousins, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, better known as the Hillside Stranglers.

This is the story of a young woman who was found dead. Now the police investigate, and evidence points to a man she was seen leaving a party with. Now when questioned, he claims that her death was accidental, as a result of rough sex. Now her family doesn't believe this, so they press the district attorney's office to try him for murder, but he has a good lawyer who plays his defense right down to putting the dead girl on trial.

A married man meets a beautiful woman and they begin an affair.

Emilia Fox and Britain’s top criminologist, Professor David Wilson, cast new light on the Jack the Ripper case. Together, they examine the Ripper’s modus operandi using modern technology to recreate the murder sites to help understand the extraordinary risks the Ripper took to kill his victims. Using the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES)—a bespoke computer system used by the police to help detect patterns in criminal activity—and evidence uncovered within the investigation, results strongly indicate another woman was, in fact, the first Ripper victim.

True life drama about a working mum whose life is put back in jeopardy when the man who was convicted of stalking her and killing her cousin comes up for parole.

The true story of John Hawkins as featured on America's Most Wanted.

A mixture of documentary footage and re-enactment scenes, some filmed on the actual locations, of the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders committed by the gang known as the Manson Family. Features music by Charles Manson.

A police detective consults with incarcerated serial killer Ted Bundy to help him catch The Green River Killer. Based on terrifying true life elements which inspired Silence of the Lambs. In 1984, police in Washington State are investigating a spate of serial murders committed by a mysterious man known as The Green River Killer. With no leads to go on, the detective in charge of the case consults with psychologists in an attempt to get inside the mind of the killer. But when that doesn't produce a positive result and the killings continue, the detective realizes that the only way to understand what makes a serial killer tick is to meet one. So he visits the imprisoned Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers in American history.

1828 in the German port city of Bremen: Two very different women collide in an age that has no place for either of them. One strives for a career in law, at a time when women aren't even admitted to universities. The other has lived life outside the law and may now have to pay the tab. One of them needs to get her head together – while the other would do anything not to lose hers. -- Based on a true story.

The shocking story of Joel Rifkin, a troubled young man whose hidden fantasies of power and control combined with his obsessive dedication to prostitutes led him to embark on one of the New York area’s most notorious murder sprees, claiming seventeen victims in the late eighties and early nineties.

Eleven bodies are found dumped on Long Island between 2010 and 2011; journalists Alexis Linkletter and Billy Jensen investigate corruption at the highest level of the Suffolk County Police Department and why the case has never been solved.

Ed Kemper, also known as the Co-Ed Killer, murdered and dismembered 10 people, including his own mother. Former FBI agent John Douglas takes us through his extensive interviews with Kemper, which became the backbone of modern criminal psychology.

This documentary tells the story of Rose West from baby to mother to murderer. This is a side to the world’s most notorious criminal that viewers have never seen before – her childhood. Using incredible first-hand accounts from people who knew her as a child; neighbours, teachers, friends and relatives, we’ll go through the key turning points in her upbringing that made her the killer she was to become. By intercutting between her harsh childhood and the psychopathic tendencies she presented in later life and the despicable crimes she would go on to commit, plus with the advice of on-screen psychologists; the viewer will get a better sense of why Rose West became the serial killer of at least 12 young women.

British journalist Trevor McDonald revisits the Cromwell Street "House of Horrors"; one of the most disturbing and depraved crime cases in the UK.

25 years after he first reported on it, Sir Trevor re-visits the case of Beverley Allitt, one of Britain's most prolific serial killers.

Based on a true story, "House On The Hill" is a true crime melodrama with strong horror elements, chronicling the outrageous 1980s murder spree of serial killer Leonard Lake, who would target, kidnap, rob and kill people - and even whole families. Sonia, the only survivor of Lake's killing spree, teams up with a private investigator to help him locate a woman who disappeared into Lake's compound. In the process, Sonia recounts the horrors of the house, where Lake and his accomplice would force her to videotape the killings.

Known as a “kindly killer”, this documentary details Nilsen’s moves between 1978 and 1983, after which he admitted to killing as many as 15 young men.

Based on a true story of serial killer a model citizen, loving father and husband and 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.

Peter: A Study for a Portrait of a Serial Killer is a feature film that delivers uncompromising performances and rare, shocking archive to reveal for the first time ever the astonishing true story of The Yorkshire Ripper. Exploring his childhood, the sadistic murders of 13 women and his ongoing psychological treatment, the audience journey into the dark and twisted mind of Britain s most notorious serial killer. Psychiatrists say he is a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic, many think he is simply evil; this film challenges the audience to make up their own mind.