Mass Murderer and Serial Killers

There is a new movie coming out about Ted Bundy and it is told from the perspective of his ex and also Netflix just released a documentary about him. In the movie Ted is played by Zac Efron, who some may call a teen idol and someone people find handsome (god I sound old... I almost said heart throb, you know what we used to call Luke Perry)

It has been 30 years since his execution. People affected by Bundy are still alive and well for the most part.



So this had me thinking, if there was a movie about Eric and Dylan, say told from the perspective of Dylan's mom or from someone who knew and loved Eric, how would that movie be perceived?



What about a movie that portrayed James Holmes as a schizophrenic reaching out for help and finding no one?

People are uneasy about Ted Bundy being portrayed by a "hot guy" or someone who would elicit sympathy yet they can understand it.

However, it seems like mass shooters have to be put in a box, the insane, angry, virginal idiots where as serial killers are sexy and suave...

They all killed people at the end of the day...

What if someone legitimately wrote a movie based on Cullen's portrayal of Eric? A handsome, trouble psychopath who could get any woman he wanted but had a thirst for revenge? How is this any different?

Yet on true crime pages you read posts from women who swoon over Richard Rameriez's cheekbones.

I personally don't think a columbine movie would really be interesting, unless something like new facts, photos or documents were shown.
I think it would end up being more like I'm not ashamed, with everything overblown to create a more dramatic narrative.
When it comes to serial killer movies, there usually is one good one, and the rest are sub-par.
I guess there is only so many ways you can tell the same story over and over again.
But I will say a Columbine documentary along the lines of Zero Day, that is well researched, with all the facts laid out, and has some new interviews especially with people who may not have spoke out much before, would be very interesting.
It might sound crazy, but I think Randy Brown should shoot a documentary to go along with his book.
He has tens of thousands of files, many of which we don't even know about, and people respect him for the most part.
I could see him really making an effort to make sure everything is 100% factual, and maybe he'd even release some never before seen files or info.
It's a long shot, but hey, let me dream

Screamingophelia wrote:

There is a new movie coming out about Ted Bundy and it is told from the perspective of his ex and also Netflix just released a documentary about him. In the movie Ted is played by Zac Efron, who some may call a teen idol and someone people find handsome (god I sound old... I almost said heart throb, you know what we used to call Luke Perry)

It has been 30 years since his execution. People affected by Bundy are still alive and well for the most part.



So this had me thinking, if there was a movie about Eric and Dylan, say told from the perspective of Dylan's mom or from someone who knew and loved Eric, how would that movie be perceived?



What about a movie that portrayed James Holmes as a schizophrenic reaching out for help and finding no one?

People are uneasy about Ted Bundy being portrayed by a "hot guy" or someone who would elicit sympathy yet they can understand it.

However, it seems like mass shooters have to be put in a box, the insane, angry, virginal idiots where as serial killers are sexy and suave...

They all killed people at the end of the day...

What if someone legitimately wrote a movie based on Cullen's portrayal of Eric? A handsome, trouble psychopath who could get any woman he wanted but had a thirst for revenge? How is this any different?

Yet on true crime pages you read posts from women who swoon over Richard Rameriez's cheekbones.

The problem is that right now America's in the age of the mass shooter. Serial killers have fallen to the wayside, ever since the early 90's fewer and fewer notable ones kept cropping up to replace the serial killer "old guard" (Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, Zodiac, etc.). But mass shooters? They've gone in the exact opposite direction. People like Charles Whitman and Patrick Sherril are getting outdone every year. Not every ten years. Not every five. Every single year. Imagine if there wasn't one Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. Imagine if there was one every year.

Another big problem is that making a movie about a mass shooter kills any tension the film would hold. A serial killer provides tension for the audience. Put on an average episode of Criminal Minds, or even just an average episode of Law and Order, where the killings are usually not of a serial nature. There's an impetuous for the police - the heroic good guys the audience can root for - to act and stop the killer before he claims more victims. When making a movie about a mass shooting, you've also got to do either one of two things:
-Show it from the perspective of the killer, which presents its own host of problems. Do you make the killer sympathetic for the audience? Do you make him out to be an evil bastard? By even making the killer your protagonist you're already taking a risk in alienating the audience.
-Show it from someone else's perspective. Well, who for starters? The killer's parents? Their friends? An injured victim?
Both scenarios run into the problem of what you're going to fill in the rest of the movie with. A lot of it is going to be boring filler about the killer's life or a victim's recovery or a loved one's grieving process. Not many audiences are going to want to sit around for an hour or longer waiting for a payoff that they already know is going to happen. Audiences want to be captivated by violence. Serial killer films often break up the boring parts with extreme violence. If you're making a movie about a mass shooter there's probably going to be only one part of the movie with extreme violence, that being the actual shooting.

Now it can be done. There are two different films about Anders Breivik out on Netflix. We have some indie films based on Columbine, like Zero Day, Elephant, and to a lesser extant, State's Evidence. Bloody Wednesday and Targets were both loosely based off of real mass shootings. Rampage (2009 film) is about a man who goes on a killing spree across his entire hometown. But none of these films have enjoyed mainstream popularity the same way films like Se7en, Zodiac, Silence of the Lambs, Saw, or virtually any slasher movie*, such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Scream has.

*I am aware that most slasher movie villains typically better fit the criteria for mass murderers than serial killers, considering that most slasher films take place on a single day, but unlike real mass shooters and the movies that are most closely based on them, the typical slasher movie villain stalks and kills their victims one by one, and does so discreetly and (usually) with the intent on getting away with the murders rather than running around in a public setting shooting or stabbing every person they come across kamikaze style.

I am actually in the process of writing a script for a columbine movie, told from the perspective of Eric and Dylan. Showing their descent into madness and all the warning signs people missed. Im actually nearing completion of a rough draft

NickValentine wrote:

I am actually in the process of writing a script for a columbine movie, told from the perspective of Eric and Dylan. Showing their descent into madness and all the warning signs people missed. Im actually nearing completion of a rough draft

Nice, I hope it gets picked up.

I remember there was a film called "Del Playa" which was based on Elliot Rodger and was made one year after the Isla Vista killings, it came under a lot of backlash and was actually cancelled, although it was released a few years later. If there was a going to be a film about mass murder I think the best to come about it would be either a found footage type film with the perspective of the killer, detailing their plans, thoughts, motive etc, like how they did in Zero Day or the Dirties. Or a film from the perspective of the murderer's parents, with them asking important questions like what went wrong? Why didn't we see any of the signs? What could we have done? Could we still love our son? The film Beautiful Boy is a perfect example of this.

I think there is also the fact that Mass Shootings have become politicalised, with gun control and mental health being main issues after every tragedy; the film would have to be neutral as although it may face criticism from both sides of the debate, many audiences don't want a political forced agenda shoved down their throats.

Tommy QTR wrote:

I remember there was a film called "Del Playa" which was based on Elliot Rodger and was made one year after the Isla Vista killings, it came under a lot of backlash and was actually cancelled, although it was released a few years later. If there was a going to be a film about mass murder I think the best to come about it would be either a found footage type film with the perspective of the killer, detailing their plans, thoughts, motive etc, like how they did in Zero Day or the Dirties. Or a film from the perspective of the murderer's parents, with them asking important questions like what went wrong? Why didn't we see any of the signs? What could we have done? Could we still love our son? The film Beautiful Boy is a perfect example of this.

I think there is also the fact that Mass Shootings have become politicalised, with gun control and mental health being main issues after every tragedy; the film would have to be neutral as although it may face criticism from both sides of the debate, many audiences don't want a political forced agenda shoved down their throats.

Beautiful Boy is a great movie.

The book Hate List is told from the perspective of the shooters girlfriend and it's so good, it doesn't force any agenda, it really is a survivor story, just told by a person who loved the person who did it.

The script I am writing, while fictional, has no political agenda either. It is really about what families go through after a tragedy.

I saw the trailer for Del Playa just now and said no thanks. It looks insulting by insinuating you're not a real man if you don't have a g/f.

That trailer had some characteristics of Misandry, the opposite of misogynist.