Book Review: Serial Killers at the Movies by Christopher Berry-Dee

I know I’m not alone when it comes to a fascination with serial killers. If you’re in the gang, I have a book today that might interest you.

Goodreads Blurb

Serial Killers at the Movies: My Intimate Talks with Mass Murderers who Became Stars of the Big Screen by Christopher Berry-Dee

The depraved crimes of both real and imagined serial killers and mass murderers have long transfixed us in newspapers and books, but perhaps nowhere more so than on the big screen. Films such as Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer have not only reached huge audiences, but also allowed us into the minds of society’s most disturbed individuals. Christopher Berry-Dee talks to the serial killers whose wicked stories have most thrilled and fascinated us at the movies and, through far-ranging and disturbing interviews, he tells the stories of the mass murderers who provided the inspiration for some of cinema’s most shocking films. Serial Killers at the Movies takes the reader on an uncomfortable and truly dark journey into a terrifying world of murder and deviancy.

Review

I have to be honest, I was rather disappointed by this book. For one, I found the title to be misleading. While the author does reference previous talks with mass murderers, you don’t get much of the juicy details in this book. Instead, he refers you to a previous book of his.

But that’s ok; that wasn’t what I was expecting from this book. What I was expecting was to learn of the real people that influenced some of the greatest horror/thriller films of all time. It got off to a good start with Silence of the Lambs and there were some other chapters scattered throughout that showed a good correlation. However, I felt that most of the chapters were written with a real stretch to make a link, while some had no link at all. It lacked the level of detail that I was looking for.

The reason why I give this book a 3-star review rather than 2 stars is because I did learn of some new films to watch and some serial killers I never heard of before to investigate. Beyond that, I’m sad to say that this book fell flat for me.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.