In 1957, Robert Bloch published Psycho based on the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer and cannibal Ed Gein. Alfred Hitchcock brought the novel to the screen in 1960. That changed everything. A new bogeyman replaced vampires, werewolves and other monsters as the thing that would haunt human dreams. Thanks to Anthony Perkins' terrifying performance as the psychotic Norman Bates, the public's new nightmares featured the guy down the street and the girl next door with evil hidden in their minds and horrors buried under the floorboards or in the backyard. The perceptions that Norman Bates created are reinforced every time the news features another story of some gardener or carpenter or mailman or nurse who had killed a dozen or more people. Hitchcock also introduced the public to the fictional film version of a Ted Bundy-like killer in Strangers on a Train.
In 1967, the prototype of Hannibal the Cannibal, the professional as madman, was portrayed by Peter O'Toole in Night of the Generals. While the character of General Tanz is a Nazi, which personifies a monster already, the concept of such a brilliant serial killer character is a frightening creation. Here we have a sexual psychopath in uniform, with power and authority. Picture this same character as a police officer or some other powerful authority figure and you have the public's worst nightmare.
In 1968, the groundwork for today's genre of true crime movies was laid out with the film The Boston Stranger. This was the first docudrama about a real-life serial killer.
Also in 1968, Rod Steiger portrayed the perfect fictional serial killer in No Way to Treat a Lady. Here is a classic model of the sexual psychopath who vents his obsessional hate for his mother on his victims. The character is extremely true-to-life with all the chameleon qualities that exist in real serial killers.
Sean MacTire, Malicious Intent, 1995
In 1967, the prototype of Hannibal the Cannibal, the professional as madman, was portrayed by Peter O'Toole in Night of the Generals. While the character of General Tanz is a Nazi, which personifies a monster already, the concept of such a brilliant serial killer character is a frightening creation. Here we have a sexual psychopath in uniform, with power and authority. Picture this same character as a police officer or some other powerful authority figure and you have the public's worst nightmare.
In 1968, the groundwork for today's genre of true crime movies was laid out with the film The Boston Stranger. This was the first docudrama about a real-life serial killer.
Also in 1968, Rod Steiger portrayed the perfect fictional serial killer in No Way to Treat a Lady. Here is a classic model of the sexual psychopath who vents his obsessional hate for his mother on his victims. The character is extremely true-to-life with all the chameleon qualities that exist in real serial killers.
Sean MacTire, Malicious Intent, 1995
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