5 Movies Based on Real Crimes to Watch if You Liked 'The Witness', Ranked by IMDb
These films balance on the edge between documentary authenticity and artistic fiction.
The Witness captivated viewers with its heartbreaking story of a two-year-old boy who was the sole eyewitness to his mother's brutal murder.
If you've watched all three episodes and want more true crime stories that reveal the human tragedies behind police reports, this list is for you.
5. 'The Town That Dreaded Sundown', 1976
IMDb Score: 6.0/10
1946, Texarkana, Arkansas. A quiet, safe town is plunged into chaos when a masked serial killer appears. Captain J.D. Morales is put in charge of the investigation. His primary goal is to stop the killer and prevent further victims at any cost.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown is based on real crimes that occurred in Texarkana after World War II. Like the legendary Zodiac Killer case, this one remains unsolved, and the killer's identity remains unknown.
4. 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile', 2019
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
Liz, a single mother, meets a charming and caring man named Ted. He seems like the perfect partner and quickly wins the trust of Liz and her young daughter.
However, their happiness is shattered when Ted is arrested for kidnapping and murder. While the entire country follows the sensational trial and the media paints Ted as a charismatic monster, Liz struggles to understand what happened.
She doesn't believe the accusations and blames them on a mistake or a conspiracy. However, the facts are irrefutable, and she must admit that one of the most brutal criminals has been by her side the whole time.
3. 'The Golden Glove', 2019
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
Fritz Honka is a middle-aged man who has never accomplished anything. He spends his dreary evenings at the Golden Glove bar, drinking with other losers like himself. But this seemingly harmless man soon begins to transform into a monster.
One of the most shocking movies of the 2010s, The Golden Glove divided audiences. While some called the film a masterpiece, others shook their heads and called its fans psychopaths.
Compared to The Golden Glove, even Lars von Trier's scandalous The House That Jack Built seems harmless. The movie is based on the biography of a serial killer who operated in Hamburg's red-light district from 1970 to 1975.
2. 'Angst', 1983
IMDb Score: 7.1/10
After serving a long sentence, the killer is released. Now free, he decides to fulfill the sadistic fantasies that had haunted him during his imprisonment. On his first night of freedom, he breaks into the home of an ordinary family and murders all of its inhabitants.
This dark Austrian thriller was Gerald Kargl's first and last directorial effort. The plot is based on the crimes of serial killer Werner Kniesek, who, after being released in early January 1980, coldly murdered a family of three.
The murderer's internal monologues, which are as shocking as the crimes themselves, are based on interviews with Peter Kürten, a serial killer known as the Vampire of Düsseldorf.
1. 'Holy Spider', 2022
IMDb Score: 7.3/10
Saeed is a model family man who lives in the city of Mashhad. One day, he decides to cleanse the streets of "sin" by hunting down sex workers. He strangles women one after another at night and remains unpunished.
He anonymously reports each attack to the newspaper, becoming a hero to the faithful. Outraged by the authorities' inaction, a journalist from Tehran named Rahimi comes to Mashhad to investigate this story.
She wants to expose the serial strangler, but she encounters harsh laws and prejudices that hinder her investigation.
