The Best Serial Killer Movies on Free Services

What it's about: The true story of the investigation of the "Zodiac Killer", a serial killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting police with his ciphers and letters. The case becomes an obsession for three men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Swedish thriller based on Stieg Larsson's novel about a male journalist and a young female hacker. In the opening of the movie, Mikael Blomkvist, a middle-aged publisher for the magazine Millennium, loses a libel case brought by corrupt Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström. Nevertheless, he is hired by Henrik Vanger in order to solve a cold case, the disappearance of Vanger's niece

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a subscription service (Fandor, Sundance Now & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car on a snowy Colorado road. He is found by Annie Wilkes, the "number one fan" of Paul's heroine Misery Chastaine. Annie is also somewhat unstable, and Paul finds himself crippled, drugged and at her mercy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When Sally hears that her grandfather's grave may have been vandalized, she and her paraplegic brother, Franklin, set out with their friends to investigate. After a detour to their family's old farmhouse, they discover a group of crazed, murderous outcasts living next door. As the group is attacked one by one by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface, who wears a mask of human skin, the survivors must do everything they can to escape.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi, Vudu & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Sundance Now & fuboTV) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A deaf woman is stalked by a psychotic killer in her secluded home.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: After a 13-year imprisonment for the kidnap and murder of a 6 year old boy, beautiful Lee Guem-ja starts seeking revenge on the man that was really responsible for the boy's death. With the help of fellow inmates and reunited with her daughter, she gets closer and closer to her goal. But will her actions lead to the relief she seeks?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Kanopy).

What it's about: Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, but were unable to catch him. One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiance Soo-hyun, a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a subscription service (Monsters Nightmares & Warriors Gangsters) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A biopic of the writer, Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book, 'In Cold Blood'.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Following the death of his mother, J finds himself living with his estranged family, under the watchful eye of his doting grandmother, Smurf, mother to the Cody boys. J quickly comes to believe that he is a player in this world. But, as he soon discovers, this world is far larger and more menacing than he could ever imagine. J finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns the family upside down.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making. She sneaks into Mark's apartment to watch it and is horrified by what she sees -- especially when Mark catches her.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & YouTube).

What it's about: Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A killer is released from prison and breaks into a remote home to kill a woman, her handicapped son and her pretty daughter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: While walking home one evening, Sam Dalmas, an American writer living in Rome, witnesses a violent struggle between a young woman and a black-coated figure in an art gallery. Dalmas attempts to intervene but is caught between the gallery's electronically operated glass doors, leaving the woman bleeding from knife wounds. Questioned by the police, the shocked author attempts to recall every detail regarding the incident. Convinced that there is an aspect of the crime he cannot recall, Dalmas begins his own investigation - putting himself and his girlfriend Giulia in line as the killer's potential victims...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Fandor & ConTV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Google Play).

What it's about: The sequel to House of 1000 Corpses – the Firefly family are ambushed at their isolated home by Sheriff Wydell and a squad of armed men guns blazing – yet only Otis and his sister, Baby, manage to escape the barrage of bullets unharmed. Hiding out in a backwater motel, the wanted siblings wait to rendezvous with their errant father, Captain Spaulding, killing whoever happens to stand in their way.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (IFC) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When a 12-year-old boy goes missing, lead investigator Greg Harper struggles to balance the pressure of the investigation and troubles with his wife, Jackie. Facing a recent affair, great strain is put on the family that slowly gnaws away at Jackie's grip on reality. But after a malicious presence manifests itself in their home and puts their son, Connor, in mortal danger, the cold, hard truth about evil in the Harper household is finally uncovered.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle, PopcornFlix, Tubi & 2 others) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Microsoft).

What it's about: 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.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A seemingly mild mannered man -- who has just murdered his entire family -- quickly adopts a new identity and leaves town. After building a new relationship with a widow and her teenage daughter, he struggles to hide his true identity and maintain a grip on reality.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Cinemax), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Cinemax) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A mentally unhinged factory worker must decide whether to listen to his talking cat and become a killer, or follow his dog's advice to keep striving for normalcy.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Slightly disturbed and painfully shy Angela Baker is sent away to summer camp with her cousin. Not long after Angela's arrival, things start to go horribly wrong for anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Based on real-life events, this psycho-thriller is set in the provincial Hungary of the 1960s, when a series of atrocious murders shock the small town of Martfü. A psychotic killer is on the prowl, who continues to slaughter young women while an innocent man is wrongly accused and sentenced for crimes he could never have committed. A determined detective arrives on the scene and soon becomes obsessed with the case while under pressure from the prosecutor to see a man hang. Stuck in the suffocating social, political and psychological world of socialist Hungary, we soon find ourselves entangled in a web of intricate conspiracy and disturbing drama.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1993) is a documentary film about Aileen Wuornos, made by Nick Broomfield. It documents Broomfield's attempts to interview Wuornos, which involves a long process of mediation through her adopted mother Arlene Pralle and lawyer, Steve Glazer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (SnagFilms & Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A martial arts instructor working at a police academy gets imprisoned after killing a man by accident. But when a vicious killer starts targeting martial arts masters, the instructor offers to help the police in return for his freedom.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hiyah & Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: 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.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Forensic psychologist Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: One rainy night in an arms factory near Shanghai, a young female worker accused of stealing a box of bullets from the ruthless Boss Ding (Liu Kai Chi) is violently killed in a game of Russian roulette. Half a month later, a series of inexplicable deaths takes place in the factory, where the victims are shot but no bullets are found. Rumors of a deadly curse begin to spread in the factory, terrorizing the workers there. So, eccentric police inspector Song Donglu (Lau Ching Wan) and his hot-blooded, gunslinging partner Guo Zhui (Nicholas Tse) are sent in to investigate the mystery of the phantom bullets...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & YouTube).

What it's about: Three people driving into Los Angeles for a Dodgers game have car trouble and pull off into an old wrecking yard where they are held at bay by a bloodthirsty psycho and his crazy girlfriend.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.00 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle), stream on a subscription service (CBS All Access) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A serial killer kidnaps a young boy after murdering his mother, then raises him to be his accomplice. After years in captivity, the boy must choose between escaping or following in his captor's bloody footprints.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A Nazi doctor who had a fetish for young boys feels guilt after torturing and murdering his latest victim, and throws himself off a roof. Some years later, the doctor, confined to an iron lung, accepts as his nurse a boy who secretly witnessed that killing.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Shudder).

What it's about: Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, ConTV, Shudder & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of monsters are hiding from humanity.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Set in Stalin-era Soviet Union, a disgraced MGB agent is dispatched to investigate a series of child murders -- a case that begins to connect with the very top of party leadership.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A tough, renegade cop with a gay sidekick is dispatched to take down a serial killer who has been targeting police officers.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Sony Crackle & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York's S/M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).

What it's about: A young policewoman slowly goes insane while tracking down an elusive serial rapist/killer through Italy when she herself becomes a victim of the brutal man's obsession.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a subscription service (Epix, Full Moon & Shudder), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Forced to move to a boring backwater town, a teenager embarks on affairs with a teacher and a stoner classmate.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Tribeca Short List) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Detective Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, he must go on the hunt to eliminate all the loose ends.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: On February 15, 1992 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, one of the world's most infamous serial killers, was convicted of 15 counts of murder and sentenced to 937 years in federal prison. This movie is based on events from his life. Certain characters and events are fictional.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, Vudu & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Twenty years ago in the sleepy mining town of Valentine Bluffs, a fatal mining disaster occurred on Valentine's Day while some of the crew was decorating for a party. The sole survivor of the accident killed the remaining crewmembers and warned the town not to celebrate Valentine's Day again. When a group of teenagers decides to defy that order, a murderous maniac in mining gear begins dispatching townsfolk in bloody and creative ways.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Starz) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When a group of tourists on a New Orleans haunted swamp tour find themselves stranded in the wilderness, their evening of fun and spooks turns into a horrific nightmare.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Newly-discovered facts, court records and speculation are used to elaborate the true love story and murder mystery of the most notorious unsolved murder case in New York history.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Dox & Monsters Nightmares) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A man imprisons the woman he's still obsessed with after years apart, then finds the tables turned on him.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A gang of ruthless highway killers kidnap a wealthy couple traveling cross country only to shockingly discover that things are not what they seem.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).