Serial killer movies that *aren't* horror?

[Zeus]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for movies about serial killers that aren't horror.

If Halloween is on one end of the spectrum (fully horror), and somewhere in the middle is Seven and Silence of the Lambs (accepted by horror fans and people who 'hate that stuff'), then on the far end has to be a mainstream cops-hunt-a-serial-killer movie, something that would NEVER wind up on the horror shelf of the proverbial video store.

I can picture some 80s cop movie where the guy hunts down a killer, but I'm drawing a blank. Can anyone help me think of some titles?

Thanks!

- Zeus

P.S. The irony of coming to HorrorETC's forum to find something that's not horror isn't lost on me, but I figured if anyone, horror fans would understand my distinction.

[bishop746]

Ok, I've got a few:

On the cornball end of the spectrum there is The Hero and The Terror starring Chuck Norris.. Yes Chuck Norris. He plays a cop who tries to arrest a serial killer named the Terror and gets his ass kicked. You read that right, Chuck takes a beating but the Terror is knocked out by chance in the fight. The Terror is sent to prison but escapes. Hilarity ensues. Its a Chuck Norris film before he became a punchline

Split Second: Ok, this is a bit of a stretch and its hard to find but in the future Rutger Hauer is chasing a serial killer who killed his partner. The serial killer is an eight foot tall, HR Giger ripoff alien-looking thing but its not an unthinking animal. It uses weapons, it mails packages through the post office and writes letters. I'm not kidding. I've often thought that this movie was a straight up Cop/serial killer movie that got a creature shoe-horned in later. Bizarre, flawed but so damn watchable. One of my guilty pleasures. More of a Sci-fi thriller.

Citizen X: Actually a made-for-tv movie from the mid 90s. Its set in communist Russia, where the existence of a serial killer is an embarrassment to the Communist Party who believe that only in the West could such a person exist. Good for a tv movie and fits your criteria of not being a horror film.

If I think of some more I'll post.

[nicolecushing]

It depends on how you define a "serial killer". If you mean simply someone who kills one person after another, then FARGO would count. The big, dumb guy (character's name is Gaear Grimsrud ) offs at least three or four people, right? And seems to have that demented serial killer mind, yanno?

[Zeus]

I also came up with Dirty Harry. There's a movie about cops trying to stop a serial killer that no one would mistake for horror.

Thanks for the suggestions. Let me know if you come up with any more!

[ilnino]

Manhunter.
Though any of the Lecter stuff imo isnt really horror, though they do get gorey.

[getchar]

What about Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer? I've seen it described as horror, so it's a judgment call, but to me it seems more like a drama or very dark comedy.