Ad Lib Publishers Ltd. (based in London) releases Serial Killers at the Movies: My Intimate Talks with Mass Murderers Who Became Stars of the Big Screen, by Sunday Times Bestselling True Crime Author Christopher Berry-Dee. He is a noted writer and criminologist, and the country’s number one true-crime author. His previous books include Talking With Psychopaths and Savages, Talking With Serial Killers, and Talking With Female Serial Killer. This is a 218-page very nice solid paperback format, with a striking cover image by Alamy. The cover design is by Simon Levy Associates...

My Immediate reaction to seeing this book was to assume that it covered fictional as well as true life killers. Consequently, I wanted to know why Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Chucky were not included. However, the main purpose of this book is to compare a selection of high-grossing movies with the true life facts which inspired them, to reveal which ones are close approximations and which are grossly exaggerated or total re-imaginings. For this concept Christopher Berry-Dee utilises his experiences interviewing various ‘serial killers’ and researching the crime investigations and forensic evidence. Essentially, the idea is intriguing, because we all know that the truth is seldom allowed to get in the way of a good story. Some of the films covered are The Silence of the Lambs, The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Psycho, Seven, and Zodiac.

It sort of works whilst failing in some aspects, too. For example, a few very different films have been based on the exploits of Ed Gein. So, there are two chapters based on the same killer, for the reason of exploring the movie aspects. I think it would have been better to flip this idea upside down, so that each chapter concentrated on a killer or a murder, and then to study the books and films supposedly based on the subject. The way it is now, it appears obvious the author knows much more about some movies (it’s only natural), whilst skimming over others and not touching on some at all. Similarly, some incidents are explained in detail, while others are barely mentioned. It offers a rather unbalanced whole.

Nevertheless, this volume is not without merit. Although I already knew some of this data, the devil is in the detail. I was surprised by some revelations, and the book kept me interested. It is clear that Berry-Dee wears his heart on his sleeve, because at times he is rather opinionated in the text, rather than the impartiality I expected. In the chapter about The Amityville Horror, you can feel his seething anger at his determination that there was nothing that happened in the house apart from a man killing his family. I have mixed feelings about how this book is constructed, rather than the content itself. However, it is worth reading.

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Ty Power