True Crime
Films based on real crimes / criminals (excluding documentaries).
All these films were based on real crimes /or real criminals.
Though some serial killer films are included, I tended to exclude most of them (instead, making a separate list, just for those).
All these films were based on real crimes /or real criminals.
Though some serial killer films are included, I tended to exclude most of them (instead, making a separate list, just for those).
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- DirectorJud TaylorStarsBrian DennehyWilliam DevaneTracey NeedhamThe take-down of an infamous leader of a small polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group, who ordered assassinations of his opponents.
- DirectorPatty JenkinsStarsCharlize TheronChristina RicciBruce DernBased on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.
- StarsGeorge DiCenzoSteve RailsbackNancy WolfeThe investigation and trial of the horrific Tate-LaBianca mass murders orchestrated by the psychotic pseudo-hippie cult leader, Charles Manson.
- DirectorCharles GuggenheimJohn StixStarsSteve McQueenCrahan DentonDavid ClarkeA gang's plans for a St. Louis bank robbery are complicated when the sister of one of the thieves starts voicing her well-founded suspicions.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsJason RobardsGeorge SegalRalph MeekerAl Capone's Valentine's Day surprise for the rival Bugs Moran gang in 1929 Chicago.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsKevin CostnerSean ConneryRobert De NiroDuring Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsWarren BeattyFaye DunawayMichael J. PollardBored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsRobert BlakeScott WilsonJohn ForsytheTwo ex-cons murder a family in a robbery attempt, before going on the run from the authorities. The police try to piece together the details of the murder in an attempt to track down the killers.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosKevin JarreStarsKurt RussellVal KilmerSam ElliottA successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMick JaggerClarissa Kaye-MasonMark McManusThe impoverished son of Irish immigrants is pushed by wrongful police persecution into becoming Australia's most notorious bushranger.
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsSteve McQueenDustin HoffmanVictor JoryA French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsJohn SavageJames WoodsFranklyn SealesAn LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn CazalePenelope AllenThree amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
- DirectorJohn GrayStarsJeremy DaviesClea DuVallAllison SmithA new take on the Manson Family murders, with a keen focus on Charles Manson himself.
- DirectorJim Van BebberStarsMarcelo GamesMarc PitmanLeslie OrrA dramatization of the horrific and notorious Manson Family Murders, in the form of super 8 home movies.
- StarsMark HarmonFrederic ForrestGeorge GrizzardThe story of serial killer, Ted Bundy.
- StarsBrian DennehyMichael RileyMargot Kidder"To Catch a Killer" tells the true gruesome story of John Wayne Gacy - a good friend and helpful neighbour, a great child entertainer, a respectful businessman, and a violent serial killer who raped and murdered over 30 young boys.
- DirectorDavid GriecoStarsMalcolm McDowellMarton CsokasRonald PickupA disgraced communist schoolteacher in Kyiv becomes a brutal, unfeeling serial killer. Based on the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo.
- DirectorMichael TuchnerStarsDaniel J. TravantiJoBeth WilliamsMartha ScottAfter their child is abducted, John and Reve Walsh are trying to find him. But, shortly after that, Adam is found dead.
- StarsCindy PickettJohn AshtonCorin NemecThe harrowing true account of Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped by a perverted pseudo-priest and his lackey during the 1970s. As he gets older, he realizes that he needs to try to make an escape and get back home.
- DirectorRobert GreenwaldStarsFarrah FawcettPaul Le MatRichard MasurAn abused battered wife has had enough of her husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsRichard AttenboroughJudy GeesonJohn HurtWhat happened to the women at 10 Rillington Place? The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.
- DirectorStephen GyllenhaalStarsBarbara HersheyBrian DennehyJohn TerryThe gory ax-murder of one mousy, suburban Texas housewife by another is nearly as shocking as the excuse offered by the bespectacled defendant's attorney: self-defense. Could it be so?
- DirectorAndrew JareckiStarsRyan GoslingKirsten DunstFrank LangellaDavid Marks, a real estate scion, is suspected of killing his wife Katie, who disappeared in 1982.
- DirectorNick CassavetesStarsEmile HirschJustin TimberlakeAnton YelchinJohnny and his pals kidnap Jake's 15-year-old brother Zach, then assign his buddy Frankie to be Zach's minder. They develop a brotherly friendship. Zach parties with his captors as things begin to spin out of control.
- DirectorTommy O'HaverStarsElliot PageHayley McFarlandNick SearcyThe true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
- DirectorNorma BaileyStarsGary ColeLaura HarrisRossif SutherlandThe riveting film is based on the true story of a powerful and respected military officer who committed numerous brutal crimes and was eventually brought down by a tenacious small town police detective.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJames StewartLee RemickBen GazzaraAn upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGreg KinnearWillem DafoeMaria BelloThe life of TV star Bob Crane and his strange friendship with electronics expert John Henry Carpenter.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
- DirectorScott CooperStarsJohnny DeppBenedict CumberbatchDakota JohnsonThe true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsShelley WintersDon StroudPat HingleA psychologically disturbed matriarch presides over her damaged family of bank-robbing misfits.
- DirectorF.A. BrabecStarsBarbora SeidlováMartin StropnickýJan PotmesilA woman is savagely raped and murdered. Several years later the police start to put together the clues and make progress on the case.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsDana AndrewsJane WyattLee J. CobbThe true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsBarbara HersheyDavid CarradineBarry PrimusDuring the Great Depression, a union leader and a young woman become criminals to exact revenge on the management of a railroad.
- DirectorKimberly PeirceStarsHilary SwankChloë SevignyPeter SarsgaardA young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsWarren BeattyAnnette BeningHarvey KeitelThe story of how Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel started Las Vegas.
- DirectorLarry ClarkStarsBrad RenfroNick StahlBijou PhillipsA pack of naïve teenagers conspire to murder a mutual friend, whose aggressive demeanour has proven too much.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames StewartRichard ConteLee J. CobbChicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
- DirectorOtakar FukaStarsVítezslav JandákJitka AsterováStanislava BartosováAn elderly tailor strangles young women with a black stocking. Inspired by a true crime.
- DirectorNathan MorlandoStarsScott SpeedmanKelly ReillyKevin DurandWWII vet Eddie Boyd is torn between providing for his young family and an unfulfilled dream of becoming a Hollywood star. He discovers a way to do both, but his dream leads him down a path of danger and tragedy.
- DirectorChris GerolmoStarsStephen ReaDonald SutherlandMax von SydowDuring the 1980s, Soviet authorities hunt for a serial killer who picks his victims in railway stations and commuter trains and lures them into the woods.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsStephen ReaIsabella RosselliniJ.T. WalshIn 1932, the nation was shocked when the 14-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped, held for ransom, and murdered. Two years later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested, convicted, and executed. This film dramatizes the investigation against Hauptmann, the trial, and the execution, painting a picture of a corrupt police force under pressure to finger a killer framing an innocent man by manufacturing evidence, paying-off and blackmailing witnesses, and covering up exculpatory evidence.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsMiranda RichardsonRupert EverettIan HolmA stormy relationship, complicated by the strictures of 1950s social class and gender roles, ends in death. Based on the life of Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain.
- DirectorAdrian ShergoldStarsEamon BolandAlex HassellJoanne FroggattDramatisation of the real-life road-rage killing in 1996 of Stephen Cameron by Kenneth Noye, who was also implicated in the Brinks Mat bullion robbery and the murder of a policeman. The only witness to the killing of Stephen Cameron was his fiancée, Danielle Cable, who was forced to change her identity after giving the evidence which convicted Noye.
- DirectorJohn MiliusStarsWarren OatesBen JohnsonMichelle PhillipsJohn Dillinger and his gang go on a bank robbing spree across the midwest, but one G-Man is determined to bring him down.
- DirectorMax NosseckStarsLawrence TierneyEdmund LoweAnne JeffreysJohn Dillinger begins his life of crime as a petty thief, meets his future gang in prison and eventually masterminds a series of daring robberies.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsAl PacinoJohnny DeppMichael MadsenAn FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the Mafia life--at the expense of his regular one.
- DirectorRobert LynnStarsDonald PleasenceSamantha EggarCoral BrowneThe real-life story of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who was hanged in London in 1910 for poisoning his wife so he could be with his young lover. But was he truly guilty of murder?
- DirectorChristian de ChalongeStarsMichel SerraultPierre RomansBérangère BonvoisinBased on the real life of Dr. Marcel Petiot: During world war II Petiot, an MD living in occupied Paris, promised to help wealthy Jewish people among his patients to flee occupied France for Spain. Instead, he drugged them and burnt their bodies in his home, while stealing their valuables. After the Liberation of France, he was condemned to death.
- StarsKarl MaldenEva Marie SaintBarry NewmanA retiree spends nine years relentlessly seeking to prove that his son-in-law, a former Green Beret Army doctor, murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters.
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsSteve CarellChanning TatumMark RuffaloU.S. Olympic wrestling champions and brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz join "Team Foxcatcher", led by eccentric multi-millionaire John du Pont, as they train for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, but John's self-destructive behavior threatens to consume them all.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsMelanie LynskeyKate WinsletSarah PeirseTwo teenage girls share a unique bond; their parents, concerned that the friendship is too intense, separate them, and the girls take revenge.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsJoseph BolognaBrenda VaccaroRaf ValloneStory of the rise and fall of the Bonanno organized crime family.
- DirectorPetr KazdaTomás WeinrebStarsMichalina OlszanskaMartin PechlátKlára MelískováBased on the true life of Olga Hepnarová, a young Czech woman who became a rampage killer in 1973.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsJames WoodsMercedes RuehlLolita DavidovichLawyers and the media argue the alleged child abuse at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California.
- DirectorJeffrey W. ByrdStarsJon VoightLouis Gossett Jr.Joe MortonIn 1998, a stunning crime thrust Jasper, Texas into the spotlight. What happened on that summer evening - the death of black hitchhiker James Byrd, Jr. by three white men - became a flash-point for the state of race relations in America.
- DirectorPetr JáklStarsTatiana DykováKonstantin LavronenkoVladimír DlouhýDeals with the most famous criminal in Czech Republic, the lawyer who continuously tries to free him; the circle of people on both sides of the law who want to keep him in jail and his infamous escape from prison.
- DirectorJonathan HensleighStarsRay StevensonChristopher WalkenVincent D'OnofrioThe true story of Danny Greene, a tough Irish thug working for mobsters in Cleveland during the 1970's.
- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanStarsDavid JanssenDianne FosterJack CarsonThe story of flamboyant Prohibition-era gangster, gambler and bootlegger Arnold Rothstein.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroRay LiottaJoe PesciThe story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroSharon StoneJoe PesciIn Las Vegas, two best friends - a casino executive and a mafia enforcer - compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsCharles BronsonSusan CabotMorey AmsterdamThe criminal exploits of Public Enemy number 1, George 'Machine-Gun' Kelly, during the 1930s.
- DirectorBurt BalabanStarsJohn Davis ChandlerKay DoubledayBrooke HaywardStory of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, a notorious gangland killer in the 1930s.
- DirectorTeruo IshiiStarsSada AbeTakashi FujikiShôtarô HayashiDiscover 4 famous Japanese murderers: Takahashi Oden, the last woman beheaded in Japan, Sada Abe, a crazy lover, Kunihiko Kodaira, a rapist-killer and finally, the Toyokaku case, a woman who did everything to own a hotel.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoKim Sang-kyungKim Roe-haIn a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsJohn CusackKevin SpaceyJack ThompsonA visiting city reporter's assignment suddenly revolves around the murder trial of a local millionaire, whom he befriends.
- DirectorGraeme CampbellStarsHenry ThomasJames WilderStephen ShellenFreshly escaped from prison, Isaac is picked up by his brothers, and the entire brood embarks on a crime spree that claims the lives of six people.
- DirectorJoyce ChopraStarsHelen HuntChad AllenLarry DrakePamela Smart knows exactly what she wants and is willing to do anything to get it. She is fed up with teaching, and her marriage offers little excitement. Looking for a way out she applies for a job at a local TV station. When her dreams of fame are dashed by rejection, she seduces 15-year-old Billy, one of her students. Pam challenges Billy to prove his love for her by getting rid of her husband. The stakes heat up with a huge insurance policy on her husband's life.
- DirectorJean-Pierre DenisStarsSylvie TestudJulie-Marie ParmentierIsabelle RenauldBased on the true story of two chambermaids (the Papin sisters) of 1930s France who murdered their employer and her daughter.
- DirectorErik SkjoldbjærgStarsMarit Synnøve BergFrode WintherMorten LarsenThe movie portrays Norway's most spectacular robbery, where 11 men occupied central Stavanger for twenty minutes and escaped with 57 million kroner (appx $10 million). A police officer was shot and killed.
- DirectorJud TaylorStarsMartin SheenHector ElizondoMatt Clark"Out of the Darkness" is a gripping thriller telling the true story of the hunt and capture of David Berkowitz, a.k.a. "Son of Sam" - the infamous serial killer who stalked New York City in the 1970s.
- StarsKris KristoffersonMarg HelgenbergerRonny CoxAbout the infamous murder of six year old child beauty pageant contestant JonBenét Ramsey and the hysterical media coverage that made the investigation even more difficult.
- DirectorPeter WernerStarsRob LoweElizabeth MitchellOscar NuñezFlorida District Attorney prosecutes Casey Anthony in an murder trial that shocked and enraged the American public.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsJeremy IronsGlenn CloseRon SilverWealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsHitomi KurokiTsurutarô KataokaNorihei MikiThe film follows the life of Sada Abe, who became a celebrity in 1936 after strangling her lover and slicing off his penis.
- DirectorTom KalinStarsJulianne MooreEddie RedmayneStephen DillaneA dramatization of the shocking Barbara Daly Baekeland murder case, which happened in a posh London flat on Friday 17 November 1972. The bloody crime caused a stir on both sides of the Atlantic and remains one of the most memorable American Tragedies...
- StarsJoanne FroggattMaxine PeakeSean HarrisA vivid drama which documents the notorious Moors murderers; Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsMariel HemingwayEric RobertsCliff RobertsonA successful young model finds trouble when her obsessive manager-turned-husband becomes dangerously jealous.
- DirectorUlli LommelStarsKurt RaabJeff RodenMargit CarstensenUsing his status as a police informant to procure his victims, baby-faced, shaven-headed Fritz Haarmann dismembers their bodies after death and sells the flesh to restaurants, dumping the remainder out of sight.
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsDrew BarrymoreTony DenisonHarley Jane KozakThe true story of the Long Island teen who shoots and wounds the wife of a man she called her lover.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsJosh HartnettAaron EckhartScarlett JohanssonTwo policemen see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the "Black Dahlia" Elizabeth Short murder investigation.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsKatie ChangIsrael BroussardEmma WatsonInspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsTony CurtisHenry FondaGeorge KennedyA series of brutal murders in Boston sparks a seemingly endless and increasingly complex manhunt.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsPeter FalkPeter BoyleAllen GarfieldA fictional retelling of the infamous Boston Brink's Company robbery on January 17th, 1950, of $2.7M, and cost the American taxpayers $29M to apprehend the culprits with only $58,000 recovered.
- DirectorStephen KayStarsJake McDormanAgnes BrucknerJoshua CloseOn the surface, Philip Markoff appears to be the ideal med student, fiancé and future son-in-law - but there's something seriously wrong with him.
- DirectorJerry JamesonStarsKurt RussellRichard YniguezNed BeattyThe infamous story of Charles Whitman, "America's favourite sniper" (in Stephen King's words), is told here once again.
- DirectorBobby RothStarsDylan BakerLindsay FrostAmber MarshallBased on the true story of the June 2002 kidnapping of teenager Elizabeth Smart by two people in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsTimothy HuttonSean PennPat HingleThe true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
- DirectorScott WalkerStarsNicolas CageVanessa HudgensJohn CusackAn Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.
- DirectorLeonard KastleDonald VolkmanStarsShirley StolerTony Lo BiancoMary Jane HigbyAn obese, embittered nurse doesn't mind if her toupee-wearing boyfriend romances and fleeces other women, as long as he takes her along on his con jobs.
- DirectorAriel VromenStarsMichael ShannonChris EvansJames FrancoThe story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When he was finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor his daughters had any clue about his real profession.
- DirectorMoisés KaufmanStarsChristina RicciSteve BuscemiKathleen ChalfantThe true story of an American town in the wake of the murder of Matthew Shepard.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsElizabeth MontgomeryFionnula FlanaganEd FlandersIn 1893 Massachusetts, Lizzie Andrew Borden is put on trial for murdering her father and stepmother with an axe.
- DirectorBuzz KulikStarsCliff De YoungAnthony HopkinsDenise AlexanderOn March 1, 1932, the infant Charles Lindbergh, Jr., the son and namesake of the famed pilot, is kidnapped. After he is later found dead, a German immigrant named Bruno Hauptmann is tried for kidnapping and murder.
- DirectorCesare FerrarioStarsLeonard MannBettina GiovanniniGabriele TintiA string of sex murders has been plaguing Florence for almost 15 years, in which a serial killer brutally murders couples who are sneaking "a quickie" in public areas. A writer who is doing research for a book about the crimes sets out to uncover the identity of the killer, aided by his beautiful girlfriend. Loosely based on a true story.
- StarsJack LemmonRichard JordanRobert ProskyIn early twentieth-century Atlanta, the murder of a young girl prompts strong reactions from the community, and ultimately leads to the arrest of a man who may actually be innocent.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsMatthew McConaugheyEthan HawkeSkeet UlrichThe story of the Newton gang, the most successful bank robbers in history, owing to their good planning and minimal violence.
- DirectorRoger YoungStarsDean CainSarah Joy BrownG.W. BaileyAs the police search for a missing pregnant woman, new evidence emerges that throws suspicion on her seemingly devoted husband.