America's Serial Killers: Portraits in Evil
Wars have terrorized entire populations for thousands of years. The American West was home to ruthless killers who were idolized in fiction and folklore. Evil evolved to a hideous new form with the genocidal dictators of the 20th Century such as Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung who ordered the execution of tens of millions. But in the middle of the 20th Century a new and chilling phenomenon emerged in the post-war Western society: The Serial Killer! As if fashioned from our nightmares, they terrified and fascinated us. Lurking behind masks of bland normality, the serial killer often evaded capture for years, decades or eternity. These are America's Serial Killers!
- 2009-2009
- 1 season
- Mill Creek Entertainment
- Documentary, Suspense
Wars have terrorized entire populations for thousands of years. The American West was home to ruthless killers who were idolized in fiction and folklore. Evil evolved to a hideous new form with the genocidal dictators of the 20th Century such as Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung who ordered the execution of tens of millions. But in the middle of the 20th Century a new and chilling phenomenon emerged in the post-war Western society: The Serial Killer! As if fashioned from our nightmares, they terrified and fascinated us. Lurking behind masks of bland normality, the serial killer often evaded capture for years, decades or eternity. These are America's Serial Killers!
Season 1 Episode Guide
10 Episodes 2009
Episode 1
The Monster Within and Among Us: The Case of Jack the Ripper
Tue, Jan 27, 2009 47 mins
Episode One discusses 'The Monster Within And Among Us', and discusses Jack The Ripper (even though he's not American), since he is pretty much the first recognized serial killer. Since a lack of real footage is obvious, this episode uses footage from an old black and white move, loosely based on Jack The Ripper.
Episode 2
Killers Without Conscience
Tue, Feb 3, 2009 47 mins
This is the 1800s and talks of H. H. Holmes (Doctor Death), and Jane Toppan (The Angel of Death).
Episode 3
The Bogeyman's Gonna Eat You
Tue, Feb 10, 2009 45 mins
A look into the demented sadistic masochistic Albert Fish, child killer and cannibal.
Episode 4
Serial Killing Begins Again
Tue, Feb 17, 2009 50 mins
The 1960s and 70s represented the dawn of a new era in serial killing, with Ted Bundy and the Zodiac Killer representing the increase in serial murder in the United States.
Episode 5
Men Who Like to Kill
Tue, Feb 24, 2009
The 1960s and 70s represented the dawn of a new era in serial killing, with Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, Charles Manson and the Zodiac Killer representing the increase in serial murder in the United States.
Episode 6
Homosexual Serial Killers
Tue, Mar 3, 2009 43 mins
Some serial killers kill out of desire. But it's thought that some kill out of a rejection of their own desire - which is explored through a look at John Wayne Gacy and the Highway Killers.
Episode 7
Buddy Serial Killing
Tue, Mar 10, 2009 47 mins
The sensationalist nature of the Hillside Strangers and Beltway Snipers cases helps to further solidify the serial killer's unofficial home in popular culture and on the nightly news.
Episode 8
The Many Faces of Serial Killers
Tue, Mar 17, 2009 45 mins
One of the defining traits of serial killers - sociopathic behavior. This episode looks at the Gainesville Ripper, the Unibomber, and other serial killers operating in the 1980s.
Episode 9
To Catch a Serial Killer
Tue, Mar 24, 2009
The only sure way to bring about the end of a serial killing spree is to identify and capture a serial killer. Unfortunately it can take decades, like in the cases of the Green River Killer and BTK.
Episode 10
Why Serial Killers Kill
Tue, Mar 31, 2009 46 mins
The biggest mystery of all in respect to the serial killer is "why?"