Killer / Murderer as the Protagonist

L

leaftors

Well-known member
I've got an idea where the killer/murderer goes on a killing spree and is the protagonist. It's sort of like No Country for Old Men.

I'm trying to create an empathetic protagonist.

Can you name some movies where the protagonist is the killer/murderer
 
If you have a murderer as the main character, you're most likely making a horror movie, or at least a really brutal crime movie. Most of these movies have a scene or two where we get to empathize with the character (you see what made them crazy, their inner pain, etc), but you cant empathize too much with them, can you? They're murderers!

Warning, you have ventured into crazy cult film territory (wait how old are you?) !?!?!

Maniac (Brutal movie- be warned).
Henri Portrait Of A Serial Killer (greeeeaatt film, another one not for the faint of heart though).
Bad Leuitenant (the original), is not about a murderer, but is about a reeeal scumbag. Incredible performance by Harvey Keitel.
MS 45. Another Abel Ferrara movie (ABEL ROCKS), a rape revenge movie.
Devil's Rejects: made Rob Zombie look like a great filmaker for a moment, then came his Halloween. Oh well.
Natural Born Killers was mentioned.

I suppose there's a million tasteless gory horror movies about killers out there (esp made in Germany and Japan), but the above are all well regarded movies that despite the difficult subject matter, have earned respectability/ indie cred/cult followings.

Oh yeah, and make sure your killer dies and pays for his crimes at the end-its almost a rule. (it happens in each of of the above movies, except for Henri, but it works- we never really empathize with Henri, but regard him as a force of nature, an absolute- and there is a moral there, involving the sister.)
 
astrozombie said:
If you have a murderer as the main character, you're most likely making a horror movie, ... Oh yeah, and make sure your killer dies and pays for his crimes at the end-its almost a rule. (it happens in each of of the above movies, except for Henri, but it works- we never really empathize with Henri, but regard him as a force of nature, an absolute- and there is a moral there, involving the sister.)
Click to expand...

Often, but not always. Look at Halloween and Michael Meyers, though he gets shot he does not really die. Or Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street. both forces of nature as you say. But I agree most of the time the protag killer gets whacked by the teen that survives along with a romance char sometimes, to tell the tale.
 
I didn't really envision my idea as a horror in a sense that I don't want to terrify my viewers. I was leaning more towards a dark comedy / drama. I'm thinking Man Bites Dog, Anton Chigurgh (no country for old men) and the Joker (dark knight) except the maniac is a 10 year old kid.

I'm just thinking of clever ways to create empathy and would like to see how it's been done.

Thanks for the replies
 
leaftors said:
I didn't really envision my idea as a horror in a sense that I don't want to terrify my viewers. I was leaning more towards a dark comedy / drama. I'm thinking Man Bites Dog, Anton Chigurgh (no country for old men) and the Joker (dark knight) except the maniac is a 10 year old kid.

I'm just thinking of clever ways to create empathy and would like to see how it's been done.

Thanks for the replies
Click to expand...

Kids default the audience to empathy. It's the flicker of innocence in a disturbed kid's eyes that adult murderers lack - speaking in terms of cinema.

I'm in post on a short I wrote and directed with a similar theme. Without ever having to make mention of abuse, the subtlest of hints cue the audience that something terrible happened to cause the kid (11-year old) to do terrible things.

Now, an adult who does bad things - in cinema - is often viewed as having no innocence and to be held 100% accountable for his crimes. In order to evoke empathy, you have to give the audience reason to ask the questions about the character's past, since the only way to really sympathize/empathize with a character is to understand what made them what they are. The trite cinema cliche is some all-American guy losing his whole family to a robbery-homicide that he feels guilty he did not prevent, forcing him down a dark, nefarious path of revenge while trying to maintain his conflicting position as a good guy - basically, the plot of Max Payne. A glimpse into his child's bloody crib explains EVERYTHING in one image. It's also really easy, tired, and done too often.

There is nothing about Anton Chigurgh that allows the viewer to sympathize or empathize. No hints into an abusive or deranged past. No moments where he "breaks character" and does something in contrast to his usual behavior - like you would see in a real serial killer (not a hitman) who would stab a woman, then have sex with her, then return to her body daily and dress her in nice clothes and put make up on her, all while singing and calling her by name.

If you're interested in finding sympathetic edges in a character, study the real deal: Dahmer, Bundy, Gacy, Gein, Rader...some of the most sinister people to ever walk this earth. All of them suffered abuse as children, but that doesn't have to be the only means for us to sympathize, it's just very accurate, common in murderers, and a powerful cinematic plot piece. It can easily be trite and superficial, too.
 
Last edited:
leaftors said:
...I'm just thinking of clever ways to create empathy and would like to see how it's been done. ...
Click to expand...

A somewhat different question than your original post.

Make your protagonist an orphan-- and there are many ways to be 'orphaned' besides biological-- any 'loss' will work; loss of a spouse, child, pet, job, housing, identity, limb, etc.
If your protagonist is 'wronged' we will feel more sympathetic towards your protagonist.
A physically attractive and/or intelligent protagonist is another mechanism.
Show your killer protagonist being nice to e.g. animals, or non-victims, another tool of the trade; even the killer in No Country For Old Men could appear nice when e.g. he bartered for a shirt from the two kids at the end of the movie, and he was quite 'polite' when approaching a victim just before he popped their skull.
 
Last edited:
Randall_Oelerich said:
Often, but not always. Look at Halloween and Michael Meyers, though he gets shot he does not really die. Or Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street.
Click to expand...

Halloween and NOES don't have the bad guys as the main (viewpoint) characters. I'm talking about the originals, by the way- the remakes are not really worth studying because their stories didn't really work.

Almost every movie Ive seen with a killer main character ends with the character paying for his crimes.

case in point:

Man Bites Dog ends with the crew dying.

The bad guy(s) win in No Country, but the car crash gives a hint that Fate has its eyes on Anton. The sheriff spends half the movie basically saying to the audience "yo, this world is crazy it dont make no sense" (ie this story will not end conventionally), so you leave feeling the same moral satisfaction you'd get in a good tragedy.

These movies are vastly different, as are the genres of black comedy and drama.

I say pick one.
 
astrozombie said:
Halloween and NOES don't have the bad guys as the main (viewpoint) characters....
Click to expand...
'
Actually Michael Myers is the protagonist in Halloween (though most people would think it is Laurie because we usually associate the 'bad guy / killer' as the antagonist), and as for viewpoint we sort of see his viewpoint all throughout the film from behind his mask as she stalks victims, lol. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top