The Frozen Ground
dir. Scott Walker (2013)
A real-life ordeal turned equally bleak film, more dirge than thriller. John Cusack makes for a credible serial killer but isn’t given room to be truly unsettling. Nicholas Cage walks his usual line between subtlety and woodenness. Vanessa Hudgens outshines them both.
Des
dir. Lewis Arnold (ITV, 2020)
A three-part miniseries about 1980s serial killer Dennis Nilsen, played by David Tennant. The production remains true to life and derives its impact from Nilsen’s acute emotional remove—an unsettling detachment rendered darker still by his harangues in favour of due process.
Valley of Lights
by Stephen Gallagher (New English Library, 1987)
Valley of Lights is a compellingly dark supernatural crime novel (often marketed as horror). Gallagher’s first person narrative draws us into a lone sergeant’s pursuit of the archetypical serial killer: a creature who can jump between human bodies, wearing them like suits.