With so many different documentaries on Netflix to choose from, the 12 best serial killer documentaries on Netflix streaming in 2018 might be the last genre that comes to mind…
For some of you, this may be a first choice. I, myself, watch a considerable amount of documentaries on Netflix, but often have to compromise on the nature of the topic as my other half prefers historical documentaries, and I’m more into the weird stuff. We usually settle on anything related to nature and wildlife, outer space and of course, aliens. I’d say we’ve watched every documentary on those subjects at least two times over. All of the ones worth watching, anyway. So finding the best serial killer documentaries streaming on Netflix right now was quite the change of pace, to say the least. And while learning about them is somehow brutally fascinating, I’d never wanna meet one face-to-face.
I checked out two of our other lists on the subject, and since many of the documentaries listed on the 11 Best Serial Killer Documentaries on Netflix Streaming in 2015 are no longer streaming, I thought it due time to bring to you the more updated 12 best serial killer documentaries on Netflix streaming in 2018. Plus, not everyone has the option to check out all of the 15 Best Serial Killer Documentaries on Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix, so I couldn’t use these lists alone, but they were a good start. So, I looked at a butt ton of other similar articles to get a feel for what’s being raved about. And I mean butt ton!
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After checking out dozens of similar articles from sites like Inverse, Paste Magazine, and PopSugar just to name a few, I noticed a handful of documentaries being mentioned frequently. I then took to Netflix to make sure these titles were even available, and to find more of what they have to offer. When I looked up “serial killer documentaries,” Netflix only had 11 titles. Really, Netflix? “Crime documentaries” had a way better selection. But the thing is, like many of the articles, the documentaries listed were not just about serial killers.
So, I weeded out everything that didn’t have anything to do with serial killers and came up with a serial killer documentaries list. From there I checked the ratings starting with the handful mentioned on multiple sites. I was somewhat taken back by the mixed reviews I was getting. By now, I had already watched the ones I was excited about, but again, I tend to have a peculiar taste and didn’t want my personal opinion to cloud what other viewers had to say.
Here’s what I ended up coming up with. I took the average rating of the first 10 ratings. Then added the next 10 ratings to make two separate ratings based on where they were at with only 10 ratings and where they were at after 20. I wanted to take it to 30, but too many titles didn’t have enough reviews to proceed. Some didn’t even have enough for the 10 or 20 mark, but then again, some titles had hundreds of ratings and reviews. So, I didn’t want to lower the bar too much. I stuck with those 2 separate ratings and averaged them together.
Didn’t Netflix used to have the average rating already included, or am I just dreaming up a fantasy with less work involved? Anyway, based on the new ratings I had come up with I narrowed the list down to get the 12 top serial killer documentaries. But I didn’t base these titles based on their Netflix rating, alone. I also took into consideration whether or not I saw them mentioned in similar articles paired with what IMDb had to say about them. Seems a lot easier than it really was, but a lot actually went into finding the absolute best serial killer documentaries on Netflix streaming in 2018.
12. Killer Kids
With 65 reviews in all, I found that viewers either hated this docuseries, or they loved it. Most didn’t seem to get through the very first episode, which doesn’t quite give much of an insight to the rest of the series. Honestly, the first episode doesn’t have anything to do with a kid serial killer as much as it has to do with an occult killer. It also focused on the kid’s drug usage and preferred a style of music as his main motive. If that were true, perhaps I could have been mistaken for a killer back in my teenage years. The rest of the episodes go on like this, but with completely different cases and therefore, different types of killers. It’s the second episode that touches on serial killers with psychopathic roots that stem back to their childhoods. Even though their rating of 1.9 out of 5 wasn’t the lowest of the 12 best serial killer documentaries on Netflix streaming in 2018, I had to take into consideration that only 1 of 8 episodes had anything to do with serial killers, yet I couldn’t dismiss the facts that a: they had a 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb and b: …I actually really dug that second episode!
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