For a couple of years now, crime dramas have held pride of place in TV schedules, platform catalogs and movie theaters. Just look at the success of the Dahmer series, released last year on Netflix and recounting the life of prolific serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, to realize that more than ever, serial killers are in vogue.
Worse still, they've been glorified, hero-ified and star-ified, to the point where Internet users, often female, are declaring their love for them on video via various channels, including Tik Tok. This raises a number of questions. Where does this fascination with the morbid, the trashy, the increasingly violent come from? What does it say about people, popular culture and contemporary society in general? How do the families of the victims live with this morbid starification?
While a number of works have sought to understand this love-hate relationship with killers, such as Pascal Plante's excellent film Les Chambres Rouges (to be released in cinemas on January 17, 2024), Céline Chassé and Paul Sanfourche have also examined the subject, and present the groundbreaking documentary Serial killer : Autopsie d'une fascination, on France 5 on Friday January 12 at 9pm, and now available on france.tv.
Fascination with serial killers is nothing new. As early as 1919, Landru 's arrest made the headlines, his trial drew crowds and writers of the day began to write the legend of France's first serial killer. Using excerpts from heritage films, archive footage of cult TV shows and contemporary series, the documentary explores this fascination with serial killers through the prism of pop culture. An insatiable curiosity that questions the unspoken impulses of contemporary society.
Christophe Hondelatte deciphers the 23 seasons of Faites entrer l'accusé that have made serial killers such a success. Maxime Chattam analyzes the trajectory ofEd Gein, who inspired Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. Journalist Patricia Tourancheau looks back at the incredible imposture of serial killer specialist Stéphane Bourgoin, and the shocking interviews with Charles Sobhraj, aka Le Serpent .
To be seen on France 5, January 12, 2024 at 9pm.
On the trail of Paris's most notorious criminals and serial killers
Follow in the footsteps of Paris's most notorious criminals and serial killers, in our company. From Landru to Guy Georges, the "killer of Eastern Paris", not forgetting Doctor Petiot and the Cabard and Miquelon duo, discover the dark side of the capital over the centuries and along the streets. [Read more]
On the trail of Paris's most notorious criminals and serial killers
