In the Interest of Poor Taste, Here Are Eight of the Funniest Serial Killers
Real-life serial killers are no laughing matter, hence the reason why John Wayne Gacy’s clowning career fell apart, and Ted Bundy was never once asked to host Saturday Night Live. Still, that hasn’t stopped popular movies and TV shows from mining grisly murders for laughs by creating some hilarious, wholly fictional serial killers for our (sick, twisted) enjoyment, the best of which include…
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Caleb the Cannibal from ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
Serial killers popped up pretty frequently on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. There was The Oolong Slayer, as well as Captain Holt’s nemesis The Disco Stranger, but none of those hold a candle made of human fat to Caleb, Jake Peralta’s one-time cellmate-turned-friend played by the great Tim Meadows. The surprisingly affable child-murderer even took a shiv to the tummy to protect Jake — but still tried to eat him at every turn.
The Lopper from ‘Seinfeld’
In its ninth season, Seinfeld went from a “show about nothing” to a show that occasionally featured random serial killings. We never actually got to see the “Lopper,” a mysterious murderer stalking innocent people near Riverside Park, but we heard a lot about him, including how the police didn’t disclose his existence to the public because no one could decide on a name (the other options included Heads-O, the De-Nogginizer and Kramer’s suggestion: Son of Dad). Some have speculated that The Lopper was really Crazy Joe Davola, which would explain why his victims resembled Jerry.
The Town of Sandford from ‘Hot Fuzz’
The cloaked killer stalking the quaint streets of the town of Sandford in Hot Fuzz turned out to be… most of the town of Sandford. Specifically, the persnickety Neighborhood Watch Alliance, which was conspiring to bump off anyone who gets in the way of “The Greater Good.” This included sup-par community theater actors and sloppy local journalists.
The Scranton Strangler from ‘The Office’
One of the darkest storylines in The Office happened almost entirely off-screen: the case of the Scranton Strangler. We don’t ever witness the Strangler himself — the closest we got was Dwight’s Halloween costume (although we doubt that the real Strangler wore a black mask and a trenchcoat-fedora combo). Then again, maybe we did see the Scranton Strangler if you buy into the theory that the Strangler was a Dunder Mifflin employee, possibly Creed, Toby or even Jim Halpert.
Ned Flanders from ‘Treehouse of Horror XXII’
Ned Flanders isn’t really a serial killer (that we know of), but the 20-second installment of The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episode gave us a peek at what it would be like if Flanders went full Norman Bates. Flanders turns to murder, believing it’s the will of God (though it’s really Homer using a microphone and a Bible-shaped speaker).
Beverly Sutphin from ‘Serial Mom’
John Waters’ satirical cult comedy Serial Mom features Kathleen Turner as a Leave it to Beaver-esque suburban housewife who’s secretly a serial killer, targeting anyone who offends her conservative sensibilities. We’re pretty sure it’s the only movie in which the star of Romancing the Stone beats an old lady to death with a hunk of meat.
Michael Deets from ‘South Park’
When Cartman begins moonlighting as a psychic detective, he’s eventually kidnapped by serial killer Michael Deets, who is basically every post-Silence of the Lambs cliché crammed into one ridiculous character. One who conspicuously hangs around crime scenes in a blood-soaked rain slicker with a mannequin torso in tow.
Leslie Vernon from ‘Behind the Mask’
Leslie Vernon may not be as famous as other cinematic mass murderers like Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees or Luke Skywalker, but he’s the subject of the underrated indie mockumentary Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. The 2006 movie is all about a documentary crew following an aspiring slasher as he preps for a night of carnage, choreographing his kills and working out so that he can power-walk after fleeing teenage victims.
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