Find 10 differences: famous maniacs in movies and in real life

Filmmakers love maniacs — their stories invariably attract viewers, and the main characters, known for their cruelty and immorality, are fanned by a light trail of romanticism. Let's see who played serial killers in the movies and who they were in real life.

At the beginning of the XX century, the story of a maniac from Dusseldorf shocked Germany. Peter grew up in a family of an alcoholic and a rapist, but over time he not only began to repeat his father's behavior, but also surpassed him many times.

His father bullied his daughters, and when Kurten grew up, he began to rape his sisters and kill animals. After leaving his father's house, he began stealing and killing little girls. Kurten was repeatedly jailed for robberies, but he was not caught in the murders.

His story ended at the moment when he decided to tell his wife about his adventures — she immediately went to the police. Officially, nine victims were recognized for Kurten, but he himself talked about 69. On July 2, 1931, he was executed by guillotine.

Based on the life of a serial maniac, the thriller "M" (from the word Mörder — killer) was filmed in the same 1931. This is the first picture with sound directed by Fritz Lang, the role of Kurten in it was played by the Austrian and American actor Peter Lorre.

Henry had a difficult childhood — his mother worked as a prostitute and often beat her son and husband (the father of the future maniac was disabled without legs). And she also made them both watch as she pleasured clients.

Lucas' father expressed his love and care in a very strange way — he poured strong alcohol for the boy. Already at the age of 10, Lucas developed an alcohol addiction, and soon he began torturing animals and killing women. He also killed his mother.

Lucas was caught and sentenced to 40 years in prison, but he received parole and was released in 1970. However, just 2 hours after his release, Lucas, along with his partner, committed a new murder, and everything only worsened — the maniac began to practice Satanism and cannibalism.

Lucas was caught again and this time sentenced to life imprisonment, he died in prison in 2001. The maniac talked about numerous victims, the number of which could reach up to 100, but only 11 murders were officially proven. 

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The film "Henry: Portrait of a serial killer" was released in 1990. In it, director John McNaughton showed a world dominated by incest, murder and psychopathy. In the center of the picture is Henry Lee Lucas and his partner - an imbecile pervert convict. The role of Lucas was played by Michael Rooker, and the film itself is also known for being completely devoid of positive characters.

John Christie gassed, raped and strangled his victims. Thus he dealt with eight women, among whom was his wife. And an innocent man was hanged for the murders of Christie.

The maniac was caught when he sold his house. The new owner decided to re-glue the wallpaper and found a secret closet with corpses. Christie was detained, and in 1953 he was hanged, and Timothy Evans, who was executed for his murders in 1950, was rehabilitated.

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In the 1971 film, the role of Christie was played by Richard Attenborough. The film tells about the formation of the murderer and about one of his most brutal reprisals, for which Timothy Evans was convicted.

The young lovers ran away from home, dropped out of school and went to travel around America. But not everything is so romantic. Before, the young man killed his parents and younger sister Caryl, so that they would not interfere with their happiness.

Already together, wandering around the States, the couple dealt with 11 people - for the sake of robbery or just like that. They were caught, and in 1959 Starkweather was executed in the electric chair, Fugate was sentenced to life imprisonment.

However, in 1976 she was released from prison ahead of schedule — Caryl changed her name, got married and still lives happily ever after. 

In the 1973 film, the couple was played by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. The tape embodies the traditions of "wandering films", vaguely reminiscent of the story of Bonnie and Clyde. 

De Salvo grew up in a poor family, his father was an alcoholic and often beat his wife and children. De Salvo received his first sexual experience at the age of 10 and after that he often sold himself to local homosexuals. He also stole from stores — his father taught him.

De Salvo strangled his victims, their exact number is unknown - from 15 to 30. He was arrested on suspicion of rape, but during the investigation he was sent to a mental hospital, where he confessed to 13 murders. De Salvo was sentenced to life in prison, but in 1973 he was stabbed to death in prison.

In the movie "The Boston Strangler", the maniac was played by Tony Curtis. There is also a remake of 2006, in which the image of de Salvo was brought to life by Mauro Lannini, but film critics, to put it mildly, dislike this adaptation.

At the age of 8, Dahmer suffered sexual abuse from a neighbor. His parents often quarreled, and when he was in high school, they divorced. 

At school, the future maniac had a craving for dead animals - he collected corpses or parts of their bodies and kept them at home in bottles with formaldehyde, and in the backyard he arranged an animal cemetery. 

At the age of 13, Dahmer realized his homosexuality, and from 1978 to 1991 he raped and killed 17 men. He ate their bodies. When the maniac was finally caught, he was sentenced to several life sentences, but in 1994 he was killed by his cellmates.

In the 2002 film, Damer was played by Jeremy Renner — the film reveals his life path and the reasons that pushed the man to a series of brutal murders.

Known throughout the post-Soviet space and far beyond, the maniac also became the main character of the film. 

Until the age of 12, Chikatilo suffered from bedwetting, for which his mother constantly beat him. During the famine in 1946, he did not go outside because he was afraid that he would be eaten. His mother said that during the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933, his older brother Stepan was abducted and eaten. According to one version, it was eaten by the parents themselves.

Chikatilo got married, he had a daughter, but he began to experience sexual satisfaction from looking at and groping girls (and later boys). His excitement grew if the victim resisted and screamed.

From 1978 until the early 90s, more than fifty people, mostly women and children, became victims of Chikatilo. The maniac has gained fame as a pedophile, necrophile and cannibal. 

After Chikatilo was finally caught and placed on death row, he took great care of his health — he did not smoke, did exercises, ate with an appetite and wrote numerous complaints and petitions for pardon. The criminal was executed on February 14, 1994 with a shot in the back of the head.

The role of Chikatilo in the 1995 film was played by Jeffrey Demann. The picture received a Golden Globe.

The maniac lived in Alaska and from 1971 to 1983 raped and killed 17 women. The escaped victim, Cindy Poulson, a 17—year-old prostitute, whom Hansen abducted, tortured and raped, helped to catch him. 

After the escape, the girl immediately went to the police, but they did not believe her — she was a prostitute, and accused an exemplary family man — baker. However, one of the detectives became interested in the tip and began to investigate, having managed to prove Hansen's guilt.

The maniac received a life sentence, in 2014 he died in prison.

In the 2013 film, he was played by John Cusack. Moreover, the film was produced by 50 Cent himself, and the role of the brave detective was played by Nicolas Cage.

Gacy's victims were teenage boys - the maniac was looking for them on the street. He drove a car and looked for lonely young men, and later offered to give them a ride, get to know each other and pass the evening together. 

So Gacy killed and raped 33 guys. He didn't get rid of the bodies—the decomposing flesh was stored in his basement. It is noteworthy that Gacy liked to moonlight as a clown on holidays.

In 1978, a maniac made a mistake — he left the victim alive and threw a young man unconscious in the park. The guy went to the hospital, but they didn't believe the gay man's stories about the pervert rapist. At the end of 1978, Gacy was finally arrested, and 29 mutilated bodies were found in his basement. The maniac drowned four more bodies in the river.

Gacy was executed in 1994 by injection.

The role of the maniac in the 2003 film was perfectly played by Mark Holton — outwardly they really are somewhat similar. However, despite the burning topic, critics reacted to the picture very coldly.

Panzram hated people and was one of the fiercest and most brutal killers in the history of the United States. He grew up in a devout German family with many children in Minnesota, but at the age of 8 he went downhill: drank, rowdy, ran away from home and refused to read the Bible.

At the age of 11, he became a regular at police stations — constant humiliation and insults made an already problematic child a real maniac. Panzram began to travel around the country, stealing and setting fire to everything that burns. But one day he was dishonored by four vagrants, and he himself became addicted to raping and murdering men and children.

In 1920, Panzram made another escape and, without knowing it, robbed the house of former US President William Taft. There was something to profit from in the house — with this money he bought himself a yacht and went on a bloody journey.

On the way, Panzram raped, robbed and killed everyone who met on his way. When he reached Africa, he fed six natives to crocodiles. 

When the police finally caught him, the maniac was sentenced to death by hanging. In 1930, while climbing to the gallows, Panzram shouted his famous words to the executioner: 

The autobiography, based on which the film was made in 1995, was written by Pantsram himself. He did this because he was forced by a prison guard, and since Pantsram did not consider himself a bad person, then in the film the maniac is almost a positive character who became a victim of the bloody regime of the guards. The role of the famous killer was played by James Woods.