Year: 1986
Runtime: 83 mins
Language: Italian
Director: Camillo Teti
A city is terrorized by a ferocious killer on a violent spree. While researching her criminology thesis, a young woman becomes convinced that her new boyfriend—a forensic pathologist—could be the serial murderer she’s studying. As the body count rises, she must balance suspicion and affection while police race to catch the predator.
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A couple drives to a secluded lovers’ lane on the outskirts of Florence to be intimate, but their private moment ends in tragedy as they are both gunned down by a gloved prowler. The killer then mutilates the female victim with a knife and a tree branch, leaving a stark, brutal scene that becomes the latest chapter in a string of similar murders attributed to Il Mostro (The Monster). This wave of violence sets off a tense investigation led by people who fear the killer may be closer than anyone suspects.
Cristiana Marelli, a criminology student, launches a thesis-driven probe into the case, determined to understand the pattern and motives behind the killings. Her academic curiosity earns her pushback from those around her: her professor, the local police, and her doctor boyfriend, Alex, who grows increasingly wary of the risks, as he becomes entwined in her pursuit of answers. The investigation unfolds amid a mounting sense of paranoia, as eerie telephone calls trace their way to Cristiana and she finds herself shadowed by an unseen presence, even as she carries on with her daily life and studies.
As the mystery deepens, a bartender who had offered to share information with Cristiana is found hanged, a chilling reminder that the danger surrounding Il Mostro is real and personal. The mounting circumstantial evidence against her lover—his unexplained absences during the murder timeline, and the fact that Cristiana had confided her plans to meet with the bartender—begins to gnaw at her certainty. The suspicion grows and heats into a dangerous hypothesis: that Alex might be the killer himself.
Seeking a paranormal leg up, Cristiana attends a séance hoping to contact the victims’ spirits and illuminate the killer’s identity. En route, she drops Alex off at a theatre where a Hitchcock film is showing, a detail that will later feel ominous in retrospect. Inside the séance, the Medium—a psychic conduit for the dead—has a vision of Il Mostro slaying and mutilating another couple during a camping trip; the vision includes a male victim’s throat being slashed, a wound that eerily mirrors marks later seen on the Medium herself.
Paranoia swells as Cristiana becomes convinced that her boyfriend is the Monster. She abandons the séance in a rush and hurries back to the theatre, only to discover Alex there, quietly watching the film with other spectators. As she threads her way toward the seat beside him, an unseen figure slips into the row, sitting across from her. The film’s mood shifts in the moment, and a title card appears on the screen:
The killer is still among us.
This chilling revelation underscores the uncertainty and danger that saturate Cristiana’s world, leaving her—and the audience—gripping the edge of fear as the narrative threads toward its unsettling, ambiguous close.
The film closes with a stark note from the creators: the story was crafted as a warning to young people, with the intent of aiding real-world police work and encouraging vigilance against violence.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:27
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Stories where the investigator gets dangerously close to becoming a suspect.If you liked the tense, personal investigation in 'The Killer Is Still Among Us,' explore more movies where the sleuth's own life becomes the crime scene. These similar mystery thrillers feature protagonists whose professional curiosity leads them into a web of suspicion, paranoia, and danger much closer to home than they ever imagined.
These narratives follow a central character, typically with some authority or knowledge related to the crime, who is drawn into an investigation. The plot unfolds as their proximity to the case forces them to question the motives and innocence of those around them, often a romantic partner or close colleague, creating a psychological spiral of suspicion that threatens their sanity and safety.
Movies in this thread are united by their focus on the psychological toll of an investigation that turns inward. They share a tense, oppressive mood, a steady pacing that builds dread through personal revelation, and a central theme of trust eroding under the pressure of uncertainty and fear.
Thrillers that end with the threat still looming, leaving you unsettled.Fans of the unsettling, unresolved ending of 'The Killer Is Still Among Us' will appreciate these similar horror and mystery movies. This selection focuses on stories that deny a clean conclusion, instead leaving the audience with a lingering sense of dread and the terrifying implication that the killer is still at large, making the fear feel real and enduring.
The narrative pattern involves a sustained hunt or confrontation with a malevolent force, often a serial killer or unseen predator. The story builds to a climax that may offer a temporary reprieve but deliberately avoids confirming the absolute defeat or identity of the antagonist. The final act reinforces the theme that evil is pervasive and cannot be easily contained or understood.
This thread groups films based on their shared commitment to an ambiguous, often bleak, ending that amplifies the horror. The primary connection is the emotional experience of leaving the cinema with unresolved tension and a profound sense of unease, prioritizing lasting mood over narrative closure.
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