Wild Hogs pigged out on the box office receipts this weekend with a $38 million trough. I’m not going to go snobby critic on everybody and make fun of the movie because I didn’t see it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s crap, but I’ll give the masses the benefit of the doubt on that one. At the same time, I’m pleading with anyone who will hear me to go see Zodiac. It isn’t my favorite David Fincher film, but it’s certainly one of his most accomplished. Imagine the procedural elements of All The President’s Men, only more magnified and extensive in detail. Mix that with a little bit of Seven, and izzy-wizzy let’s get busy.

Now if the moviegoing experience just isn’t your bag because you’re tired of annoying patrons, I have a list of alternative serial killer flicks that should appease you until the movie hits DVD. Now take note, I’m going to include some sleeper or less popular picks, so you won’t find classics like Silence of the Lambs or Seven on this list.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

This one isn’t on DVD yet, but it shouldn’t be long since I think it made $8 in the U.S. when it was released early this year (my theatrical review here). My review pretty much says it all, so I will only say that it is one of the most original and entertaining the genre has to offer.

From Hell

With the hard-hitting Menace II Society, the bold documentary American Pimp and the criminally underrated Dead Presidents on their resume, the Hughes brothers took the rational next step in 2001 and made a movie about … Jack the Ripper. I never thought people gave this lush, detailed work enough credit. The set design and cinematography are first rate. Heather Graham as a prostitute is a little ridiculous because, in a movie where most of the woman look like Messy Tessie (Garbage Pail Kids reference, check), she looks like she just stepped out of an Irish Spring commercial. But her performance is pretty good, and Johnny Depp is always reliable. The Alan Moore graphic novel is a lot better (and completely different), but this is a solid flick.

Manhunter

Michael Mann’s film is even better than its remake (2002′s Red Dragon). I love Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, and Edward Norton made a solid Will Graham, but Brian Cox (playing Lecter) and William Petersen (as Graham) are more electric and generate more intensity than anything in Brett Ratner’s film (which I also enjoyed). It’s also beautifully shot by Dante Spinotti.

American Pyscho

A great satire of ’80s materialism (by way of the serial-killer genre) that showcases an epic performance by Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman. Bale is funny, scary, sad and ridiculous all at once. The great supporting cast (Justin Theroux, Matt Ross, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon and Jared Leto) help make this a black-as-night but very funny flick. The sequence where Christian Bale is running down a hallway naked with a buzzing chainsaw has become something of a classic, but for me the money scene is the one where Bale superficially discusses Huey Lewis and the News before doing in one of his victims.

Citizen X

A lot of people have never heard of this movie because it was made for cable, but it is one of the better films I’ve seen in the genre. This one is based on the true story of a Russian serial killer the Kremlin tried to keep quiet since serial killers were supposed to be a capitalist disease. Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland and Max von Sydow are all great.

Okay, that should take care of everyone who can’t make it to the theatre for one reason or another. As for everyone else, get to the theatre and check out Zodiac. It’s killer.

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Dre writes five times a week for Film.com, covering movies and DVD with his Floridian flare. E-mail him!