Tag Archives: John E. Douglas

Mindhunter

Mindhunter, a terrific new Netflix series, is the story of the formation of the FBI’s Behavioral Profiling Unit. The story is adapted by Joe Penhall and based on a book of the same name by Mark Olshaker and John E. Douglas. Douglas and his partner, Robert Ressler, pioneered the research that led to the psychological profile of the criminal we now classify as a “serial killer.” The new approach to solving crime was unheard of in the 1970s.

The acting in the series is wonderfully creepy, especially Cameron Britton, a soft-spoken giant of a man who plays real-life serial killer Ed Kemper. David Fincher, who directed the excellent films Se7en, Zodiac, and the American version of the The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, brings a cinematic quality to the series that’s missing in network television dramas and cop shows.