CategoryDocumentaries
True-crime and horror documentaries — real cases, real crimes, and the films that retell them.
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DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignIndieMoviesNewsThriller
London’s Tubi FrightFest is always a top-notch film festival destination for scare fare devotees, and this year the fest presents its biggest lineup ever! The event takes place Thursday August 27–Monday 31 August. Get your drool cups ready and have a gander at the official press announcement. Be prepared for a terrifying, record-breaking selection of World, International, and UK premieres as Tubi FrightFest 2026, the UK’s No.1 horror & fantasy film festival, returns to the Odeon LUXE Leicester Square and the ODEON Luxe West End for its annual five-day celebration of nerve-jangling eeriness, hair-raising shock, and epic scares. This year’s line-up highlights the genre’s transforming landscape and reflects the amazing span of progressive global genre filmmaking. Running from Thursday August 27 – Monday 31 August, Tubi FrightFest will showcase a record-breaking eighty-two features across five screens, including the popular ‘First Blood’, Documentary, and Retrospective strands. This year there are twenty-four world premieres, with sixteen countries represented, spanning four continents. The
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
Before CGI turned blood and guts into sterile ones and zeros, cinema was ruled by foam latex, animatronics, and pure madness. At the center of that glorious time sat Steve Johnson. Johnson is a man whose relentless obsession with breaking new ground gave rise to some of the most iconic monsters in sci-fi and horror history. Now, Johnson’s wild ride is getting the documentary treatment in Rubberhead: The Life and Monsters of Steve Johnson, a hilarious, heartbreaking, and brutally honest look at the golden age of special effects makeup—and the genius who nearly let it destroy him. . . The Director The film is from director Nick Taylor, who co-wrote the doc with Joseph Krings. Taylor and I had the chance to talk about this new deep-diving doc. He spoke about what drove him to make it, his respect for Johnson, and so much more. Watch it below. However, this isn’t Taylor’s first dive into the industry. He served in
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Forget the grainy, low-res clickbait flooding your social feeds. After decades of official government denial, tight-lipped congressional hearings, and high-profile whistleblowers, The truth behind UAPs (or UFOs, for the traditionalists) might actually be on the horizon. The investigative crew at Small Town Monsters is back on the beat. This time to see if we are finally living in the true “Disclosure Era.” Filmed over the course of 2026 amidst a massive new wave of government declassification, their brand-new documentary series, On the Trail of UFOs: The Disclosure Era, is officially set to lift off on June 21, 2026. Ground Zero of the Phenomenon The series serves as a direct, highly contemporary continuation of the journey that originally launched with 2019’s hit On the Trail of UFOs. But instead of chasing sensationalized headlines or Hollywood-style alien invasions, this project aims to strike at the historical truth of an anomalous phenomenon that stretches back more than a century. To separate fact from
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignIndieMoviesNewsThriller
Montréal’s Fantasia International Film Festival serves up an eye-popping amount of genre-film features with its second wave announcement for its 30th edition, scheduled for July 16 through August 2, 2026. Following is the official press announcement. The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 30th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 16 through August 2, 2026, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings and events at Montréal’s Cinéma du Musée. The festival’s full lineup will be announced in early July but in the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a select second wave of its 2026 titles. CAPE FEAR IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE IN CHILLING APPLE TV ADAPTATION In this reimagining of CAPE FEAR, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Amy Adams, ARRIVAL, NIGHTBITCH) and Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson, THE CONJURING, INSIDIOUS) when Max Cady (Javier Bardem, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsSci-FiShort FilmsThriller
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, takes place June 3–14, 2026 in New York City, and plenty of horror, thriller, and science fiction offerings are on tap. Here are five features and one short film that have our attention here at Horror Fuel. Film descriptions and information are from the Tribeca website and official press announcements. Keep watching for our Tribeca reviews once the fest gets rolling! Turn It Up! An indie rock band struggling to make its mark finds a possible meal ticket in an infectious new guitar riff. Unfortunately, it’s also a cursed melody that just so happens to open a portal to another, much scarier dimension. (Our featured image for this article is from Turn It Up!.) Director: Sam Scott Writers: Sam Scott and Gwenlyn Cumyn Cast: Gwenlyn Cumyn, Justine Nelson, Xavier Lopez, Julian Richings Genre: Comedy, Horror, LGBTQIA+, Science Fiction https://tribecafilm.com/films/turn-it-up-2026 Crooks After Faye and Johnny stick up a local gangster’s poker
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DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
It has been over five decades since a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania first strutted onto the screen. It changed cinema, theater, and midnight sanity forever. The Rocky Horror Picture Show isn’t just a movie. It’s a global, corset-clad, toast-throwing religion. Now, the definitive story of how it became the longest-running, most interactive cult classic in history is coming right to your living room. Enter Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror. Magenta Light Studios has announced that the documentary will take a step to the left and land on digital platforms on June 2, 2026. The best part? This isn’t just any regular talking-head documentary. Linus O’Brien, the son of Rocky Horror creator and riff-raff extraordinaire Richard O’Brien, directs it. Having grown up in the fishnets of the fandom, Linus delivers an intimate love letter to the creatures of the night. A Star-Studded Cast of Conventional Conventionalists Following a massive, cheering world premiere at SXSW, the film currently boasts
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrue Crime
Move over, armchair detectives. One of America’s most infamous, deeply haunted Hollywood mysteries might finally be solved: the Black Dahlia murder. Global production company Talestorm has officially announced Deconstructing Dahlia, a true-crime docuseries that tracks a five-year investigation into the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short—better known as the Black Dahlia. The production team claims they aren’t just recycling old theories. They have uncovered startling new leads, identified a primary suspect, located the definitive crime scene, and are currently leaning hard on the Los Angeles Police Department to hand over secrets they’ve kept under lock and key for nearly 80 years. The Avengers of True Crime This isn’t a couple of podcasters with a microphone. The docuseries follows a heavyweight squad of filmmakers, seasoned investigators, and retired law enforcement royalty who have been living and breathing this case for half a decade. The investigative roster includes: -Steve Cooley (Former Los Angeles County District Attorney) -Lenny DePaul (Retired US Marshal Commander; Hunting
Continue reading →
DocumentariesNewsParamount+Streaming TVTrue Crime
Most family disagreements involve politics or who forgot to wash the dishes. For the Studey family, the debate is a little more intense: namely, whether or not dear old Dad was a prolific serial killer. Paramount+ is set to explore this deeply unsettling game of “he said, she said” with its new documentary series, My Killer Father: The Green Hollow Murders. The docuseries aims to posthumously unmask the rumored “Monster of Green Hollow,” a man some believe murdered dozens of people decades ago. But did he? The Well of Horrors vs. The “Big, Fat Lie” The spine of the series rests on a bizarre debate between two sisters regarding their late father, Donald Studey: The Accuser: Lucy Studey claims she doesn’t just suspect her father was a monster. She alleges she was an eyewitness. Lucy maintains that Don dumped dozens of victims into a stone water well on their property. She even claims she helped him cover the bodies in
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNews
In 1977, John Boorman released Exorcist II: The Heretic, a sequel so ambitious, surreal, and baffling that it nearly exorcised his career right out of Hollywood. Now, nearly fifty years later, Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired the North American rights to Boorman and the Devil, a documentary dedicated to one of cinema’s most fascinating “glorious failures.” Directed by David Kittredge and produced alongside genre veteran Travis Stevens (Jodorowsky’s Dune), the film is a deep dive into the chaos, the legacy, and the sheer audacity of a sequel that refused to play it safe. A Love Letter to the “Big Swing” While Exorcist II is often cited as one of the most infamous follow-ups in history, Boorman and the Devil seek to reframe the narrative rather than mock the locusts and the tap-dancing. The documentary explores the importance of taking massive creative risks. The film features a “who’s who” of genre royalty discussing the sequel’s cult status and Boorman’s visionary (if
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesTrailers
The masterminds, In Search of Darkness, behind Aliens Expanded are back with their most ambitious project yet. They just launched a limited digital sale of The Thing Expanded. The ultimate The Thing documentary, which is a deep dive into John Carpenter’s 1982 snowy sci-fi horror masterpiece. The Stars The Thing Expanded features the legendary Kurt Russell discussing his iconic role as MacReady. In fact, every living cast member is involved in the project. You will see brand-new footage featuring Keith David and Thomas G. Waites. David Clennon, Joel Polis, Richard Masur, and Peter Maloney also appear, along with a horde of other genre icons who discuss the film’s influence and making. The documentary also features a who’s who of genre icons, from directors John Carpenter and Eli Roth to VFX master Alec Gillis. And of course, there are classic genre actors who way in on the iconic film. The Legacy of The Thing The Thing, which is an absolute classic,
Continue reading →
More from Documentaries
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignIndieMoviesNewsThriller
London’s Tubi FrightFest is always a top-notch film festival destination for scare fare devotees, and this year the fest presents its biggest lineup ever! The event takes place Thursday August 27–Monday 31 August. Get your drool cups ready and have a gander at the official press announcement. Be prepared for a terrifying, record-breaking selection of World, International, and UK premieres as Tubi FrightFest 2026, the UK’s No.1 horror & fantasy film festival, returns to the Odeon LUXE Leicester Square and the ODEON Luxe West End for its annual five-day celebration of nerve-jangling eeriness, hair-raising shock, and epic scares. This year’s line-up highlights the genre’s transforming landscape and reflects the amazing span of progressive global genre filmmaking. Running from Thursday August 27 – Monday 31 August, Tubi FrightFest will showcase a record-breaking eighty-two features across five screens, including the popular ‘First Blood’, Documentary, and Retrospective strands. This year there are twenty-four world premieres, with sixteen countries represented, spanning four continents. The
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
Before CGI turned blood and guts into sterile ones and zeros, cinema was ruled by foam latex, animatronics, and pure madness. At the center of that glorious time sat Steve Johnson. Johnson is a man whose relentless obsession with breaking new ground gave rise to some of the most iconic monsters in sci-fi and horror history. Now, Johnson’s wild ride is getting the documentary treatment in Rubberhead: The Life and Monsters of Steve Johnson, a hilarious, heartbreaking, and brutally honest look at the golden age of special effects makeup—and the genius who nearly let it destroy him. . . The Director The film is from director Nick Taylor, who co-wrote the doc with Joseph Krings. Taylor and I had the chance to talk about this new deep-diving doc. He spoke about what drove him to make it, his respect for Johnson, and so much more. Watch it below. However, this isn’t Taylor’s first dive into the industry. He served in
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Forget the grainy, low-res clickbait flooding your social feeds. After decades of official government denial, tight-lipped congressional hearings, and high-profile whistleblowers, The truth behind UAPs (or UFOs, for the traditionalists) might actually be on the horizon. The investigative crew at Small Town Monsters is back on the beat. This time to see if we are finally living in the true “Disclosure Era.” Filmed over the course of 2026 amidst a massive new wave of government declassification, their brand-new documentary series, On the Trail of UFOs: The Disclosure Era, is officially set to lift off on June 21, 2026. Ground Zero of the Phenomenon The series serves as a direct, highly contemporary continuation of the journey that originally launched with 2019’s hit On the Trail of UFOs. But instead of chasing sensationalized headlines or Hollywood-style alien invasions, this project aims to strike at the historical truth of an anomalous phenomenon that stretches back more than a century. To separate fact from
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignIndieMoviesNewsThriller
Montréal’s Fantasia International Film Festival serves up an eye-popping amount of genre-film features with its second wave announcement for its 30th edition, scheduled for July 16 through August 2, 2026. Following is the official press announcement. The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 30th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 16 through August 2, 2026, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings and events at Montréal’s Cinéma du Musée. The festival’s full lineup will be announced in early July but in the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a select second wave of its 2026 titles. CAPE FEAR IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE IN CHILLING APPLE TV ADAPTATION In this reimagining of CAPE FEAR, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Amy Adams, ARRIVAL, NIGHTBITCH) and Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson, THE CONJURING, INSIDIOUS) when Max Cady (Javier Bardem, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsSci-FiShort FilmsThriller
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, takes place June 3–14, 2026 in New York City, and plenty of horror, thriller, and science fiction offerings are on tap. Here are five features and one short film that have our attention here at Horror Fuel. Film descriptions and information are from the Tribeca website and official press announcements. Keep watching for our Tribeca reviews once the fest gets rolling! Turn It Up! An indie rock band struggling to make its mark finds a possible meal ticket in an infectious new guitar riff. Unfortunately, it’s also a cursed melody that just so happens to open a portal to another, much scarier dimension. (Our featured image for this article is from Turn It Up!.) Director: Sam Scott Writers: Sam Scott and Gwenlyn Cumyn Cast: Gwenlyn Cumyn, Justine Nelson, Xavier Lopez, Julian Richings Genre: Comedy, Horror, LGBTQIA+, Science Fiction https://tribecafilm.com/films/turn-it-up-2026 Crooks After Faye and Johnny stick up a local gangster’s poker
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
It has been over five decades since a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania first strutted onto the screen. It changed cinema, theater, and midnight sanity forever. The Rocky Horror Picture Show isn’t just a movie. It’s a global, corset-clad, toast-throwing religion. Now, the definitive story of how it became the longest-running, most interactive cult classic in history is coming right to your living room. Enter Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror. Magenta Light Studios has announced that the documentary will take a step to the left and land on digital platforms on June 2, 2026. The best part? This isn’t just any regular talking-head documentary. Linus O’Brien, the son of Rocky Horror creator and riff-raff extraordinaire Richard O’Brien, directs it. Having grown up in the fishnets of the fandom, Linus delivers an intimate love letter to the creatures of the night. A Star-Studded Cast of Conventional Conventionalists Following a massive, cheering world premiere at SXSW, the film currently boasts
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrue Crime
Move over, armchair detectives. One of America’s most infamous, deeply haunted Hollywood mysteries might finally be solved: the Black Dahlia murder. Global production company Talestorm has officially announced Deconstructing Dahlia, a true-crime docuseries that tracks a five-year investigation into the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short—better known as the Black Dahlia. The production team claims they aren’t just recycling old theories. They have uncovered startling new leads, identified a primary suspect, located the definitive crime scene, and are currently leaning hard on the Los Angeles Police Department to hand over secrets they’ve kept under lock and key for nearly 80 years. The Avengers of True Crime This isn’t a couple of podcasters with a microphone. The docuseries follows a heavyweight squad of filmmakers, seasoned investigators, and retired law enforcement royalty who have been living and breathing this case for half a decade. The investigative roster includes: -Steve Cooley (Former Los Angeles County District Attorney) -Lenny DePaul (Retired US Marshal Commander; Hunting
Continue reading →
DocumentariesNewsParamount+Streaming TVTrue Crime
Most family disagreements involve politics or who forgot to wash the dishes. For the Studey family, the debate is a little more intense: namely, whether or not dear old Dad was a prolific serial killer. Paramount+ is set to explore this deeply unsettling game of “he said, she said” with its new documentary series, My Killer Father: The Green Hollow Murders. The docuseries aims to posthumously unmask the rumored “Monster of Green Hollow,” a man some believe murdered dozens of people decades ago. But did he? The Well of Horrors vs. The “Big, Fat Lie” The spine of the series rests on a bizarre debate between two sisters regarding their late father, Donald Studey: The Accuser: Lucy Studey claims she doesn’t just suspect her father was a monster. She alleges she was an eyewitness. Lucy maintains that Don dumped dozens of victims into a stone water well on their property. She even claims she helped him cover the bodies in
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNews
In 1977, John Boorman released Exorcist II: The Heretic, a sequel so ambitious, surreal, and baffling that it nearly exorcised his career right out of Hollywood. Now, nearly fifty years later, Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired the North American rights to Boorman and the Devil, a documentary dedicated to one of cinema’s most fascinating “glorious failures.” Directed by David Kittredge and produced alongside genre veteran Travis Stevens (Jodorowsky’s Dune), the film is a deep dive into the chaos, the legacy, and the sheer audacity of a sequel that refused to play it safe. A Love Letter to the “Big Swing” While Exorcist II is often cited as one of the most infamous follow-ups in history, Boorman and the Devil seek to reframe the narrative rather than mock the locusts and the tap-dancing. The documentary explores the importance of taking massive creative risks. The film features a “who’s who” of genre royalty discussing the sequel’s cult status and Boorman’s visionary (if
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesTrailers
The masterminds, In Search of Darkness, behind Aliens Expanded are back with their most ambitious project yet. They just launched a limited digital sale of The Thing Expanded. The ultimate The Thing documentary, which is a deep dive into John Carpenter’s 1982 snowy sci-fi horror masterpiece. The Stars The Thing Expanded features the legendary Kurt Russell discussing his iconic role as MacReady. In fact, every living cast member is involved in the project. You will see brand-new footage featuring Keith David and Thomas G. Waites. David Clennon, Joel Polis, Richard Masur, and Peter Maloney also appear, along with a horde of other genre icons who discuss the film’s influence and making. The documentary also features a who’s who of genre icons, from directors John Carpenter and Eli Roth to VFX master Alec Gillis. And of course, there are classic genre actors who way in on the iconic film. The Legacy of The Thing The Thing, which is an absolute classic,
Continue reading →
