CategoryDocumentaries
True-crime and horror documentaries — real cases, real crimes, and the films that retell them.
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DocumentariesMoviesReviews
Official synopsis Since the mid twentieth century, a mysterious section of land in rural Vermont has been the home of untold strangeness. Rumors of UFOs, ghosts, phantom lights and mysterious creatures can all be found there in abundance, while verified reports of odd disappearances – many still unsolved – cast a shadow over Glastenbury Mountain. From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle goes beyond the rumors and campfire stories, while daring to ask what may be the most frightening question of all – why is Glastenbury Mountain so inexplicable, and what happened to those who have gone missing? Review Filmmaker Seth Breedlove and his Small Town Monsters crew deliver another of their impressively researched documentaries on cryptozoology and high strangeness with From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle. Their usual focus on folklore and local color is on display as they examine the esoteric occurrences that have taken place over the decades in rural Vermont’s so-called
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DocumentariesForeignMoviesParanormalReviews
After the Franco dictatorship ended ‘round about the mid ‘70s, Spanish cinema found themselves with a new freedom, through which filmmakers could now express themselves via tales of sin n’ Satan (and death… lots of it) all over that silver screen! Recently, Severin boxed up a selection of those fearless flicks (and a doc to bring us all up to speed on the genre)… so why not dip our terror toes into Exorcismo: Defying A Dictator & Raising Hell In Post-Franco Spain! Things kick off with that aforementioned documentary, Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada ‘S’ from Director Alberto Sedano. Exorcismo takes the viewer on a journey through just what we can expect from the features contained in this box-set (bet you couldn’t have guessed that one), and gives us both a historical understanding of the heavily censoring of filmmakers work under the regime of Francisco Franco, as well as the unbridled freedom they received after Franco’s death in 1975,
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Feels Like Home (Hungary, 2026) Official Synopsis Kidnapped by a family convinced she is their missing daughter, a woman must assume another identity to survive as she seeks a way out of this nightmare. Rita, an ordinary, but lonely woman is kidnapped. Her captors are the Árpáds; they claim she is not called Rita but Szilvi, a runaway from their family. Rita eventually understands that the only way out is in – to escape she must impersonate Szilvi. The more she becomes the lost girl the more she finds out about the family, and understands that her life is on the line. Review Director Gábor Holtai’s Hungarian feature Feels Like Home is a dynamic blend of thriller, mystery, and drama with horror elements, as well. The acting throughout is a master class, led by Rozi Lovas’s bravura performance as Rita, a woman who is kidnapped mere minutes after losing her job at a shoe store. One of the kidnappers claims
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNewsThriller
London’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest kicks off on Thursday, August 22 and runs through Monday, August 26, with 69 features from around the globe on tap. With chillers, thrillers, documentaries, and other genre fare scheduled, the festival presents a wealth of cinematic riches. Horror Fuel has selected six films that we are greatly looking forward to, including a few that we have already been lucky enough to have an advance look at (but we can’t say anything until the embargoes lift!). Check out the official festival descriptions below and then the links for more information, including trailers when available. The Monster Beneath Us Windswept Yorkshire, 1898. A grieving woman and her son move back to the unoccupied house of her ex-husband, who was recently found dead in mysterious circumstances. However, they soon discover they are not alone inside the icy house in a slow-burn horror, exploring the themes of isolation, otherness and loss. The house is home to a Boggart, an
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNewsThriller
Whether you’re into horror, thrillers, science fiction, or other genre cinema, Popcorn Frights — Florida’s premiere film festival destination for such fare — has something for you. Running August 8–18, 2024, with both in-person and virtual programming options, you can even join in on the movie madness from the comfort of your own couch! Following is the official press release. Popcorn Frights celebrates its 10th anniversary with a first wave announcement headlined by 24 boundary-pushing and mind-enhancing feature films, including eleven world premieres as well as a stacked cult classics lineup that pays homage to horror’s titans, and with many more screams, surprises, delights, and film premieres, yet to come! To add to the pure mayhem of its anniversary celebration, Popcorn Frights’ in-theater experience will be offered free and open to the public, as a gift back to the community for ten years of their dedicated support and moviegoing love. Popcorn Frights’ free festival is made possible by the generous
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNews
The Land Between the Lakes, a popular wilderness destination, has become the hunting ground for a legendary best. Small Town Monsters‘ gripping new documentary, Dogman Territory: Werewolves in The Land Between the Lakes, explores the creature. This chilling exploration delves into the myth of the Dogman, a werewolf-like creature said to stalk the woods. Host Shannon LeGro collaborates with author Aaron Deese to interview witnesses, researchers, and longtime residents bordering Tennessee and Kentucky. Their quest? To uncover the truth behind a creature that many believe walks among us. Land Between the Lakes has a reputation for the strange and unsettling. Whispers of hauntings, sightings, and mysterious lights in the night paint a picture of a place where folklore bleeds into reality. The ever-increasing reports of Dogman sightings stand out, with law enforcement, campers, hunters, and even passersby all claiming encounters with these terrifying beings. The Land Between the Lakes is located on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. Not long
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNews
Chattanooga Film Festival (https://www.chattfilmfest.org/) celebrates its 11th edition with a hybrid edition, so you can catch either in-person screenings from June 21–23 or relax at home with a virtual version from June 21–28, 2024. The lineup is a cornucopia of fright fare and other genre-film offerings. Lots of amazing features are scheduled, from Swedish religious horror In the Name of God to Dutch high-strangeness documentary The UFOs of Soesterberg to the sumptuous French vampire film The Vourdalak, and beyond. I’ve had the good fortune to watch and review four of the fest’s features from previous festivals for Horror Fuel, all of which I can recommend for Chattanooga Film Festival viewing. As always, you needn’t be concerned about spoilers in my reviews. Film descriptions are from the Chattanooga Film Festival website. Blind Cop 2 When an influx of illegal weapons trafficking explodes onto the scene, a grieving blind police officer must purge the city streets or risk mass chaos breaking loose.
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DocumentariesFilm FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
They’re Here (U.S., 2024) Codirectors Daniel Claridge and Pacho Velez offer an unusual, thoroughly captivating take on the UFO experiencer phenomenon in their documentary They’re Here. The filmmakers focus on a small group of New Yorkers who claim to have had close encounters with extraterrestrial crafts and sometimes their occupants. Interview subjects include Cookie, a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens multiple times; Twon, a stand-up comedian who bombs telling jokes about extraterrestrials; Dave, who made the local news by allegedly filming a UFO on his cell phone while under the influence of mushrooms; and Steve, a man who feels that he had a UFO experience but has difficulty remembering any details about the encounter, and who agrees to hypnosis to try to recall what happened. Claridge and Velez approach their subjects with both skepticism and affection, allowing them to fully express themselves knowing that many people don’t believe their stories. They’re Here takes an unusual route
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
The Weekend (Nigeria, 2024) Good foreign fright-fare gives viewers culturally different spins on subgenres. Daniel Oriahi’s The Weekend certainly delivers the local-flavor goods and the chills with its Nigerian take on in-laws-from-hell eeriness. Engaged couple Nikya (Uzoamaka Aniunoh), orphaned as a young girl and dreaming of having a close knit family, and Luc (Bucci Franklin), who has fallen out with his parents but still talks with his sister, travel — Luc reluctantly so — from their home in the city to his rural hometown with a local holiday approaching. Local criminals who threaten the couple turn out to be the least fearful of dangers that await. Aniunoh and Franklin head up an excellent cast, and Oriahi delivers the shudder-inducing goods as the mystery behind Luc’s family and the reasons for their high ranking in their village are revealed — and the aforementioned holiday serves up its nightmarish tension, too. Sumptuously shot by cinematographer Idhebor Kagho, The Weekend delivers a gruesome
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignFrom the CryptIndieMoviesNewsThriller
When Fantasia International Film Festival, Canada’s legendary genre film fest, makes announcements, we here at Horror Fuel take notice, and we want to share the good news about the event with our readers. Following is the official press announcement about the second wave of thrillers, chillers, and other fantastic fare for this year’s edition. The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 28th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning yet again at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montréal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. The festival’s full lineup will be announced on July 3, but in the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a select second wave of premiere titles, along with the recipient of their 2024 Canadian Trailblazer award. OPENING FILM: ANT TIMPSON’S BOOKWORM, STARRING ELIJAH WOOD AND NELL FISHER Fantasia’s 28th edition will open
Continue reading →
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DocumentariesMoviesReviews
Official synopsis Since the mid twentieth century, a mysterious section of land in rural Vermont has been the home of untold strangeness. Rumors of UFOs, ghosts, phantom lights and mysterious creatures can all be found there in abundance, while verified reports of odd disappearances – many still unsolved – cast a shadow over Glastenbury Mountain. From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle goes beyond the rumors and campfire stories, while daring to ask what may be the most frightening question of all – why is Glastenbury Mountain so inexplicable, and what happened to those who have gone missing? Review Filmmaker Seth Breedlove and his Small Town Monsters crew deliver another of their impressively researched documentaries on cryptozoology and high strangeness with From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle. Their usual focus on folklore and local color is on display as they examine the esoteric occurrences that have taken place over the decades in rural Vermont’s so-called
Continue reading →
DocumentariesForeignMoviesParanormalReviews
After the Franco dictatorship ended ‘round about the mid ‘70s, Spanish cinema found themselves with a new freedom, through which filmmakers could now express themselves via tales of sin n’ Satan (and death… lots of it) all over that silver screen! Recently, Severin boxed up a selection of those fearless flicks (and a doc to bring us all up to speed on the genre)… so why not dip our terror toes into Exorcismo: Defying A Dictator & Raising Hell In Post-Franco Spain! Things kick off with that aforementioned documentary, Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada ‘S’ from Director Alberto Sedano. Exorcismo takes the viewer on a journey through just what we can expect from the features contained in this box-set (bet you couldn’t have guessed that one), and gives us both a historical understanding of the heavily censoring of filmmakers work under the regime of Francisco Franco, as well as the unbridled freedom they received after Franco’s death in 1975,
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Feels Like Home (Hungary, 2026) Official Synopsis Kidnapped by a family convinced she is their missing daughter, a woman must assume another identity to survive as she seeks a way out of this nightmare. Rita, an ordinary, but lonely woman is kidnapped. Her captors are the Árpáds; they claim she is not called Rita but Szilvi, a runaway from their family. Rita eventually understands that the only way out is in – to escape she must impersonate Szilvi. The more she becomes the lost girl the more she finds out about the family, and understands that her life is on the line. Review Director Gábor Holtai’s Hungarian feature Feels Like Home is a dynamic blend of thriller, mystery, and drama with horror elements, as well. The acting throughout is a master class, led by Rozi Lovas’s bravura performance as Rita, a woman who is kidnapped mere minutes after losing her job at a shoe store. One of the kidnappers claims
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNewsThriller
London’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest kicks off on Thursday, August 22 and runs through Monday, August 26, with 69 features from around the globe on tap. With chillers, thrillers, documentaries, and other genre fare scheduled, the festival presents a wealth of cinematic riches. Horror Fuel has selected six films that we are greatly looking forward to, including a few that we have already been lucky enough to have an advance look at (but we can’t say anything until the embargoes lift!). Check out the official festival descriptions below and then the links for more information, including trailers when available. The Monster Beneath Us Windswept Yorkshire, 1898. A grieving woman and her son move back to the unoccupied house of her ex-husband, who was recently found dead in mysterious circumstances. However, they soon discover they are not alone inside the icy house in a slow-burn horror, exploring the themes of isolation, otherness and loss. The house is home to a Boggart, an
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNewsThriller
Whether you’re into horror, thrillers, science fiction, or other genre cinema, Popcorn Frights — Florida’s premiere film festival destination for such fare — has something for you. Running August 8–18, 2024, with both in-person and virtual programming options, you can even join in on the movie madness from the comfort of your own couch! Following is the official press release. Popcorn Frights celebrates its 10th anniversary with a first wave announcement headlined by 24 boundary-pushing and mind-enhancing feature films, including eleven world premieres as well as a stacked cult classics lineup that pays homage to horror’s titans, and with many more screams, surprises, delights, and film premieres, yet to come! To add to the pure mayhem of its anniversary celebration, Popcorn Frights’ in-theater experience will be offered free and open to the public, as a gift back to the community for ten years of their dedicated support and moviegoing love. Popcorn Frights’ free festival is made possible by the generous
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNews
The Land Between the Lakes, a popular wilderness destination, has become the hunting ground for a legendary best. Small Town Monsters‘ gripping new documentary, Dogman Territory: Werewolves in The Land Between the Lakes, explores the creature. This chilling exploration delves into the myth of the Dogman, a werewolf-like creature said to stalk the woods. Host Shannon LeGro collaborates with author Aaron Deese to interview witnesses, researchers, and longtime residents bordering Tennessee and Kentucky. Their quest? To uncover the truth behind a creature that many believe walks among us. Land Between the Lakes has a reputation for the strange and unsettling. Whispers of hauntings, sightings, and mysterious lights in the night paint a picture of a place where folklore bleeds into reality. The ever-increasing reports of Dogman sightings stand out, with law enforcement, campers, hunters, and even passersby all claiming encounters with these terrifying beings. The Land Between the Lakes is located on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. Not long
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesNews
Chattanooga Film Festival (https://www.chattfilmfest.org/) celebrates its 11th edition with a hybrid edition, so you can catch either in-person screenings from June 21–23 or relax at home with a virtual version from June 21–28, 2024. The lineup is a cornucopia of fright fare and other genre-film offerings. Lots of amazing features are scheduled, from Swedish religious horror In the Name of God to Dutch high-strangeness documentary The UFOs of Soesterberg to the sumptuous French vampire film The Vourdalak, and beyond. I’ve had the good fortune to watch and review four of the fest’s features from previous festivals for Horror Fuel, all of which I can recommend for Chattanooga Film Festival viewing. As always, you needn’t be concerned about spoilers in my reviews. Film descriptions are from the Chattanooga Film Festival website. Blind Cop 2 When an influx of illegal weapons trafficking explodes onto the scene, a grieving blind police officer must purge the city streets or risk mass chaos breaking loose.
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films
They’re Here (U.S., 2024) Codirectors Daniel Claridge and Pacho Velez offer an unusual, thoroughly captivating take on the UFO experiencer phenomenon in their documentary They’re Here. The filmmakers focus on a small group of New Yorkers who claim to have had close encounters with extraterrestrial crafts and sometimes their occupants. Interview subjects include Cookie, a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens multiple times; Twon, a stand-up comedian who bombs telling jokes about extraterrestrials; Dave, who made the local news by allegedly filming a UFO on his cell phone while under the influence of mushrooms; and Steve, a man who feels that he had a UFO experience but has difficulty remembering any details about the encounter, and who agrees to hypnosis to try to recall what happened. Claridge and Velez approach their subjects with both skepticism and affection, allowing them to fully express themselves knowing that many people don’t believe their stories. They’re Here takes an unusual route
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
The Weekend (Nigeria, 2024) Good foreign fright-fare gives viewers culturally different spins on subgenres. Daniel Oriahi’s The Weekend certainly delivers the local-flavor goods and the chills with its Nigerian take on in-laws-from-hell eeriness. Engaged couple Nikya (Uzoamaka Aniunoh), orphaned as a young girl and dreaming of having a close knit family, and Luc (Bucci Franklin), who has fallen out with his parents but still talks with his sister, travel — Luc reluctantly so — from their home in the city to his rural hometown with a local holiday approaching. Local criminals who threaten the couple turn out to be the least fearful of dangers that await. Aniunoh and Franklin head up an excellent cast, and Oriahi delivers the shudder-inducing goods as the mystery behind Luc’s family and the reasons for their high ranking in their village are revealed — and the aforementioned holiday serves up its nightmarish tension, too. Sumptuously shot by cinematographer Idhebor Kagho, The Weekend delivers a gruesome
Continue reading →
DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsForeignFrom the CryptIndieMoviesNewsThriller
When Fantasia International Film Festival, Canada’s legendary genre film fest, makes announcements, we here at Horror Fuel take notice, and we want to share the good news about the event with our readers. Following is the official press announcement about the second wave of thrillers, chillers, and other fantastic fare for this year’s edition. The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 28th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning yet again at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montréal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. The festival’s full lineup will be announced on July 3, but in the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a select second wave of premiere titles, along with the recipient of their 2024 Canadian Trailblazer award. OPENING FILM: ANT TIMPSON’S BOOKWORM, STARRING ELIJAH WOOD AND NELL FISHER Fantasia’s 28th edition will open
Continue reading →
