CategoryDocumentaries
True-crime and horror documentaries — real cases, real crimes, and the films that retell them.
374 stories
DocumentariesHuluMoviesNewsStreaming TVTrailers
Hulu has unveiled the official trailer and poster for Clown Panic. The acclaimed team behind The Princess and Tell Me Who I Am produced the gripping new documentary, arriving exclusively on the platform this October. Arriving just in time for the tenth anniversary of the real-world phenomenon, the doc joins the service’s annual Huluween lineup. It chronicles how a series of strange regional sightings rapidly evolved into a nationwide viral nightmare. Oscar nominee Ed Perkins directs the film, and Lightbox’s Jonathan and Simon Chinn produce it. Suzanne Lavery executive produces the documentary, which will stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ domestically, and internationally via Disney+. Children’s Tales in the Woods Spark a Nationwide Moral Panic The documentary revisits the late summer of 2016. A time when children in a quiet South Carolina town reported eerie figures dressed as clowns attempting to lure them into the forest. Initial public skepticism quickly evaporated as similar reports erupted across all fifty states. It
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has officially snagged the VOD rights to the dark comedy mockumentary A Bloody Mess. Uncovering the Truth Behind the Sludge Framed as a razor-sharp mockumentary, A Bloody Mess follows obsessed documentarian Violet Blank. She’s on a quest to uncover the cause of a decades-old disaster in a small Texas town. Back in 2002, the quiet community of Split Springs was rocked by a massive explosion at a local manure storage facility. It literally flooded the streets and drove nearly every resident from their home. Talk about a shitty situation. The rest of the nation pointed, laughed, and reduced the incident to a cheap punchline. However, Violet remains convinced a sinister mastermind is behind the tragedy. While armed with a film crew and no boundaries, her search for a suspect steadily spirals. It goes from questionable journalism into outright peril. The Cast and Crew Driving the Chaos
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesReviews
Back ‘round 1973, filmmaker Robin Hardy unleashed the ultimate folk horror banger, The Wicker Man. If you’re not familiar (and you absolutely should be), The Wicker Man concerns a police Sergeant who travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate the case of a missing child. Once there he discovers the strange pagan rituals of […]
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Long before the zombie became Hollywood’s favorite excuse for video game kill-streaks and endless television dramas, it represented a terrifying reality. One grounded in history and spiritual survival. Ahead of its nationwide theatrical rollout this September, a haunting new trailer has arrived. Maya Annik Bedward’s acclaimed documentary, Black Zombie. Fresh off a celebrated festival run at SXSW, Hot Docs, Blackstar, and Fantasia, the film skips typical jump scares to exhume the deeply unsettling, buried origins of pop culture’s most profitable monster. From Haitian Vodou to Hollywood Cash Cow Black Zombie tracks how a complex figure born from colonial enslavement, Haitian Vodou, and spiritual resistance was systematically whitewashed, stripped of its cultural roots, and packaged into a sanitized cinematic trope. Expect a blend of archival footage, observational vérité scenes, and sharp analysis. Bedward re-examines seminal horror classics including White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow. The result is a bold cultural reckoning that reclaims the
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesParanormalReviews
British Faux-documentary filmmaker Carl Medland rocked my socks with his trio of funny n’ freaky supernatural investigations into a farm with some bad fuckin’ mojo in the appropriately named Paranormal Farm series (reviews of which can be read here, here, and here). Well, our haunt-seeking host is back with another journey into the bizarre with his latest offering, Paranormal Hollywood Haunting… Arriving in America, Carl sets out to explore the Hollywood mansion of film veteran Arthur Porter and author/health advocate Daniel P’Lopez; an abode nestled right smack in the legendary Hollywood hills. As Carl and his cameraman Mumtaz “Taz” Yildirimlar, begin their investigation, the expected ghostly goings-on begin, but there is a deeper, more personal side to the yarn at hand that soon rises to the surface… That’s the beautiful thing about Paranormal Hollywood Haunting; while treating us to another outré investigation we get a glimpse of a truly human experience. As the film carries on it’s exaggerated fictional preternatural
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
When Warner Bros. handed director John Boorman the keys to The Exorcist franchise following his triumphs with Point Blank and Deliverance, they expected another box-office miracle. Instead, they got 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic—one of the most notoriously catastrophic, utterly bizarre sequels in cinematic history. A critical and commercial trainwreck, The Heretic nearly ruined Boorman’s career and fundamentally altered how Hollywood greenlit big-budget risks. Yet, nearly five decades later, a new documentary, Boorman and the Devil, is stepping up to defend the magnificent madness of taking giant creative swings. Directed and edited by David Kittredge (The Sweet Life) and produced by indie horror heavyweight Travis Stevens (Jakob’s Wife), Jim Fall, and Kittredge, the acclaimed feature documentary explores the ambition, craft, and polarizing legacy of Boorman’s wild sequel. Distributor Yellow Veil Pictures is bringing the documentary to theaters starting August 28 at The Quad Cinema in New York City, before expanding wider on September 4 to major cities including Los Angeles,
Continue reading →
DocumentariesHuluMoviesNewsStreaming TVTrailers
When 26-year-old actress and filmmaker Sophia Maddox got her routine ancestry test results back, she wasn’t greeted by distant European royalty or a lost cousin in Cleveland. Instead, her father, Daniel Arguelles, helped her decipher a far darker secret: his biological father was none other than America’s most notorious cult leader, Charles Manson. “I was obviously very devastated,” Maddox revealed in an interview. “My dad was just rubbing my back, holding me, telling me we were nothing like him. But it was a little traumatic.” Naturally, when life hands you a bloodline linked to one of history’s most terrifying figures, you don’t just process it in therapy—you pitch a true crime documentary. And you can watch it, My Grandfather Charles Manson, right now on Hulu. Co-directed by Maddox and Alexandra Orton, Hulu’s My Grandfather Charles Manson follows Maddox as she dives headfirst into Manson’s brutal legacy, untangles her fraught relationship with her own father, and sits down with former Manson
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsMoviesNews
Long before the zombie became Hollywood’s favorite excuse for a video game kill-streak or a multi-season television drama, it was something far more terrifying and historically grounded. This Halloween season, director Maya Annik Bedward is ready to unleash her acclaimed new documentary, Black Zombie. Kino Lorber has snagged the rights.The film will skip the typical jump scares to exhume the deeply unsettling, buried origins of pop culture’s most profitable monster. The Ultimate Monster Makeover After making its world premiere at SXSW, it hit Hot Docs and the Blackstar Film Festival. Then arrived at Fantasia to terrorize audiences. The film tracks how a complex figure born from colonial enslavement, Haitian Vodou, and spiritual resistance. IT has been systematically whitewashed, stripped of its roots, and packaged into a cinematic cash cow. Bedward re-examines horror staples like White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow. There’s also archival footage and raw, observational vérité scenes. A Packed Roster of
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Just when you thought it was safe to look at film history, a new documentary is getting ready to slice through the surface of cinema’s original summer blockbuster. Physical media and documentary powerhouse CreatorVC—the brilliant minds behind the acclaimed In Search of Darkness trilogies and The Thing Expanded—has officially announced Jaws Explored. Directed by renowned film critic and author Ian Nathan (Alien Vault, Stephen King: Celebrating the King of Horror), this definitive retrospective promises to change the way you view Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece forever. Pre-orders are officially live on the CreatorVC website. Fans who back the project between now and August 9, 2026, can lock down an exclusive Blu-ray, a massive 80-page companion book, and even get their name printed in the film’s credits before it officially launches in August 2027. Moving Past the “Broken Shark” Stories Let’s be real: if you are a devout horror or thriller geek, you already know the Jaws production lore by heart. You know
Continue reading →
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 →
More from Documentaries
DocumentariesHuluMoviesNewsStreaming TVTrailers
Hulu has unveiled the official trailer and poster for Clown Panic. The acclaimed team behind The Princess and Tell Me Who I Am produced the gripping new documentary, arriving exclusively on the platform this October. Arriving just in time for the tenth anniversary of the real-world phenomenon, the doc joins the service’s annual Huluween lineup. It chronicles how a series of strange regional sightings rapidly evolved into a nationwide viral nightmare. Oscar nominee Ed Perkins directs the film, and Lightbox’s Jonathan and Simon Chinn produce it. Suzanne Lavery executive produces the documentary, which will stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ domestically, and internationally via Disney+. Children’s Tales in the Woods Spark a Nationwide Moral Panic The documentary revisits the late summer of 2016. A time when children in a quiet South Carolina town reported eerie figures dressed as clowns attempting to lure them into the forest. Initial public skepticism quickly evaporated as similar reports erupted across all fifty states. It
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has officially snagged the VOD rights to the dark comedy mockumentary A Bloody Mess. Uncovering the Truth Behind the Sludge Framed as a razor-sharp mockumentary, A Bloody Mess follows obsessed documentarian Violet Blank. She’s on a quest to uncover the cause of a decades-old disaster in a small Texas town. Back in 2002, the quiet community of Split Springs was rocked by a massive explosion at a local manure storage facility. It literally flooded the streets and drove nearly every resident from their home. Talk about a shitty situation. The rest of the nation pointed, laughed, and reduced the incident to a cheap punchline. However, Violet remains convinced a sinister mastermind is behind the tragedy. While armed with a film crew and no boundaries, her search for a suspect steadily spirals. It goes from questionable journalism into outright peril. The Cast and Crew Driving the Chaos
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesReviews
Back ‘round 1973, filmmaker Robin Hardy unleashed the ultimate folk horror banger, The Wicker Man. If you’re not familiar (and you absolutely should be), The Wicker Man concerns a police Sergeant who travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate the case of a missing child. Once there he discovers the strange pagan rituals of […]
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Long before the zombie became Hollywood’s favorite excuse for video game kill-streaks and endless television dramas, it represented a terrifying reality. One grounded in history and spiritual survival. Ahead of its nationwide theatrical rollout this September, a haunting new trailer has arrived. Maya Annik Bedward’s acclaimed documentary, Black Zombie. Fresh off a celebrated festival run at SXSW, Hot Docs, Blackstar, and Fantasia, the film skips typical jump scares to exhume the deeply unsettling, buried origins of pop culture’s most profitable monster. From Haitian Vodou to Hollywood Cash Cow Black Zombie tracks how a complex figure born from colonial enslavement, Haitian Vodou, and spiritual resistance was systematically whitewashed, stripped of its cultural roots, and packaged into a sanitized cinematic trope. Expect a blend of archival footage, observational vérité scenes, and sharp analysis. Bedward re-examines seminal horror classics including White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow. The result is a bold cultural reckoning that reclaims the
Continue reading →
DocumentariesIndieMoviesParanormalReviews
British Faux-documentary filmmaker Carl Medland rocked my socks with his trio of funny n’ freaky supernatural investigations into a farm with some bad fuckin’ mojo in the appropriately named Paranormal Farm series (reviews of which can be read here, here, and here). Well, our haunt-seeking host is back with another journey into the bizarre with his latest offering, Paranormal Hollywood Haunting… Arriving in America, Carl sets out to explore the Hollywood mansion of film veteran Arthur Porter and author/health advocate Daniel P’Lopez; an abode nestled right smack in the legendary Hollywood hills. As Carl and his cameraman Mumtaz “Taz” Yildirimlar, begin their investigation, the expected ghostly goings-on begin, but there is a deeper, more personal side to the yarn at hand that soon rises to the surface… That’s the beautiful thing about Paranormal Hollywood Haunting; while treating us to another outré investigation we get a glimpse of a truly human experience. As the film carries on it’s exaggerated fictional preternatural
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
When Warner Bros. handed director John Boorman the keys to The Exorcist franchise following his triumphs with Point Blank and Deliverance, they expected another box-office miracle. Instead, they got 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic—one of the most notoriously catastrophic, utterly bizarre sequels in cinematic history. A critical and commercial trainwreck, The Heretic nearly ruined Boorman’s career and fundamentally altered how Hollywood greenlit big-budget risks. Yet, nearly five decades later, a new documentary, Boorman and the Devil, is stepping up to defend the magnificent madness of taking giant creative swings. Directed and edited by David Kittredge (The Sweet Life) and produced by indie horror heavyweight Travis Stevens (Jakob’s Wife), Jim Fall, and Kittredge, the acclaimed feature documentary explores the ambition, craft, and polarizing legacy of Boorman’s wild sequel. Distributor Yellow Veil Pictures is bringing the documentary to theaters starting August 28 at The Quad Cinema in New York City, before expanding wider on September 4 to major cities including Los Angeles,
Continue reading →
DocumentariesHuluMoviesNewsStreaming TVTrailers
When 26-year-old actress and filmmaker Sophia Maddox got her routine ancestry test results back, she wasn’t greeted by distant European royalty or a lost cousin in Cleveland. Instead, her father, Daniel Arguelles, helped her decipher a far darker secret: his biological father was none other than America’s most notorious cult leader, Charles Manson. “I was obviously very devastated,” Maddox revealed in an interview. “My dad was just rubbing my back, holding me, telling me we were nothing like him. But it was a little traumatic.” Naturally, when life hands you a bloodline linked to one of history’s most terrifying figures, you don’t just process it in therapy—you pitch a true crime documentary. And you can watch it, My Grandfather Charles Manson, right now on Hulu. Co-directed by Maddox and Alexandra Orton, Hulu’s My Grandfather Charles Manson follows Maddox as she dives headfirst into Manson’s brutal legacy, untangles her fraught relationship with her own father, and sits down with former Manson
Continue reading →
DocumentariesFilm FestivalsMoviesNews
Long before the zombie became Hollywood’s favorite excuse for a video game kill-streak or a multi-season television drama, it was something far more terrifying and historically grounded. This Halloween season, director Maya Annik Bedward is ready to unleash her acclaimed new documentary, Black Zombie. Kino Lorber has snagged the rights.The film will skip the typical jump scares to exhume the deeply unsettling, buried origins of pop culture’s most profitable monster. The Ultimate Monster Makeover After making its world premiere at SXSW, it hit Hot Docs and the Blackstar Film Festival. Then arrived at Fantasia to terrorize audiences. The film tracks how a complex figure born from colonial enslavement, Haitian Vodou, and spiritual resistance. IT has been systematically whitewashed, stripped of its roots, and packaged into a cinematic cash cow. Bedward re-examines horror staples like White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, and The Serpent and the Rainbow. There’s also archival footage and raw, observational vérité scenes. A Packed Roster of
Continue reading →
DocumentariesMoviesNewsTrailers
Just when you thought it was safe to look at film history, a new documentary is getting ready to slice through the surface of cinema’s original summer blockbuster. Physical media and documentary powerhouse CreatorVC—the brilliant minds behind the acclaimed In Search of Darkness trilogies and The Thing Expanded—has officially announced Jaws Explored. Directed by renowned film critic and author Ian Nathan (Alien Vault, Stephen King: Celebrating the King of Horror), this definitive retrospective promises to change the way you view Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece forever. Pre-orders are officially live on the CreatorVC website. Fans who back the project between now and August 9, 2026, can lock down an exclusive Blu-ray, a massive 80-page companion book, and even get their name printed in the film’s credits before it officially launches in August 2027. Moving Past the “Broken Shark” Stories Let’s be real: if you are a devout horror or thriller geek, you already know the Jaws production lore by heart. You know
Continue reading →
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 →
