Category: documentaries

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German film director Werner Herzog…

German film director Werner Herzog nearly took LANSA Flight 508, but canceled at the last minute. The plane was struck by lightning, killing 91 of 92 crew members and passengers. The lone survivor was 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke, whose story was told in Herzog’s documentary Wings of Hope.

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15 Documentaries About Serial Killers That Are Worth Your Time

It seems like there’s a never-ending flood of true crime and serial killer documentaries out there, which makes it challenging to sort through the good and the bad. Who has time for that?

Well, here’s some good news: other people have already done the work for us!

People from the Buzzfeed Community offered their opinions about what they believe are the best documentaries about serial killers. Add these to your queue.

1. BTK: A Killer Among Us (2019)

2. Monster in My Family: Happy Face Killer (2015)

3. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019)

4. Cropsey (2009)

5. Manson (1973)

6. The Pig Farm (2011)

7. Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation (2007)

8. Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance (2011)

9. Serial Killers: Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo (1995)

10. Born to Kill? Richard Trenton Chase: The Vampire of Sacramento (2010)

11. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)

12. This Is the Zodiac Speaking (2008)

13. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)

14. Ed Gein: The Real Leatherface (2004)

15. The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012)

Are there any other documentaries that you think need to be included?

Share them in the comments, please.

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Here Are 10 of the Best True Crime Documentaries You Can Stream Right Now

I never get tired of watching true crime documentaries…and I have a feeling you’re a lot like me. That’s why we need articles like this – I know you’re looking for new ones to watch, just like yours truly.

Here are 10 solid, disturbing true crime docs that you should give a shot. You won’t be disappointed.

1. The Seven Five (Netflix)

You want corruption? THIS is corruption. This film tells the story of New York City’s 75th police precinct during the 1980s. Scary and disturbing.

2. Amanda Knox (Netflix)

The infamous Amanda Knox murder case in Italy put the young woman into the spotlight for life. This film traces the crime, the trial, and her life.

3. The Central Park Five (Amazon Prime)

The attack on a jogger in Central Park in New York in 1989 outraged the nation and five young innocent boys were falsely accused of the heinous crime.

4. Long Shot (Netflix)

Juan Catalan had to fight desperately to maintain his freedom after he was wrongly accused of a murder. The key to his defense: a baseball game. This one has to be seen to be believed.

5. Killing For Love (Hulu)

Elizabeth Haysom’s parents were found dead in their Virginia home in 1985. Suspicion immediately fell on her and her boyfriend, Jens Söring. A twisted tale of love, family, and deceit.

6. Brother’s Keeper (Netflix)

Acclaimed filmmakers Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger made this disturbing documentary about an elderly man accused of killing his ill brother in rural New York. Family secrets abound in this film.

7. Without Charity (Amazon Prime)

Three construction workers found dead in Indiana sets off a complex series of events that lead back to a woman named Charity Payne, who may have played a role in the crime.

8. Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee (Netflix)

Software pioneer and millionaire John McAfee reinvented himself in Belize and became the leader of a militia before he was suspected of the murder of a neighbor.

9. I Love You, Now Die (HBO)

A long-distance relationship built around text messaging ultimately ended in the death of Conrad Roy, the young man in the love story. The woman, Michelle Carter, was suspected of encouraging Roy to commit suicide, setting the scene for a dramatic, real-life courtroom drama.

10. Out of Thin Air (Netflix)

Two men disappeared in Iceland in 1974 and six people eventually confessed to murder and were sent to prison. Years later, new evidence casts huge doubt on whether the suspects were guilty. Riveting stuff.

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7 Documentaries With Shocking Twists the Audience Never Saw Coming

There’s something about a good documentary that just gets me hooked. I think it’s got to do with the fact that I know that it’s all real- this is something that actually happened. It just goes to show how truth can be stranger than fiction.

The 7 below definitely fit that description, but be warned – some of the descriptions do contain minor spoilers.

#1. Capturing the Friedmans

Andrew Jarecki set out to make a short film about children’s party entertainers in NYC, featuring a popular clown named “Silly Billy.”

The film takes an unexpected turn when the filmmaker discovers that Silly Billy’s brother and father had both pled guilty to child sexual abuse in the 1980s.

#2. Gimme Shelter

David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin set out to capture The Rolling Stones’ US tour on film, with the end sequences taking place at the Altamont Free Concert. You might watch it thinking it will be a fun thing, with the added bonus of George Lucas and Martin Scorsese, and you’d be right…for awhile.

Then, suddenly you’d be watching the murder of an 18-year-old kid who tried to rush the stage and ran into some Hell’s Angels serving as overzealous security.

#3. Icarus

This award-winning film starts as a movie about cycling but takes a hard left into government doping and conspiracy theories that will leave your head spinning, while keeping you completely enthralled.

#4. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

At first this seems like a touching tribute to a deceased father for his kid, but it quickly morphs into a true crime documentary that will leave you sobbing into your throw pillows.

Zachary is the son of the filmmaker’s best friend, Andrew Bagby, who was murdered by Zachary’s mother before the baby was born.

Sadly, that’s not the worst part of the story.

#5. Tickled

Filmmaker David Farrier is a light-entertainment TV journalist from New Zealand, so no one – least of all him – expected what happened as he researched “competitive endurance tickling.”

If you think that sounds slightly naughty, well, that’s because it is, and Farrier’s requests for information from the company behind the videos, Jane O’Brien Media, are met with open and increasing homophobic hostility.

As Farrier keeps digging and multiple former employees air their dirty laundry, you’ll start to wonder what the heck you’re watching – and you’ll have no idea until the end.

#6. Shooting Bigfoot

You might think that legends like Bigfoot are total bunk, but when you start to hear the respected scientists who are iffy on the subject, it’s not hard to begin re-thinking what you “know.”

The premise of this 2013 documentary was to shine a light on the Sasquatch-hunter subculture but the filmmaker, Morgan Matthews, ended up kind of, sort of…believing?

#7. 9/11

It starts off as a story about a young firefighter at the start of his career and ends you can guess where – but French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet tell the story in such a way that you’re still shocked by the footage, which is one of only three recordings of the actual collision of American Airlines Flight 11 into the Twin Towers.

I’ve got some more TV to watch!

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