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?
When it comes to Disney movies, there are so many beloved classics that’s it hard to keep track of all of them. Years and years of groundbreaking, memorable films that defined the childhoods of millions of people.
…And then there are these Disney films. The other ones. The ones that history has consigned to the dollar bin.
Frankly, I didn’t even really know that any of these existed, but I guess you can’t produce only hits all the time, right?
Take a look at these 15 Disney movies that you most likely have never even heard of.
You’ve probably watched most of the classic horror movies that pop up around the Halloween season, but unless you’re a fanatic, you might have missed a bunch of lesser-known creepy movies that offer big scares.
Try these underrated horror movies on for size.
These suggestions come to us from the Buzzfeed community…and I added a couple of my own personal favorites on at the end.
1. 1408 (2007)
“1408 is really good, and the theatrical ending is way better than the original. It’s such an underrated movie.”
2. Funny Games (2007)
“Funny Games should definitely be on this list! It’s so creepy and after seeing it, the sound of a golf ball dropping on a hardwood floor STILL gets to me.”
3. Absentia (2011)
“If you’re looking for low-key, atmospheric horror, here it is.”
4. Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
“I’m a huge horror movie fan, and when I saw Trick ‘r Treat I thought it would be a mediocre horror movie. But boy was I wrong, it’s brilliant! It has a campy feel to it but it was just as intense as most horror movies.”
5. The Evil Dead (1981)
“The Evil Dead is the best cult classic of horror. The effects are campy but creepy as hell and the next two in the trilogy take it to the next level. Seriously, Evil Dead is one of the only horror movies I can watch on repeat. Sam Raimi is a genius.”
6. Contagion (2011)
“I know it’s only rated PG-13, but the most terrifying part about this movie is how realistic it is!”
7. The Fourth Kind (2009)
“It’s about aliens and probably won’t scare everyone who watches it, but it’s definitely the movie that kept me up the longest. I’ve seen the classics, but this one still gives me chills when I think about it.”
8. Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero (2014)
“It’s an unspoken rule with horror that sequels suck, but Cabin Fever 3 is an exception. It’s gory, intense, clever, and pretty much everything a horror movie should be.”
9. The Mist (2007)
“This movie isn’t scary because of what’s in the mist, but because of how all the survivors turned on each other. That’s what truly scared me the most. Seeing The Mist was also one of the few times I’ve been open-mouth shocked at an ending.”
10. Creep (2004)
“Creep is a British film based in the tunnels of the London Underground. It terrified me when I first saw it and still does now.”
11. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
“This movie is brilliantly scary. It’s a South Korean horror film about a girl returning to her family home following a stay in a psychiatric unit. One of the scariest scenes features the main character’s sister hearing a strange noise in the middle of the night and hiding under the covers. Without cutting away from her on the bed, we hear the door open, footsteps towards the bed, then see the blankets pulled down away from her face. It’s honestly terrifying, gorgeously shot, and has such a great twist ending.”
12. Monsters (2010)
“It flew way under the radar and was unfairly brushed off as a poor-man’s Cloverfield, but this is a must-see. This film is a good chronicle of two characters trying to survive something much bigger than themselves, and it really wins during the last half hour. It’s beautiful, scary, and surprisingly thought provoking.”
13. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
“The 1978 version with Donald Sutherland is the creepiest atmospheric sci-fi horror film I’ve ever seen!”
14. Final Destination 3 (2006)
“Everybody needs to see Final Destination 3. The rest are pretty meh, but the third installment totally revolutionizes the horror genre. There’s no movie like it!”
15. Shutter (2004)
“Horror movies don’t scare me too easily, but the one horror movie that seriously freaked me out was The Shutter. This horror movie freaked me and my sister out so much that she couldn’t sleep for a week. I watched it years ago, and the name Natre still freaks me out.”
16. Hide and Seek (2005)
“Hide and Seek with Dakota Fanning and Robert De Niro was such a well thought out movie. The whole thing is really suspenseful and keeps your mind going. It’s a different kind of horror than most and I absolutely loved it. It’s definitely a must see.”
17. Pulse (2006)
“In an era where people are so reliant on technology and Wi-Fi, the movie Pulse really hits you hard.”
18. Dead Silence (2007)
“The movie is a mix of horrifying dolls and unexpected plot twists. I watched it when I was about 13 or 14 and had nightmares for months afterwards. To this day it’s still the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.”
And here are a couple that I recommend…
19. High Tension (2003)
Two friends retreat to the countryside in France and are stalked by a psycho killer hell-bent on killing them and anyone else who gets in his way. Creepy!
20. Angel Heart (1987)
Mickey Rourke plays a 1950s private eye who is hired to track down a singer that disappeared in Times Square after World War II ended. A really creepy, atmospheric film that sees Rourke travel through the seedy underworld of New York and New Orleans.
Top Gun was produced in collaboration with the Pentagon to rebrand the US military’s image post-Vietnam war, and attract new Navy recruits. Top Gun was the first full-blown collaboration between Hollywood and the US military.
Is there anything better than a good coming-of-age movie?
Actually, maybe they’re tied with horror movies in my book, but that means a heck of a lot.
I have some favorites of my own I’d like to rattle off: This Boy’s Life, Stand by Me, Heaven Help Us, Mischief, The Monster Squad to name just a few. But let’s be real – the list goes on and on.
“It may be an adaptation of a Stephen King novella but the movie is just beautiful. I love how those friendships shaped their lives and helped them realize what they were trying to do was actually just really sad and depressing. It’s definitely something I recommend to everyone.”
2. The Edge of Seventeen
“Watching it when I was 16/17 really helped me because how Nadine felt was exactly what I went through. Being 17 is awkward and you’re unsure of everything and you feel like the world might end. Even though I just graduated high school, I’m still going through the motions but it’s good to feel like you aren’t alone.”
3. The Way Way Back
“The Way, Way Back has it all! A great cast, great soundtrack, and the best coming-of-age story I’ve seen from a film in a long time. The main character, Duncan, is all of us as awkward teenagers and we get to see him come into his own in the most realistic way — AKA without a major character death or similarly scarring event.”
4. Now and Then
“I’ve watched Now and Then probably 20 times. It shows that everyone is going to grow up on their own path, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t be friends. It also makes me wish I grew up in a time without cellphones and internet.”
5. Love, Simon
“It forever holds a special place in my heart and helped me see it was OK to be me.”
6. Lady Bird
“It makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to call your mom. I’ve never felt more represented by any character than I did by Lady Bird. This movie literally changed my life.”
7. Akeelah and the Bee
“It’s about an 11-year-old girl in South LA who dreams of making it the National Spelling Bee despite her mom’s objections.”
8. Tall Girl
“I relate because I’m really tall and I feel lonely a lot.”
9. The Man in the Moon
“It stars a 14-year-old Reese Witherspoon and it’s a beautiful coming-of-age film set in rural Louisiana in the ’50s, and the locations used and score are gorgeous. Plus the movie itself is heartbreaking.”
10. Dirty Dancing
“I wanted to be Baby so bad, I had my mom buy me white Keds and perm my hair. I know every single line from that movie. The resort where the film is set has Dirty Dancing weekends, I think I gotta find my Johnny and go.”
11. Kids
“It’s a super dark and dramatically depressing story about tweens growing up in a New York suburb. The lesson at the end is so powerful it just makes you break down and cry. It’s hard to watch some stuff, but it’s truly what happens in places like that and everywhere for that matter.”
12. Mermaids
“Winona Ryder as Charlotte, an awkward teenage girl growing up in the ’60s, shares the perfect coming-of-age story. Her inner dialogue is GOLD. Cher plays her glamorous eccentric mother and young Christina Ricci is so cute as her little sister. So classic.”
13. My Girl
“My mom will tell you when I was a little girl and home sick from school for a few days, I would watch it, rewind it, and watch it all over again! She said I would repeat the words.”
14. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is another John Hughes masterpiece that shows that sometimes you just need to have fun, otherwise you could miss the best things in life.”
15. The Sandlot
“I grew up watching The Sandlot. Now my sons are growing up watching The Sandlot! It’s heartfelt without being sappy. It’s timeless and funny. It’s just always a winner!”
Have you ever lost sleep because a film disturbed you? I saw the original version of The Evil Dead when I was about 7 years old, and it was pretty traumatic.
But I also loved it, and I’m a horror movie fanatic to this day!
In this article, people share the films that bothered them so much they kept them up at night.
“I didn’t sleep with the lights off OR shower with the curtain fully closed for weeks after seeing this. I was forced to watch this during a sleepover, and it was the last time I ever let myself get pressured into watching a horror movie. I ‘noped’ the heck out of there so hard after the movie ended, I even called my parents and faked being sick to have them come get me.”
2. Us (2019)
“This movie literally made me pee my pants. I was part of a film club at my high school, and we watched this for Halloween. I’m usually a wimp about stuff like this, but I wanted to watch it and get over my fear. Bad idea. When it got to the part where the family was standing in the driveway and they suddenly moved, I actually screamed. It wasn’t until the period ended and we turned the lights back on that one of my friends yelled, ‘Hey! Did you pee your pants?!’ The whole class saw and I had to tie a sweater around my waist for the rest of the day! I still haven’t lived it down.”
3. Midsommar (2019)
“I watched the 9 p.m. showing of this with some friends and literally stayed up all night, cuddled in a blanket, sitting in a well-lit room, watching Bob’s Burgers until the sun came up.”
4. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
“It was all funny and laughing until the movie was over and my brother and I realized we were alone…in our house in the middle of the woods…at night. And we couldn’t figure out what kept setting off the motion detector light in our driveway. Yeah, neither of us got any sleep that night.”
5. The Orphanage (2007)
“Spoilers: There’s a terrifying scene where a woman gets hit by a car and her face gets deformed, but that’s nothing compared to the twist ending. I had to look at pictures of dogs on my phone for over an hour before I could even think about trying to go to sleep.”
6. Martyrs (2008)
“The word ‘disturbing’ doesn’t even come close to describing it. It shook me up for a while!”
7. Saw (2004)
“I saw it with a group of friends in the theater when it was first released. It was so disturbing, I had to sleep on my mom’s floor that night. I was 16 years old.”
8. It Follows (2014)
“The soundtrack and premise work together to create a very unsettling atmosphere for me. I watched it late at night and then went to sleep, but then my dog started barking for no reason at, like, 3 a.m., and I woke up thinking the entity was outside my door. It was pretty hard to sleep after that.”
9. The Fourth Kind (2009)
“The ‘actual footage’ shown next to the movie footage freaked me out so much that my then-boyfriend (now-husband) had to stay the night because I was NOT about to sleep alone. I have yet to watch it again.”
10. The Grudge (2004)
“I saw this when I was 10 and was scarred for, like, six months. Not being able to sleep was bad, but I was even more afraid to shower because of the scene where the hand grabs Sarah Michelle Gellar’s head while she’s washing her hair. I would always wash my hair with my eyes wide open and risk getting shampoo in my eyes because I was too scared to close them.”
11. Silent Hill (2006)
“This was the very first horror movie I ever watched. I thought it was going to be fine because I had watched a friend play through the game, which didn’t have the best graphics in the world. Anyway, I had just turned 15 and a bunch of us were at my friend’s place for her birthday, and we watched it. To this day, the air raid siren sounds still freak me right out, and it’s been nearly a decade since I watched it.”
12. REC (2007)
“I love horror movies, but I was so freaked out after I watched this, I drove to sleep at my parents’ house and left my boyfriend and my roommate at my apartment.”
13. The Boy (2016)
“Spoilers: At first I was making jokes about a doll walking around and how ridiculous it would look. Then you find out it’s a psycho living in the wall. That was more disturbing than I could handle, and it still freaks me out to think about that.”
14. Candyman (1992)
“This was the very first horror movie I ever saw. I was having a sleepover with a friend that night, but we did not sleep At ALL, and neither of us would look into a mirror for months afterward.”
15. Fire in the Sky (1993)
“No exaggeration, this movie nearly put me in therapy. I watched it not knowing what it was about, and I already have an irrational fear of aliens. I almost had a heart attack.”
16. Would You Rather (2012)
“It’s about this girl who goes into this ‘game’ to win money, and when she gets there it starts off normal, but then it gets weirder and weirder, until the dares are dangerous…and eventually start killing people. I watched this one night and COULD NOT stop thinking about it when I tried to go to bed.”
17. Eden Lake (2008)
“The kids in that movie were both unbelievably cruel AND realistic. To be a stranger in a strange town and to then be targeted by kids who are protected by their parents is actually pretty frightening. It stayed with me for a long time.”
18. Begotten (1990)
“It’s a surrealist film about the story of creation, and it’s pretty much just those Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book illustrations by Stephen Gammell come to life. Need I say more? It’ll give you nightmares for life.”
19. The Last House on the Left (1972)
“It felt so real and so heartbreaking for the victims in the movie. I couldn’t get it out of my mind for weeks, and it definitely caused me to lose some sleep.”
20. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
“I don’t even remember watching the movie as a child, but I had nightmares for years that there was a giant Freddy Krueger living under the street in front of my house. It was terrifying. I even woke up screaming ‘Help’ one time, and it scared the hell out of my mom and stepdad.”
Share the movies that have kept you up at night in the comments below!
It’s been tough to avoid the press surrounding the release of Joker. Joaquin Phoenix plays the title character, and by all accounts his performance is amazing – but that’s where the positives end for many (although many others seem to have loved it).
Critiques run the gamut, but the bottom line is that a certain section of filmgoers and critics worry that, instead of critiquing the culture that creates mass shooters, Joker glorifies the revenge ideal that fuels many of them.
Now, you’ll have to see the movie for yourself if you want to make up your mind (I doubt it will be a waste of your time, honestly, and could be good fodder for conversation!), but if you’re looking for some internet discourse, well…look no further than these 20 memes.
It’s been tough to avoid the press surrounding the release of Joker. Joaquin Phoenix plays the title character, and by all accounts his performance is amazing – but that’s where the positives end for many (although many others seem to have loved it).
Critiques run the gamut, but the bottom line is that a certain section of filmgoers and critics worry that, instead of critiquing the culture that creates mass shooters, Joker glorifies the revenge ideal that fuels many of them.
Now, you’ll have to see the movie for yourself if you want to make up your mind (I doubt it will be a waste of your time, honestly, and could be good fodder for conversation!), but if you’re looking for some internet discourse, well…look no further than these 20 memes.
For the production of ‘Master and Commander’, Russell Crowe personally bought the violin his character plays in the film as the budget couldn’t spare the expense. He later then sold the violin at auction in 2018 for $104,000.
