What Documentary Shows and Movies to watch on Shudder
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Snowtown
Sixteen-year-old Jamie lives with his mother, Elizabeth, and two younger brothers, Alex and Nicholas, in a housing trust home in Adelaide's northern suburbs. Their home is but one of many sun-starved houses crammed together to cater for a disenfranchised society. Jamie longs for an escape from the violence and hopelessness that surrounds him and his salvation arrives in the form of John, a charismatic man who unexpectedly comes to his aid. As John spends more and more time with Jamie's family, Elizabeth and her boys begin to experience a stability and sense of family that they have never known. John moves from the role of Jamie's protector to that of a mentor, indoctrinating Jamie into his world, a world brimming with bigotry, righteousness and malice. Like a son mimicking his father, Jamie soon begins to take on some of John's traits and beliefs as he spends more and more time with him and his select group of friends. The protection and guidance that John presents to Jamie is initially welcomed however as events occur around him, including the disappearance of several people, Jamie begins to harbour deep suspicions about John and his motivations. When the truth is finally revealed to Jamie his hopes of happiness are threatened by both his loyalty for, and fear of, John, his father-figure. The story is taken from real facts that occured in Australia.

The Convert
Lee Tamahori’s action-filled historical epic stars Guy Pearce as Thomas Munro, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand who finds himself at the center of a long-standing battle between two Māori tribes.

The Devil's Bath
Austria in the 18th century. Forests surround villages. Killing a baby gets a woman sentenced to death. Agnes readies for married life with her beloved. But her mind and heart grow heavy. A gloomy path alone, evil thoughts arising.

Mary Shelley
The torrid true-life tale of how a passionate love affair fueled the creation of trailblazing writer Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterwork, Frankenstein. Elle Fanning stars.

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror
A look at the history of black horror films and the role of African Americans in the film genre from the very beginning.

Gwen
Gwen is a young girl desperately trying to hold her home together – struggling with her mother's mysterious illness, her father's absence and a ruthless mining company encroaching on their land. As a growing darkness begins to take grip of her home, the local community grows suspicious and turns on Gwen and her family.

Footprints on the Moon: Apollo 11
Theatrically released documentary on the Apollo 11 moon landing, issued barely two months after its completion, combining footage from Houston's Space Center, Florida's Cape Kennedy, and aboard the shuttle itself.

Cursed Films
Cursed Films is a five part documentary series which explores the myths and legends behind some of Hollywood's notoriously cursed horror film productions.

The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time
In this eight-episode new series from the producers of Eli Roth's History of Horror, master filmmakers and genre experts celebrate and dissect the most terrifying moments of the greatest horror films ever made, exploring how these scenes were created and why they burned themselves into the brains of audiences around the world.

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED explores the folk horror phenomenon from its beginnings in a trilogy of films - Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General (1968), Piers Haggard's Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man (1973) - through its proliferation on British television in the 1970s and its culturally specific manifestations in American, Asian, Australian and European horror, to the genre's revival over the last decade. Touching on over 100 films and featuring over 50 interviewees, WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED investigates the many ways that we alternately celebrate, conceal and manipulate our own histories in an attempt to find spiritual resonance in our surroundings.

Room 237
A subjective documentary that explores the numerous theories about the hidden meanings within Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining (1980). The film may be over 30 years old but it continues to inspire debate, speculation, and mystery. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments. Together they'll draw the audience into a new maze, one with endless detours and dead ends, many ways in, but no way out.

Swallow
Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession before it's too late.

Brooklyn 45
Set on a freezing evening in December 1945, as five military veterans gather together in the ornate parlour of a Brooklyn brownstone. Best friends since childhood, they have reunited to support their troubled host - but when his invitation for cocktails turns into an impromptu séance, the metaphoric ghosts of their past become all too literal.

Sharksploitation
In the wake of the blockbuster classic Jaws (1975), a new subgenre was born. This documentary explores the weird, wild cinematic legacy of sharks on film and the world's undying fascination.

King on Screen
1976, Brian de Palma directs Carrie, the first novel by Stephen King. Since, more than 50 directors adapted the master of horror's books, in more than 80 films and series, making him now, the most adapted author still alive in the world . What's so fascinating with him that the directors can't stop adapt his books ? The feature documentary KING ON SCREEN reunites filmmakers that have adapted Stephen King's books for cinema and TV. In the cast, more than 25 directors, including Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Walking Dead), Tom Holland (The Langoliers, Chucky), Mick Garris (The Stand, Sleepwalkers) and Taylor Hackford (Dolores Claiborne, Ray). It is a movie made for the fans and with the fans, led by an international ambition.

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, LEAP OF FAITH explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin's mind's eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.

The Found Footage Phenomenon
The Found Footage Phenomenon is an independent documentary charting the origins of the found footage sub-genre, tracking it through to the technique's current form, and asking what the future is.

My Amityville Horror
For the first time in 35 years, Daniel Lutz recounts his version of the infamous Amityville haunting that terrified his family in 1975. George and Kathleen Lutz's story went on to inspire a best-selling novel and the subsequent films have continued to fascinate audiences today. This documentary reveals the horror behind growing up as part of a world famous haunting and while Daniel's facts may be other's fiction, the psychological scars he carries are indisputable. Documentary filmmaker, Eric Walter, has combined years of independent research into the Amityville case along with the perspectives of past investigative reporters and eyewitnesses, giving way to the most personal testimony of the subject to date.

Primal Screen
Primal Screen is a documentary about a person's childhood fear of ventriloquist dummies and dolls due to the uncanny valley.

In Search of Darkness Part II: The Journey Into '80s Horror Continues
In Search of Darkness: Part II features more critical takes, insider tales, and unheard anecdotes from the largest cast of horror legends ever assembled. This perfect companion to the original In Search of Darkness is filled with new stories and insights into the films you love from the legends that made them.

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
Karloff is best known for his role as “The Monster” in the classic horror films Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). This documentary examines his extraordinary 60-year career in the entertainment industry, as well as his continuing influence as a horror icon.

Dario Argento: Panico
Dario Argento wrote his most famous films inside hotels, completely isolating himself from external reality and immersing himself in his own nightmares. After many years, advised by his agent, he decides to go back to a hotel to finish his new screenplay and to be interviewed, filmed and followed by a crew that is shooting a film about him. Within this structure, a wellness center very far from the distressing places that characterize the cinema of the master of horror, Argento does not feel at ease and has difficulty both in finding the peace necessary to finish the screenplay, and in confiding the his secrets to the crew who are interviewing him. But the demon of cinema, who has never abandoned him, will once again push him to give himself totally.

Spookers
As night falls at Spookers, dozens of seemingly ordinary people become freaks, zombies and chainsaw-wielding clowns. Every weekend come rain, hail or shine, this diverse group of amateur performers unite to terrify punters at the southern hemisphere's largest scream park, situated in a former psychiatric hospital. Director Florian Habicht reveals the transformative and paradoxically lifesaving power of belonging to a community that celebrates fear.
