My top 10 favorite documentary films

Keeping with the theme of documentaries I started in my last review here's a list of documentary films I highley reccomend checking out. I know this might not be a list for everyone due to the subject matter some of these cover, but I hope you'll enjoy these nonetheless.

Documentaries are a genre I grew up with. I could watch countless hours of shows and movies about various topics, from history and animals to science and mythology. And that love never truly died, despite opening up to fiction in recent years. Here's a list of various documentary films I've seen over the years that I believe fall into the category of the best I've seen.

10.) Cropsey (2009)

Starting off with a documentary fairly well known in true crime circles. Cropsey focuses on the case of Andre Rand, a Staten Island school janitor who abducted several children and murdered some of them. The case would become the source of the Cropsey urban legend, about a murderous janitor with a burnt face, made famous by the the 1982 slasher flick The Burning. This documentary has a very damp dreary atmosphere which conveys the feeling of dread and paranoia the children must have faced during these horrific events. Excelent watch for both true crime nerds and urban legend geeks.

9.) Ghosts on the underground (2005)

Let's move away from known reality for a bit and take a look at what hides on the other side. The Tube is the oldest and probably the most iconic underground railway system in the world, it's been a star of many horror and mystery movies and shows (Sherlock, Creep, An American werewolf in London, Mission Impossible etc.). Naturally a place like that will give birth to all sorts of legends and spooks roaming around. This documentary discusses the various sightings of ghosts and spectres during it's rich and vast history. It's a very unique film within it's own genre as well as it doesn't feature any alleged fottage of these ghosts or have any reenactments which is quite refreshing and makes the viewer think. Overall it's an excelent flick which I give a watch to anyone interested in the paranormal.

8.) In search of darkness (2019)

To stick to the spooky theme most of the list will be based on here's a great little find I watch every October. Now I love horror (if it wasn't hard to guess), so this was a terrific and geniuenly informative ride through the decade that formed the genre. This four hour long extrvaganza discusses the rich and booming industry of 1980s Hollywood horror in excruciating detail. From classics like Hellraiser to cult films like Creepshow and even the ones you probably never heard off like Monkey Shines. Whilst there are decades in horror I personally preffer to the 80s (30s, 70s, 90s and early 2000's to be exact), I still loved watching this, it introduced me to some new movie experiances (be that for better or for worse) and improved my knowledge on the things I knew off and loved. Overall it's an excelent flick I highley suggest checking out if you're a fan of horror history. In 2022 it spawned a sequel called In search of tommorow which deals with 80s scifi boom. I haven't had the opportunity to check that one out yet, but I'm pretty sure I will at some point in... THE FUTURE!!!!!!!

7.) Winter on fire: Ukraine's fight for freedom (2015)

Let's stray away from fun and get serious for a moment...

In the midst of the current situation regarding Ukraine I believe it's quite important to provide some support to it's mighty nation. The best way to start offering support is to understand the current circumstances first. This excelent 2015 Netflix documentary details the Euromaidan protests, a series of demonstraitions which took place from 2014 to 2015 on the Maidan square in Kyiv and delt with the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, refusing entrance into the EU. It's a harrowing look within one of the most important events in Ukrainian history (which inspired countless songs and other forms of media as well) and I reccomend this to absolutley everyone during this time.

6.) Scariest monsters in America (2022)

Let's get back to the less brutal realms shall we? This Tubi original film was just a perfect film which came at a perfect time, as I was feeling pretty down in the dumps. I love urban legends and cryptozoology and I've seen a plethora of documentaries discussing those (most are on this list). This one doesn't offer anything new to the table if you're already familiar with these tales, but it's a fun ride, and, even as someone who never grew up with these tales, it felt kinda nostalgic. If you're looking for a documentary that teaches you about folklore, but at the same time has a lot of entertainment value as a film itself and you can easily watch it with half of your brain turned off I reccomend giving this one a quick look.

5.) The Nightmare (2015)

Phew, boy, remember how I said the last one was an easy watch? Yeah this is the complete opposite. Kicking off the top five is a little indie documentary about sleep paralysis. For the few that aren't big into the psychologycal circles, it's a phenomena of people suddenly loosing the abbility to move during their sleep, usually followed by disturbing hallucinations. It was the inspiration behind countless books movies and tv shows, for example Mara (which, oddly enough, came out the exact same year) starring Olga Kurylenko.This documentary explores eyewitness accounts of the phenomena and the recollections of their visits to the most terrifying place in existence; the human mind. Despite this being a documentary, believe me when I say that this is one of the scariest films I've ever seen. Proceed with caution.

4.) The Bridge (2006)

So from one depressing topic to another, eh? Another one I don't reccomend if you're easily triggered by heavy subject matter.

This bleak masterpiece concerns the numerous suicides at the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. It even flatout depicts some of them happening. Before you judge the crew they made it pretty clear that they tried their best to help the person if they could. It's a harsh, cold and unrelenting take on one of the world's most iconic places showing expertly that there are always two sides to the same coin, with some shots which will haunt you forever. A work of absolute genious.

3.) Beware the Slenderman (2016)

Mixing the styles of a true crime documentary and an urban legend expose this terrifying piece of filmmaking discusses the 2014 Slenderman stabbing, where two girls attempted to sacrifice their friend to this faceless fiend. Luckily she mananged to survive and the story became an international sensation. Just like with The Nightmare I was geniuenly disturbed by this one. Seeing these girls firmly believing they had to commit this inhuman, monstrous act is equal parts sickening and sad. It's a wild ride of emotions that sticks with you even months after finishing the film itself.

2.) Killer legends (2014)

You probbaly figured out that I love urban legends by now a lot haha? Coming to us from the same production company that brought to life the Cropsey documentary, here's another true crime doc about urban legends, this one takes several well known campfire stories and discusses various real life cases which influenced the birth of these legends. This documentary was an accidental find for me, and I don't regret it in the slightest. It gives stories we all thought actually happened as children some gravitas in reality showing that life can sometimes be just as strange or even far stranger than fiction. It's an excelent watch for folklore enthusiasts and true crime buffs alike and I can't reccomend it enough into anyone who likes geniuenly disturbing documentaries.

1.) Stieg Larsson: the man who played with fire (2019)

As most of my constant readers are aware I am a massive fan of Stieg Larsson's trilogy of neo-noir trilogy of novels known collectivley as the Millennium trilogy. This documentary shines the light on the man behind the phenomena. His lifelong struggle against neonazism and other horros plagueing Sweden at the time and ow he wasn't afraid to risk his own life and safety just so he could show the truth. It's a geniuenly melancholic and depressing watch, however it's also incredibly onspiring and powerful, showing that even the most ordinary people can sometimes make a difference. This made Larsson a personal hero of mine and I truly belive that everyone who gives this documentary will walk away completley changed. Not to mention it' directed by director of Bron (The Bridge), the world renowned Scandinavian neo-noir crime thriller, and he really does justice to the man who started this genre.