With 1000 Women in Horror on its way, here are 3 more documentaries to watch on Shudder
- Carla Davis
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
The new Shudder documentary 1000 Women in Horror will begin streaming later this month, and will join the other horror-related documentaries available on the platform. There are many to choose from, so we will help you narrow it down by offering three excellent choices.
Let’s start by discussing 1000 Women in Horror . The doc promises us “A deep dive into how women pioneers revolutionized horror cinema through their groundbreaking work as directors, actors and creators since 1895, leaving an indelible mark on the genre’s evolution.”
The new doc will include interviews with important women in the genre, including Akela Cooper, Roxanne Benjamin, Mary Harron, Annalise Lackhart, Gig Saul Guerrero, Kate Siegel, Jenn Wexler, and many more.
Now on to a few other horror documentaries you can catch on Shudder!
My Amityville Horror – There are a lot of documentaries out there dealing with the “true” story of that house at 112 Ocean Avenue. Some place focus on the very real murders committed by Ronald Defeo, some deal with George and Kathy Lutz and their claims of the extreme haunting activity they experienced at the house, some cover both.
My Amityville Horror is unique in that it explores the Lutz family’s time in the Amityville house as told by Danny, their oldest son. He was nine years old when the family moved into the house, where they stayed for only 28 days before fleeing and claiming the place was haunted.
Daniel Lutz was 45 years old when My Amityville Horror was filmed, and you can tell he remains traumatized by whatever happened in his young, impressionable years. He claims the stories of the haunting on Ocean Avenue are true, despite the fact that a lot of George and Kathy’s depictions were debunked and they are widely seen as people looking for attention and money.
Daniel’s story is truly compelling and heart-wrenching, because he claims that George (his stepfather) was not a good, kind man. He clearly believes everything he tells us in this documentary, leading us to wonder if his lifelong trauma was caused by George, the violent haunting activity at the house, or possibly both.
Sharksploitation – When the film Jaws opened in theatres on June 20, 1975, a whole new horror genre was born. Fifty years later, Jaws is still held sacred in the hearts of horror fans, and many, many films have been inspired by it.
That’s what Sharksploitation is all about. While it justly spends a lot of time covering the phenomenon of Jaws, it also introduces us to the few shark films that came before it, and the many that came after.
Make no mistake, just because a film is about a shark, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good film, and Sharksploitation fully acknowledges that fact. But honestly, even though they may lack the gripping intensity or emotional depth of Jaws, the Sharknado films are a no-brainer blast!
Sharksploitation features interviews with the creative minds behind many of the shark movies, some behind the scenes footage and interesting trivia, but it also includes commentary with conservationists and scientists who study sharks.
Cursed Films – OK, this one is a little bit of a cheat, because it’s not a documentary per se, it’s a docuSERIES. But it’s a really good one, and well worth investing your time in. It “explores the myths and legends behind some of Hollywood’s notoriously “cursed” horror film productions.”
Cursed Films is an easy binge, because each episode runs at a lean 30 – 45 minutes, and with only two 5-episode seasons, it’s not a huge time investment. Plus, these stories are really interesting!
In the first season, we get the chance to hear the very real tragedies that surrounded The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, The Crow, and Twilight Zone: The Movie. Season two discusses The Wizard of Oz (NOT a horror movie, by the way), Rosemary’s Baby, Stalker, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Cannibal Holocaust. I personally found the first season to be much better than the second.
What I loved the most about Cursed Films was the surprising emotional punch it often packed. I actually cried during the segment dealing with the tragic death of young Heather O’Rourke (Carol Anne in Poltergeist), as well as those that discussed Brandon Lee’s horrific death on the set of The Crow, and the shocking deaths of Vic Morrow and two child actors when a helicopter landed on them during filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Be warned that the footage of the helicopter incident is actually shown, which was quite upsetting.
I hope you enjoy these documentaries if you haven’t already seen them – writing about them actually made me want to watch them again!
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