Editorials
Stay Home, Watch Horror: 5 Documentaries For the Horror Fan to Stream This Week
If there’s one thing horror fans like almost as much as watching horror movies, it’s learning about their favorite movies. There’s no shortage of fantastic horror-themed documentaries that provide insight and detailed accounts about the making of horror’s finest. Lengthy docs like Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy and Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th provide expansive historical context to our favorite franchises. Both are on Shudder, and both serve as great gateways into the ever-growing world of horror documentaries. With the upcoming June 4 release of Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street on Shudder, we’re dedicating this week’s picks to documentaries for the horror fan.
These five feature-length documentaries offer something for all tastes, from deep-dives into classic films and filmmakers to shedding light on a horror fan’s favorite Halloween pastime.
As always, all are available to stream now…
King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen – Shudder
The title says it all; this documentary spotlights the work of maverick genre filmmaker Larry Cohen. The “wild” isn’t hyperbole either; Cohen’s fearless attitude and often guerilla filmmaking style made for a one-of-a-kind auteur that can’t be replicated. His career is told through a series of riveting interviews with notable talking heads like Martin Scorsese, Michael Moriarty, Fred Williamson, J.J. Abrams, Cohen himself, and many more. With a career that spanned 50 years, there’s a lot of ground to cover. King Cohen makes it seem effortless, including all the highlights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes of Cohen faves like The Stuff, Q: The Winged Serpent, and beyond.
Haunters: The Art of the Scare – Prime Video, Shudder, Tubi
Ah, Halloween. The most wonderful time of the year. Jon Schnitzer’s vibrant doc delves into the subculture surrounding a major seasonal staple- the haunt. While it features a slew of notable talking heads, Haunters focuses on the distinct branches of this subculture through three central storylines. They follow home haunter Donald Julson, the unhinged Russ McKamey and the world’s most controversial extreme haunt, along with legendary scare actor Shar Mayer providing the beating heart of the film. This doc is as much an examination of what drives a person to dedicate themselves to the haunt as it is a celebration. If you’re missing Halloween, this is a must.
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau – Prime Video
1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau was a catastrophe from start to finish. This documentary chronicles the disastrous production, from horrible creative decisions and extreme weather conditions, to cast and crew upheaval. As the title indicates, it focuses on original director Richard Stanley’s journey with what was meant to be his ideal dream project as he faced continuous, insurmountable obstacles that eventually led to his firing only three days into filming. Yet, what transpires on screen is far more insane and unbelievable than anything I’ve written here. Lost Soul details how the Hollywood system chewed up Stanley and spit him out, explaining his long absence from the spotlight until Color Out of Space. It does it in the most captivating way possible.
Memory: The Origins of Alien – Crackle
This examination of a horror classic comes from Alexandre O. Phillipe, who previously brought us the comprehensive 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene (currently available on Hulu). Phillipe turns his laser focus to the chest-bursting scene in Alien. Instead of a technical breakdown, he embarks on a philosophical and mythological journey into the origins of the creative process. An academic approach, Phillipe weaves together the film’s influences, the visions of H.R. Giger and writer Dan O’Bannon, and even the emotions of the actors involved in the critical scene. The atypical approach means it’s the least accessible pick on this list, but it’s perfect for those who appreciate a vastly different, ideological angle on an oft explored subject.
Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue – Tubi
Written by Joseph Maddrey and based on his book, Nightmares works as a history lesson on horror. More specifically, the documentary breaks down horror by decade, exploring the correlation between the movies and how they reflected the era in which they were made. From wartime anxieties to counterculture, this doc brings interesting context to our favorites. Narrated by Lance Henriksen, look for a revolving door of notable genre filmmakers like John Carpenter, George A. Romero, Joe Dante, Larry Cohen, Mick Garris, Brian Yuzna, and Roger Corman. The broad overview structure means it doesn’t go too in-depth, meaning that it may not be as informative for the already well-versed horror fan. But for an introductory social and history lesson on horror’s evolution, constructed in a highly entertaining manner and chock full of nostalgia, it’s a well-rounded doc worth watching.
The past decade or so has seen a lot of online discourse about how comic-book movies popularized multiversal crossovers on the big screen. However, the truth is that the horror genre has been bringing fan-favorite characters together since before cinematic universes were even a thing.
From the iconic Universal Monsters to more recent match-ups like Freddy vs Jason, genre fans have always enjoyed seeing their favorite characters duke it out like blood-soaked professional wrestlers. While the movies can only occasionally offer us this kind of entertainment due to the inherent legal complications involved in convincing different studios to relinquish the rights to their precious IPs, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of entertaining crossovers in other media (as well as some lesser-known movies that manage to skirt legal issues).
With that in mind, I’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating five underrated horror crossovers from different mediums. After all, genre fans might be surprised to learn about what the cenobites have been up to in the literary world, and plenty of our favorite “dead” franchises are still alive and well in the world of comic books.
That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite crossovers if you think we missed a particularly underrated one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. Hack/Slash (2004-2018)
A lot of crossover comics treat these events as semi-canonical spin-offs that usually have little bearing on the overarching plot of the main story, but this definitely wasn’t the case with Tim Seeley’s fan-favorite Hack/Slash. Every time Cassie and Vlad came across a familiar character such as Chucky, Ash Williams, and even Jeffrey Combs’ incarnation of Herbert West, the writers made a point of expanding the comic’s mythology in order to permanently incorporate elements from each different series.
In fact, one Redditor even compiled all of the different horror franchises that coexist under the Hack/Slash umbrella, and the comic actually serves as the quasi-official home to a veritable army of scary movies!
Of course, we can only hope that the rumored live-action adaptation continues this trend of honoring the iconic slashers of yesteryear…
4. Scoobynatural (2018)
Possibly the last truly great episode of Supernatural, this unexpected crossover event put demon hunting brothers Sam and Dean smack-dab in the middle of the classic Scooby-Doo caper A Night of Fright is No Delight! The best part is that this officially licensed adventure manages to blend both live-action and animation in order to tell a meta story that’s sure to thrill fans of either franchise.
Unfortunately, while the crossover was a highly promoted television event back in 2018, it aired towards the end of the internet’s love affair with Supernatural. At that point, many of the series’ long-time fans had already jumped ship and never got the chance to enjoy one of the show’s best episodes.
That’s why I’d urge genre fans to revisit this standalone adventure even if they have no interest in watching the rest of the series!
3. Terrordrome: Reign of the Legends (2018)
The original Terrordrome was one of my all-time favorite fan-games, but the folks at Huracan Studios were painfully aware that they could never turn that nasty roster of licensed characters into a proper fighting franchise. That’s why it makes sense that the spiritual sequel to Rise of the Bogeymen only features public-domain monsters and killers.
While it lacks easily recognizable icons like Jason and Leatherface, a new game engine and years of updates have transformed Reign of the Legends into a superior product. Despite the rudimentary 3D graphics, there are undeniable thrills to be found in beating the snot out of Sasquatch while playing as Bloody Mary, and I’ve spent way more time on the multiplayer mode than I’d care to admit.
2. Monster Brawl (2011)
Another public domain standoff between iconic horror titans that are no longer owned by studios, Jesse Thomas Cook’s wrestling-themed thriller remains one of the most creative takes on a creature-feature that I’ve ever seen. In this ambitious low-budget production, audiences are treated to a supernatural wrestling event featuring fan-favorite monsters like Frankenstein, The Mummy and even a handful of freaks from Greek mythology.
While the flick often feels more like an especially spooky pay-per-view event rather than a proper movie, wrestling fans are sure to have a blast with Cook’s fiendish sense of humor as well as some surprisingly well-choreographed knockouts.
1. Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell (2016)
Paul Kane is already a fan-favorite author among Hellraiser fans, with the English writer having been involved in everything from the incredibly fun Hellbound Hearts anthology to the non-fiction classic The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy. That being said, my personal favorite example of Kane’s work is the criminally underread crossover Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell.
A loving pastiche that brings Clive Barker and Arthur Conan Doyle together for a blood-splattered good time, this unique novel could only have been made by a writer with intricate knowledge of both the Sherlock stories and Hellraiser’s in-depth mythology. That’s why I’d recommend it to discerning horror fans craving a more investigative take on the cenobites!
You must be logged in to post a comment.