Sounding like a gathering of handsome medical professional, Hot Docs is in fact the premier destination for the best in international documentary film.  Usually a place to explore the darker side of real life human stories that are more grisly than any horror, a few genre based docs have joined the line up.  Here’s what to seek out from the 23rd edition taking place in Toronto, Canada next month.  Ticket & other info for the festival can be found at www.hotdocs.ca.

Fear Itself

Filmmaker Charlie Lyne returns to Hot Docs with his latest documentary, assembled entirely from horror films. Selecting obscure classics and recent hits spanning several decades and originating from countless countries, Lyne explores whether horror movies know us better than we know ourselves. “You feel the fear before you can make sense of it,” ruminates our female guide, who shares personal stories of real-world horror via voiceover. Reminiscent of the genre’s final girl trope, she provides the only voice we hear, giving hypnotic meaning to the images on screen, and to her own feelings of terror off screen. Expert editing of the film clips builds fantastic tension and atmosphere, separate from but connected to the source material, and creates a narrative all its own. Fear Itself shows that we can most be ourselves in the dark, where fear and horror are a part of us, not outside of us. Angie Driscoll

Beware the Slenderman

Lurking in the shadows of the Internet, a faceless modern-day bogeyman has attracted the attention and fear of a young generation who whisper his name online. Slenderman lives on the dark pages of the web, where impressionable youth create and cultivate his mythos in message boards, YouTube clips and various other digital incantations. But the online fairy tale becomes a shocking real-life horror as two 12-year-old girls, guided by their devotion to Slenderman, lure their friend into the woods to attempt a seemingly inexplicable, brutal murder. From the depths of one the Internet’s most unsettling creations to the court case that must consider the consequences, Beware the Slenderman brings to light questions of accountability in an age where young, growing minds are only a few clicks away from creating and consuming something that may influence them to commit unspeakable crimes. Gabor Pertic

De Palma

One of the most talented, influential and iconoclastic filmmakers of all time, Brian De Palma started his career in the 1960s. It has included such acclaimed and diverse films as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito’s Way and Mission: Impossible. In this lively and unexpectedly moving documentary, directors Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow engage in a personal and candid discussion with De Palma, exploring not only his life and work but also his singular approach to the craft of filmmaking. Touching on his remarkable experiences navigating the film business, from his early days as the bad boy of New Hollywood to his more recent years as a respected veteran of the field, what emerges is a funny and incisive portrait of a truly one-of-a-kind artist. It’s an exhilarating look at the last 50 years of film through the eyes of someone who’s truly seen it all. Shane Smith

American Movie

In this beloved cult classic from 1999, director Chris Smith follows the cinematic misadventures of Mark Borchardt, an aspiring indie filmmaker in the blue-collar suburbs of Milwaukee. As Mark struggles to complete Coven, a hilariously lo-fi horror film, Smith tracks his efforts to gain access to the film world and keep his personal demons at bay. With the help of local theatre actors, and $3,000 from his senile Uncle Bill, Mark and loyal sidekick Mike Schank try to use their low-budget schlockfest to launch their big screen careers—only to be derailed by Mark’s burgeoning alcoholism and the ineptitude of the family and friends on their production team. Hot Docs is proud to present this Sundance Award–winning doc in partnership with the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, which has named American Movie the recipient of its 2016 Legacy Award for non-fiction filmmaking. Will Di Novi