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Movies & TV

25th Sep 2021

The five best true crime documentaries to watch on Netflix this weekend

Eva-Rose Price

best true crime documentaries to watch on Netflix

If you’re a true crime documentary fan and haven’t seen these, you need to rectify that immediately.

Gruesome crimes with horrendous stories and perpetrators for some reason lead to spine-tingling documentaries that we just cannot seem to stop watching.

The insatiable appetite for the genre – which can probably be traced back to the runaway success of crime podcast Serial – has only grown in recent years since the release of Making A Murderer.

There are so many options out there to choose from for fans, but here are some scarier-than-fiction documentaries to watch if you are in the mood to be unnerved.

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

Clip via Netflix

Night stalker follows the chilling murders, rapes and kidnappings that shook Los Angeles in 1985. Richard Ramirez was one of America’s most notorious serial killers.

He was hunted down and brought to justice, and Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer tells the story from those most impacted by his crime spree, including interviews with victims, reporters and the officers who caught him.

American Murder: The Family Next Door

Clip via Netflix

American Murder: The Family Next Door brought public attention to the disappearance of Shanann Watts, who was pregnant with her third child, along with her two daughters Bella (aged four) and Celeste (aged three).

The story is told with archival footage, home videos, social media posts and private text messages.

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

Clip via Netflix

The four 60 minute episodes in this series were sourced from over 100 hours of interviews and archival footage of serial killer Ted Bundy.

It also includes interviews with his family, friends, victims and the law enforcement involved with his case. It traces Bundy’s life, crimes, arrests and death in immense detail.

Unsolved Mysteries

Clip via Netflix

This docuseries is brilliant and at times frustrating, as the mysteries remain unsolved so you never really know what happened.

Each episode goes into a mystery that remains unsolved and is shown with different interviews and footage.

A really good-edge-of-the-seat watch.

I am a Killer

Clip via ERiKC3000

In this new show, the killer is at the centre speaking about their disturbing crimes from their own point of view.

Across ten episodes, a different convicted prisoner talks about the events that led up to their crime and, the crime itself. It is a completely different take to a true crime documentary that definitely pays off. A toe-curling watch.

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