True Crime Documentaries From The '80s And '90s Every Fan Of The Genre Should See
Vote up the docs every true crime junkie should watch.
The 1980s and '90s were filled with films that became cult classics, like The Outsiders, Footloose, Clueless, and 10 Things I Hate About You. Each film solidified its status in Hollywood as a timeless comedy, romance, or coming-of-age movie.
While those three categories continue to dominate the big screen, another genre made its mark on 1980s and ‘90s films: true crime documentaries. With the recent boom in true crime content both online and in film, this roundup of true crime documentaries released during the 1980s and '90s is sure to give true crime fans some ideas - if they haven’t seen these films already.
- Photo: HBO1339 VOTES
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, follows the trials of the West Memphis three. In 1993, three boys were accused of murdering three other boys in an alleged Satanic ritual in West Memphis, AR.
Berlinger and Sinofsky interview multiple people involved in the case, including the parents of both the accused and the victims. They also focus on the boys' trials and their subsequent verdicts.
In 2000 and 2011, Berlinger and Sinofsky created two follow-up documentaries regarding the case, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.
- Photo: Miramax Films2191 VOTES
The Thin Blue Line, directed by Errol Morris, follows the trial and conviction of Randall Dale Adams. In 1976, Adams was involved in the shooting of Dallas police officer Robert Wood.
In the documentary, Morris attempts to uncover the truth regarding the actual assailant, as inconsistencies and loose ends plagued Adams’s case. While investigating, Morris makes a shocking discovery that leads to a life being saved and another being locked behind bars forever.
More The Thin Blue Line
- #65 of 122 onThe Best Movies Of 1988
- #37 of 41 onThe 100+ Best Movies Streaming On The Criterion Channel
- #12 of 277 onThe Greatest Documentaries of All Time
- Photo: HBO3260 VOTES
4 Little Girls, directed by Spike Lee, follows the story of four African American girls who were murdered in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, AL, in 1963.
On September 15, 1963, members of the Klu Klux Klan placed bombs near the church before Sunday service began. Four little girls were killed in the explosion, and between 14 and 22 more church members were injured. The crime sparked outrage, and Lee interviewed various friends and family members of the four girls to highlight the political turmoil of the 1960s.
More 4 Little Girls- #503 of 675 onThe Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars
- #207 of 472 onThe Best Black Movies Ever Made, Ranked
- #19 of 129 onThe Best Black Documentaries
- Photo: Zeitgeist Films4294 VOTES
The Brandon Teena Story, directed by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir, recounts the murder of Brandon Teena, a transgender man from rural Nebraska.
Tenna was murdered after two local males discovered he was a trans man. News footage and documents from the murder investigation highlight the documentary as Muska and Olafsdottir attempt to shed light on Teena and the crime that ended his life.
Interviews conducted with people closest to Teena, including several ex-girlfriends, helped piece together the last moments of the young man's life.
- Photo: Toho Co Ltd5178 VOTES
The Killing of America
The Killing of America, directed by Sheldon Renan and Leonard Schrader, focuses on the director's viewpoint of America and its declining state.
The documentary interviews a retired sergeant from Los Angeles Sheriff’s department and several interviews with convicted killers to convey the country's woes.
Notable moments in history are also highlighted in an attempt to display the violence that occurred throughout America in the 1960s and '70s, such as the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, serial killers Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, and the murder of John Lennon.
- Photo: HBO6240 VOTES
The Iceman Tapes
The Iceman Tapes, produced by HBO, features Richard Kuklinski, a mafia hitman. Kuklinski participated in two interviews in 1992 and 2001 while serving multiple life sentences.
Throughout the tapes, Kuklinski shares his experiences as a top enforcer of the Gambino crime family. His story involves gruesome details of his secret life working for the Gambino family while also following the betrayal he experienced from “the only friend he didn’t kill.”
After years of silence, Kuklinski confesses his secrets from his life as a killer.
- Photo: Strand Releasing7223 VOTES
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, directed by Nick Broomfield, follows Broomfield’s attempt to interview Wuornos through a long process of mediation through Wuornos’s lawyer and adoptive mother.
Wuornos was sentenced to death for shooting and robbing seven of her male clients after she engaged in street prostitution. Broomfield's documentary questions the fairness of her trial and was used by the defense to highlight the incompetence of her original lawyer.
- 8186 VOTES
Brother’s Keeper
Brothers Keeper, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, follows the story of an alleged murder in Munnsville, NY, in 1990.
The Ward brothers lived and worked on a rural farm their family had owned for many generations. One morning, William Ward was found dead. Due to the family's history of poverty, lack of education, and William's health issues, prosecutors believed one of the brothers was responsible for a mercy killing.
Berlinger and Sinofsky follow the Ward brothers as they attend the trial and hope to highlight the negative societal viewpoint of families in poverty.
- Photo: PBS9149 VOTES
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
Who Killed Vincent Chin?, directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Pena, recounts the violent murder of Vincent Chin.
Tracking the incident through the eyes of the witnesses, Choy and Tajima-Pena take viewers through the trial of Ronald Eben, one of the two assailants that took Chin’s life. The Detroit Asian community rallied together after Chin’s death, and the case quickly reached the Supreme Court after it was recategorized as a civil rights case.
As Eben’s sentencing unfolds, Choy and Tajima-Pena shed light on the repercussions of the American justice system.
- Photo: Picture This! Entertainment10212 VOTES
Party Monster 1998
Party Monster, directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, details the club kid phenomenon that spread throughout New York City in the 1990s. Club kids within the city were a group of flamboyant artists and dance club personalities who took over New York nightlife in the 1980s and '90s.
Their popularity faded when Michael Alig murdered fellow club kid Andre Melendez. The documentary combines interviews with Alig from prison, commentary from Alig’s mother, former club kids, and footage from various parties Alig attended.
In 2003, a feature film sharing the same title was created based on the documentary.
- Photo: Amazon11117 VOTES
Murder Remembered: Norfolk County 1950
Murder Remembered: Norfolk County 1950, directed by Robert Fortier, recounts a 1950s bank robbery gone wrong and the subsequent manhunt for the killer.
In a small-town Ontario bank, one assailant held hostages as he attempted to rob the bank; by nightfall, two men were dead. Frontier shows the manhunt that followed McAuliffe's escape and the eventual trial of Herbert McAuliffe through reenactments and firsthand accounts.
Fortier also uses his documentary to highlight the long-standing debate on capital punishment.
- Photo: Celluloid Dreams12122 VOTES
Close-Up, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, is an Iranian documentary that tells the story of Hossain Sabzian, who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Sabzian, a film enthusiast, cons a family into believing he's the famed director Makhmalbaf and convinces them they will star in his next movie. Sabzian visits the family multiple times under his fake identity and begins to ask for money. Soon the family catches on, and a plot to earn a confession from Sabzian begins when the family's patriarch invites a journalist to investigate Sabzian.
