I don’t know about you, but I’m quite a big fan of crime novels and police procedural shows. What can be better than these sometimes, however, are cases that actually took place, which is why we’re going to list 11 best crime documentaries to stream on Netflix in 2015.
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While regular procedural shows that populate a great number of networks are absolutely great, albeit unbelievable in many aspects (zooming on a pixelated picture and getting a clear look at a license plate? Please!) you sometimes crave the real deal.
Crime documentaries offer something more to those passionate about “who did it” type stories. While there may not be as much suspense tied to such shows, they’re still quite awesome because they delve into the criminal minds in ways that TV shows can never manage to do. They offer insight into the minds of the killers and try to clearly show you why they did what they did and how their brains work, as well as how people’s senses sometimes override their minds, leading to heinous crimes.
Netflix has quite a collection of such crime documentaries and you should definitely check them out, as well as other similar films they have in their list. In fact, we have a list of 5 of the best documentaries on Netflix, which you should read so you can find even more titles to add to your queue.
We’re going to give you a list of the 11 best crime documentaries to stream on Netflix in 2015 based on IMDb rankings and fan recommendations found all over the Internet.
11. The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer
Recommended by 1 site; IMDb rank – 7.7 – Total:7 points
We’re kicking off the list with “The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer”. This documentary tells the story of Richard Kuklinski, husband, father, contract killer. The film presents the rather creepy interview with Kuklinski, taped inside the prison where he’s currently serving time for multiple homicides.
Dubbed the “Iceman” for his penchant of freezing the victims to stop the police from setting the right time of the death of his victims, Kuklinski, who died in 2006, was convicted for five murders. The interview featured in the documentary, however, shows the man claiming to have murdered more than 100 people. This isn’t the only documentary about the Iceman, but it’s definitely one that you should check out.
10. Tabloid
Recommended by 5 sites; IMDb rank 7.1 – Total:7 points
Up next is “Tabloid” which tries to tell the story of former beauty queen Joyce McKinney. The documentary concentrates on McKinney’s life, focusing on the famous “Case of the Manacled Mormon,” as the press put it at the time. In the film, McKinney herself talks about how she got involved with a group of Mormons without actually knowing anything about them or their lifestyle. As she was about to get married to one of them, he disappeared and was tracked down in England where she claims he was being brainwashed by Mormon elders.
While she says Kirk Anderson left with her willingly when they reunited, his story is quite different, blaming her for abducting him, chaining him to a bed and raping him. Before the case could be judged in England, McKinney fled to the United States.
As mentioned, “Tabloid” features the woman herself, as well as others connected to the case. Despite all this, this documentary is quite controversial after McKinney chose to sue documentarian Errol Morris for the way she is portrayed in the movie, using words such as “crazy,” “sex offender”, “prostitute” and “rapist” while flinging about accusations. The judges didn’t agree with her and the film can still be seen, years after its launch.
9. Cropsey
Recommended by 5 sites; IMDb rank 6.4 – Total:7 points
Next one on the list is “Cropsey,” a rather creepy documentary by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio. It seems that the two were looking into the story of several missing kids from when they were children, one they believed to be an urban legend.
Realizing that the stories were true, the two dug deeper and deeper and found themselves in the middle of an eerie situation where the boogeyman was real. The documentary includes the story of Andre Rand, a child kidnapper from Staten Island who was convicted in the 80s. Upon its launch back in 2009, “Cropsey” received positive reviews, with most people expressing their surprise with how terrifying it is to know monsters are real.
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8. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
Recommended by 5 sites; IMDb rank 7.2 – Total:10 points
The 2003 documentary by Nick Broomfield delves into the life of Aileen Wuornos, who was convicted of killing 6 men in Florida. This is the second time the director filmed a documentary about the former prostitute, looking to get a complete look at her story as her execution date drew nearer.
The film follows the trial, but also features a final interview with Wuornos, a day before her execution. With her final words, she claimed to have been tortured in prison and says her mental state was altered by the guards who used sonic pressure to control her.
Wuornos was convicted in the early 90s after admitting to killing several men. She always said, however, that she had done it in self-defense.
7. The Central Park Five
Recommended by 4 sites; IMDb rank 7.7 – Total:11 points
Launched in 2012, “The Central Park Five” follows the story of a 1989 case when five black and Latino teenagers were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York’s Central Park. Following the trial, they spent up to 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
The documentary focuses on the case, as well as the racial tension blooming in late 80’s New York, but also on the tendency shown by the police to push judgment. Director Ken Burns seeks to show how five lives were completely changed due to the wrongful conviction.
6. The Act of Killing
Recommended by 2 sites; IMDb rank 8.2 – Total:11 points
Winner of the best documentary at the 67th BAFTA awards, “The Act of Killing” focuses on the Indonesian killings of 1965 and 1966, an anti-communist purge where an estimated half a million people were killed.
Then, Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry, two local gangsters, were charged with leading the death squad. Now, Anwar recounted for the cameras the horrid tales of the executions, before playing the victim himself.
5. The Staircase
Recommended by 2 sites; IMDb rank 8.5 – Total:13 points
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, documentary filmmaker awarded by the Academy, takes a look at a famous 2001 murder trial. Then, author Michael Peterson was accused of murdering his wife who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase, hence the name of the film. Despite Peterson’s claim that he found her like that, investigators believed he had a more active role in the scene, saying he pushed her.
“The Staircase” is a courtroom thriller that follows what’s happening during the trial, including the lawyers’ efforts to build Peterson’s defense. You’ll need to have a bit of patience while watching this documentary, however, since it’s super long. It’s all worth it in the end, though, so go queue it.
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4. The Imposter
Recommended by 6 sites; IMDb rank 7.5 – Total:13 points
Directed by Bart Layton, “The Imposter” tells the story of serial imposter Frédéric Bourdin, who in 1997 posed as Bart Layton, a Texas teenager who disappeared three years prior at the age of 13.
The documentary includes interviews with Bourdin, as well as with the members of the Barclay family, news footage and dramatic scenes that were reenacted to help bring the story to life.
Bourdin made up a story saying he had been kidnapped and transported from Texas to Spain. Despite the fact that he was older than Layton should have been and had a different hair and eye color, the imposter was accepted by the Barclay family until the scam was unearthed.
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3. Into the Abyss
Recommended by 9 sites; IMDb rank 7.3 – Total:15 points
A true crime documentary, “Into the Abyss” follows the story of a triple murder that took place in Texas in 2001. Then, two men murdered a woman before shooting her stepson and his friend.
The film includes interviews with the two killers, as well as those who knew the three victims, trying to figure out why people end up killing each other.
The documentary received numerous nominations for various awards and ended up winning 2011 BFI London Film Festival Best Documentary award for director Werner Herzog.
2. The Thin Blue Line
Recommended by 9 sites; IMDb rank 8.1 – Total:18 points
Errol Morris’ documentary “The Thin Blue Line” was released back in 1988, but it’s a pretty impressive one. The film follows the story of Randall Dale Adams who was convicted to life in prison for a murder he did not commit.
Not only does the documentary tell his story, it also manages to show just how circumstantial all evidence in the case was. It was so good, in fact, that Adams was exonerated a year after the film was released after his case was reviewed.
1. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Recommended by 8 sites; IMDb rank 8.6 – Total:20 points
Released in 2008, “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father” is a touching film. Director Kurt Kuenne focuses on his friend Andrew Bagby, a young man who was murdered in 2001. The prime suspect? The girlfriend he had just broken up with.
After she was arrested, Shirley Jane Turner announced she was pregnant with Bagby, a boy she’d later name Zachary. The documentary itself is Kuenne’s gift to the child, trying to paint a picture of his father by interviewing relatives, friends and anyone who knew him. While it all starts rather light, with touching messages, it turns into a true crime story as Kuenne follows the legal intricacies of Turner’s arrest and her eventual murder-suicide when she jumped into the Atlantic Ocean with her one-year-old son.
The documentary is dedicated to the memory of Andrew Bagby and his son and on top of all the awards and nominations it receives, it also wraps up our own list of 11 best crime documentaries to watch on Netflix in 2015.
