Top 10 Creepiest Mystery Documentaries

Years before Martin Scorsese made “The Irishman”, a film that dramatized the final days of Jimmy Hoffa, this documentary explored the union leader’s mysterious disappearance. “Killing Jimmy Hoffa” delves into the many questions surrounding the still officially unsolved case. It also provides an insight into the character of the man himself through a number of different interviews. While some people praise Hoffa, others demonize him. The documentary ties everything together by presenting a number of conspiracies that draw on both his connections to the mafia as well as his dispute with the Kennedy family.

Marsha P. Johnson was a hero for LGBTQ+ causes. When her body was found in the Hudson river in 1992, plenty of suspicions were raised. The autopsy results suggested that she took her own life. However, many of Johnson’s friends and loved ones were incredibly skeptical of this ruling and believed it was foul play. Academy Award-nominated director David France decided to tackle this mystery by following activist Victoria Cruz’s attempts to sleuth out the truth. She relentlessly went after any new details about the case she could find. No matter what kind of opposition she faced, Cruz kept moving forward.

Was Diane Schuler a perfect suburban mother or a reckless addict? This documentary follows her family’s attempt to answer that question. Throughout the film, they try to uncover the truth behind why she drove the wrong way down the highway until she had a fatal crash. Was the tragedy that led to her passing and the loss of several other lives a result of addiction? Negligent behavior? Or was it something more mysterious? Diane’s husband and sister-in-law set out to uncover more information about what led up to the fatal crash by hiring a private investigator. But one question remains throughout. Are they onto something or just desperate to explain the motive behind their sister’s tragic actions?

A good story is made even better by a good storyteller. After watching “Fear of 13” we can confidently say that Nick Yarris is one of the best we’ve ever seen. The way he delivers the tale is as compelling as someone telling an urban legend around a campfire. Yarris spends the hour and a half of the documentary recounting a story of lost lives, false accusations, and redemption. But unlike a tall tale, “Fear of 13” is the story of his own life. Yarris tells us how he spent twenty-two years in prison after he was accused of a crime he didn’t commit. All the while, the mystery of who committed the act he was proven innocent of hangs over the grim story.

Filmmaker Rob McCallum invites viewers into his quest to solve this highly personal mystery of what happened to his mother. Twenty-five years after she disappeared, he and his brother decide to try and find out where she went and why she left. The film addresses the feelings of abandonment that the brothers felt when they were left to be raised by their grandparents. The brothers navigate through false leads and sudden turns to piece together what really happened. Was the reason for her sudden and unexplained departure something sinister or just sad family drama? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.

The thing that makes the crime featured in this documentary so creepy isn’t just the fact that two men disappeared. What really makes this case unsettling is how and why police manipulated six people into believing they had committed the crime. Icelandic police were pressured to solve the cases of Guðmundur Einarsson and Geirfinnur Einarsson, who both vanished in 1974. “Out of Thin Air” chronicles how the police pulled this off despite a lack of physical evidence. The officers used barbaric methods to get six people to confess to the disappearances. This documentary ultimately examines how corrupt authorities can abuse power and create whatever narrative they want while making us doubt what we believe to be true.

This documentary investigates the unsolved mystery of how two of the most famous rappers of the ‘90s lost their lives. The feature heavily suggests their final moments were orchestrated by one man. When Tupac Shakur lost his life in a drive-by in Las Vegas, suspicions fell on his rival Biggie Smalls. But just six months later Biggie’s life came to an end in an eerily similar way. The documentary firmly points the finger at Death Row Records producer Suge Knight. According to the theory, the producer colluded with the LAPD to take out Tupac, and then went after Biggie to cover up the first crime. While the claims made in the documentary are debatable, the movie definitely makes for an interesting watch.

There are two sides to every story. “Brother’s Keeper” shows how these two competing narratives competed in the twisted story of the Ward brothers. After one of the four brothers allegedly took the life of another, the media descended on the small town. The family was portrayed as illiterate recluses. Meanwhile, their small community rallied around the brothers as local heroes, after they had previously ignored them. In one version of the story, Delbert Ward ended his sickly brother’s life as an act of mercy. Another take on this tale has the police creating a scapegoat out of a man who couldn’t read. By showing all the angles of the story, the documentary makes viewers consider whose side they would take.

An urban legend of a boogieman-like figure called Cropsey once terrified children in the Northeastern United States. According to the tale, a man who lived in the woods had a habit of abducting children. This legend horribly emerged into reality. After several children disappeared in the ‘80s, a previously convicted criminal named Andre Rand was arrested for kidnapping. But there were a number of mysteries surrounding the case. “Cropsey” ultimately asks if the people who accused Rand were simply looking for someone to be a scapegoat. Or not. It also investigates the narratives we invent to make ourselves feel safe.

Changelings who can seemingly become other people are supposed to be works of fiction. However, “The Imposter” describes someone who did this for real. Three years after Nicolas Barclay vanished from a San Antonio suburb, he apparently reappeared on the other side of the world. He had different colored eyes, a new accent, and was much older than he should have been. However, none of that seemed to matter to Barclay’s parents or the media. This documentary tells the twisted tale of how a serial imposter managed to trick the world. By inventing false narratives, he preyed on the hopes of a bereaved family hoping to solve a tragic mystery.