Extreme Life & Death: The Blair Witches of Shockumentaries, Part Three

Edgar Allan Poe's Darkness(en)

When a group of young actors adapt an Edgar Allan Poe tale into a theater production, the line between truth and fiction becomes terrifyingly blurred as elements from the harrowing story begin to bleed over into reality. The ensemble soon comes to the horrifying realization that life has begun to imitate art, and their collective descent into madness has reached a point of no return.

Willard(en)

A social misfit, Willard is made fun of by his co-workers, and squeezed out of the company started by his deceased father by his boss. His only friends are a couple of rats he raised at home, Ben and Socrates. However, when one of them is killed at work, he goes on a rampage using his rats to attack those who have been tormenting him.

Ben(en)

A lonely boy becomes good friends with Ben, a rat. This rat is also the leader of a pack of vicious killer rats, killing lots of people.

The Verge of Death(id)

Nadia, the sole survivor of her family's tragic fate, grapples with the looming threat of her father's sacrifice as she faces a life on the edge.

Johnny Frank Garrett's Last Word(en)

When a young man is executed for committing murder, he leaves behind a curse letter, promising vengeance for all those connected to his unfair trial.

The Vampire Bat(en)

A German village is stricken by a series of murders that appear to be the work of vampires.

Alternate Spaces(en)

A short documentary on the River Ouse, following it downstream from Lewes to Newhaven, meditating on the surrounding area.

I Love Life Anyway(de)

In 2011, the director and screenwriter Wolf Gremm receives the diagnosis - prostate cancer. According to the doctors, he has not much longer to live, maybe eight months. Wolf Gremm is torn by these devastating news in the midst of an active, fulfilling life, but he decides to deal with the disease offensively and to fight. From now on smartphone and mini camera are his constant companions.

Fingerprints(en)

Fresh out of rehab, a young woman moves back in with her parents and sister, and soon becomes involved in a mystery that has left people in her town paralyzed.

Orson Welles in Spain(en)

Orson Welles pitches to potential investors his vision of a largely improvised bullfighter movie about an existential, James Dean type troubadour who sets himself apart from other matadors. In front of an audience of wealthy arts patrons, Welles pontificates on the state of cinema, the filmmaking process, and the art of bullfighting.

Heebie Jeebies(en)

A woman gathers her friends together in a cabin to try and protect them from a killer after she dreams each of their deaths. This, however, just puts them all in one spot making for easy pickings for the slasher.

Dia de los muertos(es)

This documentary analyzes why Dia de Los Muertos (the day of the dead) is considered one of the Mexican tradition's most important cultural phenomenons.

The Perfect Host: A Southern Gothic Tale(en)

While sorting her dead grandmother's affairs, a young woman boards in a southern mansion and soon discovers the matriarch may desire more than just her company.

The Food of the Gods(en)

Morgan and his friends are on a hunting trip on a remote Canadian island when they are attacked by a swarm of giant wasps. Looking for help, Morgan stumbles across a barn inhabited by an enormous killer chicken. After doing some exploring, they discover the entire island is crawling with animals that have somehow grown to giant size. The most dangerous of all of these, however, are the rats, who are mobilizing to do battle with the human intruders.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Facing Death(de)

Groundbreaking psychiatrist and author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross dedicated her career to working with the incurably ill. In this intimate documentary filmed near the end of her life, Kübler-Ross relates her life story, from childhood to her final years. Friends, family members and colleagues weigh in with insightful observations and share their memories of this remarkable woman whose innovative concepts helped spawn the field of thanatology.

Mourir pour soi(fr)

Carver(en)

Based on a true story, Carver depicts the real life events of five 20-something's that went camping in the mountain town of Halcyon Ridge and never returned.

WΔZ(en)

There is something horribly wrong with the bodies found in the dark city streets. Some are mutilated while others have the Price equation (wΔz = Cov (w,z) = βwzVz) carved into their flesh. Detective Eddie Argo and his new partner Helen Westcott unearth the meaning of the odd equation and realise each victim is being offered a gruesome choice: kill your loved ones, or be killed. Before long it becomes clear that the perpetrator has suffered a similar fate and is now coping by seeking a way to solve this philosophical dilemma.

Faces of Death III(en)

The third installment of the infamous "is it real or fake?" mondo series sets its sights primarily on serial killers, with lengthy reenactments of police investigations of bodies being found in dumpsters, and a staged courtroom sequence.

Dignitas - Death on Prescription(en)

Switzerland is the only country in the world that allows foreigners to come and die on its territory. Since its founding in 1998, more than a thousand people have traveled to Zurich to end their lives with the help of the organization Dignitas. "Dignitas - Death on Prescription" is a documentary about an organization that provides people with terminal and incurable illnesses, intense unrelenting pain, and depression with a peaceful death. The organization's founder, lawyer Ludwig Minelli, is often the target of insults, especially from politicians, despite the fact that most Swiss citizens support the option of medically assisted suicide.