true crime

The “Who” in ‘Who Killed Vincent Chin?’ Is a Suggestive Misdirect

The “Who” in ‘Who Killed Vincent Chin?’ Is a Suggestive Misdirect

The piercing documentary ‘Who Killed Vincent Chin?’, airing on PBS on 20 June, shows how economic anxiety and racial demagoguery make a toxic brew.

‘Finding Yingying’ Raises the Bar on True Crime Films

‘Finding Yingying’ Raises the Bar on True Crime Films

First-time director Jiayan "Jenny" Shi highlights the reverberating effects of trauma with breathtaking tact in Finding Yingying.

‘The Other Side of Madness’ Is the Most Obscure Charles Manson Film

‘The Other Side of Madness’ Is the Most Obscure Charles Manson Film

If truth is stranger than fiction then the truth about some films, such as the Charles Manson film The Other Side of Madness, feels as strange as reality ever gets.

‘Yours, Jean’ Is a Perfect Mixture of Tragedy, Repressed Desire, and Poor Impulse Control

‘Yours, Jean’ Is a Perfect Mixture of Tragedy, Repressed Desire, and Poor Impulse Control

Lee Martin's Yours, Jean is a perfectly balanced and heartbreaking mix of true crime narrative and literary fiction.

When Harper Lee Came up Short: ‘Furious Hours’

When Harper Lee Came up Short: ‘Furious Hours’

Casey Cep traces Harper Lee's winding road to defeat in Furious Hours.

‘The Conspiracy Against the Human Race’ Is a Therapuetic Work of Hardcore Literary Pessimism

‘The Conspiracy Against the Human Race’ Is a Therapuetic Work of Hardcore Literary Pessimism

This reissue of Thomas Ligotti's most frightening work about the ultimate terror, human existence, might be just what you need in these times.

Serial Killer Drama ‘Rillington Place’ Condemns Midcentury English Patriarchy

Serial Killer Drama ‘Rillington Place’ Condemns Midcentury English Patriarchy

This horrifying three-episode BBC mini-series indicts the gender, class, and race hierarchies that enabled John Christie's murders.

Boston Underground Film Festival 2017: ‘Hounds of Love’

Boston Underground Film Festival 2017: ‘Hounds of Love’

The captivity narrative in Hounds of Love explores the depths of a grisly co-dependence.
The Most Hated Woman in America: An Interview With Filmmakers Irene Turner and Tommy O’Haver

The Most Hated Woman in America: An Interview With Filmmakers Irene Turner and Tommy O’Haver

PopMatters spoke with writer Irene Turner and director Tommy O'Haver during SXSW 2017 about the remarkable life and death of Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
Contemplations on the Nature of Truth: True Crime, ‘True Detective’, and ‘Serial’ Obsessions

Contemplations on the Nature of Truth: True Crime, ‘True Detective’, and ‘Serial’ Obsessions

True Detective and Serial mark our society’s preoccupation with all things illegal, especially when they end in murder.

Paying Too Often for Sex in Video Games

The Seven-Layered Arsenic Cake of Madame LaFarge and Other Crime Classics