Movies like Cinemania (2003)
The best movies like Cinemania (2003) are That's Sexploitation! (2013), Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010) and The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006). If Cinemania hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThis Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)7.1/10 from 394 votes
- NewestJohn Candy: I Like Me (2025)Released 2025
That's Sexploitation! (2013)
Before the advent of modern-day pornography, a vast and rapidly-paced world of smut peddling was the norm, complete with its own secret history. This documentary reveals the untold story of American cinema's gloriously sordid cinematic past. Starting in the 1920s, expert exploiteer David F. Friedman and Henenlotter navigate us through more than five salacious decades of skin flicks. It's the true story of dirty movies, traced in elegant detail from the bizarre locations where these nudie shorts were screened to the ongoing legal battles fought by their promoters. And of course there are the stories of the innovators themselves, people who often risked their own security and livelihood to make these films, believing in some way that what they were doing wasn't a 'bad' thing - and that it could rake in some dough.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)
In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)
A hilarious introduction, using as examples some of the best films ever made, to some of Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek's most exciting ideas on personal subjectivity, fantasy and reality, desire and sexuality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCleanflix (2009)
When a small Utah-based edited movie company is caught sanitizing Hollywood's copyrighted material, the film industry strikes back with a devastating blow.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
X-Rated: The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time (2015)
The evolution of adult cinema through the most influential films in history, a journey that begins in the 1970s and ends nowadays. An in-depth analysis of the success of the most prestigious erotic films, their impact on industry and society, and their influence on cinema and contemporary culture.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElectric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCorman's World (2011)
A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen (2018)
A feature-length documentary focusing on the acclaimed work and eclectic career of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, writer-director of "Black Caesar," "It's Alive," "God Told Me To," "Q," "The Stuff," and many more.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Erotic Man (2010)
The film has been ten years in the making, and over time it has grown to become what the director himself has called an artistic testament. It is simultaneously his most personal and most provocative film. A film about growing older, about losing, about the special moments one remembers, and about the director's own circling around the essence of eroticism.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Survival of the Film Freaks (2018)
Survival of the Film Freaks is a documentary exploring the phenomenon of cult film in America and how it survives in the 21st Century. Through interviews and fan events, the documentary will trace decades of film fanaticism up to the present, where the 'digital age' has transformed the way we experience movies.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)
Hollywood is a town of tinsel and glamour; but there is another Hollywood, a place where maverick independent exploitation filmmakers went toe to toe with the big guys and came out on top.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Thinking XXX (2004)
For a book project, photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders took photographs of 30 stars of adult movies, each pair of photographs in the same pose, clothed and nude. This film records the photo shoots and includes interviews with the performers and commentary from eight writers (and John Waters). The actors and writers discuss economics, nudity and exhibitionism, careers, and private lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrom Romero to Rome: The Rise and Fall of the Italian Zombie Movie (2012)
The history of Italian zombie cinema, beginning with the breakout worldwide influence and success of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and continuing through to Lucio Fulci's trend-setting Zombie Flesh-Eaters (Zombi 2) and its many imitators.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)
The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVideo Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010)
A documentary analyzing the furore which so-called "video nasties" caused in Britain during the 1980s.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Indie Game: Life After (2014)
Find out what happens after Indie Game: The Movie. Life After includes epilogues of subjects in Indie Game: The Movie as well as stories about more game creators. This short film anthology consists of over 100 minutes of new footage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Videoheaven (2025)
Since the 1980s, the video shop has been a desperately necessary space for film culture. In Videoheaven, Alex Ross Perry tells the story of the neighbourhood video shop to consider wider, changing social histories, using appropriated footage from the high and lowbrow.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Kink (2013)
Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco pull back the curtain on the fetish empire of Kink.com, the Internet's largest producer of BDSM content. In a particularly obscure corner of an industry that operates largely out of public view, Kink.com's directors and models strive for authenticity. In an enterprise often known for exploitative practices, Kink.com upholds an ironclad set of values to foster an environment that is safe, sane, and consensual.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Grindhouse (2011)
This documentary explores the hidden history of the American Exploitation Film. The movie digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)
A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based channel's eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPopatopolis (2009)
In 20 years, he's directed more films than Martin Scorsese, He's produced more profitable movies than Jerry Bruckheimer, And he's infuriated more actors than Alfred Hitchcock. The ultimate B Movie Documentary, focusing on B Movie Giant Jim Wynorski (and B Movie Celebration Mentor) and his attempt to make a feature film in 3 days. He's directed seventy feature films, but he's never made one... in THREE DAYS. Jim cuts the shooting schedule, has the actors cook their own food. A documentary featuring B-Movie legends Roger Corman, Andy Sidaris, Julie Strain, Julie K. Smith and Stormy Daniels, Popatopolis follows Jim Wynorski as he begins to film one of his many opuses "Witches of Breastwick" Jim's frenetic pace demands 100 setups per day (the Hollywood standard is 20), and he reduces his electric package to just two lights so he can concentrate on the task at hand.A great overview of a true master at work and in many ways a laser sharp dialectic on the state of B filmmaking today.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Room 666 (1985)
During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wim Wenders asked a number of global film directors to, one at a time, go into a hotel room, turn on the camera, and answer a simple question: "What is the future of cinema?"
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArakimentari (2004)
A look at the life and work of Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and his impact on Japanese culture.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography (1981)
Filmmaker Bonnie Sherr Klein and former stripper Lindalee Tracy explore the pornography industry by visiting strip clubs, peep shows, and adult film sets while interviewing performers, sex workers, critics, and feminist writers. Through these encounters, the documentary examines the production, economics, and cultural debates surrounding pornography.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Divine Trash (2000)
The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX (2008)
This documentary delves into the art of make-up effects with industry legends Dick Smith, Rob Bottin, Tom Savini, John Landis, Frank Darabont, Joe Dante and many others with a strong focus on Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger of KNB Make-Up EFX. Written by Kevin VanHook
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSecret Origin: The Story of DC Comics (2010)
A look at the history of the comic book publication that launched such legendary characters as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Making of Star Wars (1977)
Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2 which includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cinemania?
The closest matches to Cinemania are That's Sexploitation! (2013), Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010) and The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cinemania?
People who watched Cinemania most often go on to That's Sexploitation! (2013), Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010) and The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006).
What is the highest-rated movie like Cinemania?
This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006), rated 7.1/10 by 394 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cinemania?
John Candy: I Like Me (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Cinemania?
Yes: That's Sexploitation! (2013), Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010) and The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006).
How are movies similar to Cinemania chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cinemania, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.