Have you ever opened up a horror movie, thinking nothing of it, and then they hit you with the fact that it’s based on a true story? If not, then maybe you’re missing out on being utterly terrified. There are plenty of horror movies that exist out there that include references to real-life events. There are other horror movies that take a real event and turn it into a horror movie. Still, it’s all pretty scary either way.
So, if you want to watch a thrilling flick this week and want to scare yourself before Christmas comes in, here are five horror movies that were actually based on true stories.
1. Changeling (2008)
Starring Angelina Jolie, Changeling is a horror movie that is based on a true story that takes place in California. The plot of Changeling is that a single mother named Christine Collins comes home one day to find her son, Walter, missing. Five months later, Walter is found in Illinois. However, Christine does not believe that this Walter is her son.
Authorities do not believe Christine, but one clergyman does believe her. The clergyman sees her case as a way to expose the government and the LAPD for corruption.
Changeling was directed by Clint Eastwood and made $113.4 million in the box office. It was also nominated for several awards, including an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
It has a historical basis in a story that took place in 1926 in Saskatchewan, Canada. A 13-year old boy named Sanford Clark was taken from his home by his uncle, 19-year old Gordon Stewart Northcott. Sanford was abused frequently by Northcott until August 1928, when police took Clark after his sister told them about the abuse.
Clark revealed to police that he was forced to help Northcott and his mother kill four young boys after Northcott kidnapped and molested them. Northcott would eventually be convicted or murder and hanged. Clark’s mother was sentenced to life in prison but was later paroled.
2. The Black Dahlia (2006)
The Black Dahlia murder case inspired this chilling 2006 movie directed by Brian De Palma. The movie follows two police officers in 1940s Los Angeles who are investigating the murder of an aspiring Hollywood actress.
Elizabeth Short was found dead in 1947 in Los Angeles, severed in half and mutilated. She had a smile carved into her face and her entire body was drained of blood. The case was so shocking, but to this day, there is no exact confirmation on who could have killed Elizabeth Short.
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 1974 American slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper. The story of the movie follows five friends on a road trip who stumble upon an abandoned house. However, the house is not abandoned and is being used by a serial killer named Leatherface instead.
Leatherface is truly terrifying because he wears a mask made of human skin. He wields a chainsaw and brutally murders people with it. The movie was actually banned in several countries due to its violence. It still made $30 million at the box office (equivalent to a little over $150 million today).
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is largely fiction, but it is based off of the murderer Ed Gein. Gein would genuinely wear skin as a mask and he used a gun on his victims, not a chainsaw. However, he did dismember his victims. The chainsaw was really just added for more gore.
Ed Gein inspired many other horror movie characters, including Norman Bates from Psycho and Buffalo Bills from The Silence of the Lambs.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is inspired by several different serial killers, but the most recognizeable one would be Gein.
4. My Friend Dahmer (2017)
If you couldn’t tell from the title alone, My Friend Dahmer is about a real serial killer named Jeffrey Dahmer. The movie told the story of his upbringing and how he became the terrifying serial killer that we know about today.
Dahmer is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. He was a cannibal that targeted young men and would lure them into his apartment before killing them. Dahmer was eventually killed while incarcerated by his cellmate.
5. The Conjuring (2013)
The Conjuring is a horror movie that takes place in the 1970s. Directed by James Wan, the movie went on to make $319.5 million at the box office.
The story of the movie is about paranormal investigators named Lorraine and Ed, who are asked to come to the home of Carolyn and Roger Perron. The Perrons and their five daughters had recently moved into a farmhouse where a supernatural presence exists.
The supernatural events begin to get worse and worse, and the investigators discover that the house has a very dark history behind it.
The Conjuring is genuinely based on a true story from the case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren. There are some fictionalized elements, but the Perron family did exist and did live in a farmhouse. The spirit in the movie, Bathsheba Sherman, was genuinely real as well.
Freaky.
Check out our other horror movie list!
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