16 of the Best Horror Movies Based on True Stories – Harper’s BAZAAR

When it comes to scary movies, you call in one of two camps: either you love them and eagerly anticipate the next slasher flick, or if youre like me, you give a big old NOPE any time you see a trailer for one. For those that do enjoy being temporarily frightened, theres a good psychological reason for this: they can serve a safe channel for us to unleash fear and anxiety, going so far as to actually grant us coping strategies. You know, just in case you encounter The Devil IRL.

While the predictable and outlandish jump-scare is fine for a cheap thrill, scary movies are infinitely more terrifying when theyre based on a true story because of the this could happen to you aspect of it all. As it turns out, there are plenty of real-life incidences that make for great horror movie fodder even if it means you have to sleep with a nightlight on for a week afterwards.

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Annabelle (2014)

What is it about childrens toys that can be so terrifying? Based within The Conjuring universe, Annabelle is a vintage porcelain doll cursed by a demonic spirit, causing hauntings and violent ends to those that would wrong her. In real life, Annabelle is a supposedly haunted Raggedy Anne doll owned by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. She was originally gifted to a student nurse in 1970 but according to a psychic medium, the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a dead girl named Annabelle and is said to be responsible for two near-death experiences, one fatal accident, and many demonic activities in the past 30 years. Under the glass case in which the real Annabelle sits reads the words: Warning: Positively do not open.

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A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

For a killer that hunts teenagers in their sleep, its surprising to know that the Freddy Krueger murders in Nightmare on Elm Street are based on a series of articles published by The LA Times in the 70s. Hmong refugees had fled war torn Southeast Asia for the United States. One young boy, whose family had survived the killing fields of Cambodia, had terrible nightmares of something chasing him in his sleep. He was afraid that if he slept, the thing chasing him would get him, so he tried to stay awake for days at a time, director Wes Craven told Cinemablend in 2014. When he finally fell asleep, his parents thought this crisis was over. Then they heard screams in the middle of the night. By the time they got to him, he was dead. He died in the middle of a nightmare. Truly terrifying.

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Borderland (2007)

Three recent Texas graduates, Ed, Henry, and Phil, head down to Mexico for a week of loose fun, but things take a sinister turn when one of them goes missing. Its revealed that Phil has been kidnapped by a serial killer/cult leader whos preparing a human sacrifice to bless their drug-smuggling racket. The murderous cult leader is based on Adolfo de Jess Constanzo, a Cuban American drug dealer and cult leader whose sect performed multiple ritualistic killings in Matamoros, Mexico, during the 80s.

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Dahmer (2002)

Actor Jeremy Renners breakout role came in the form of portraying sadistic killer Jeffrey Dahmer in this independent film. Talk about jumping in the deep end. Dahmers case is particularly gruesome, in case youre not familiar. He murdered, mutilated, and partially consumed 17 boys and young men during the late 70s to early 90s. Dahmer is told in a mix of present-day and flashbacks to the killers early years, as well as his troubled relationship with his father. While undoubtedly horrifying, the film was both well received and criticized for its attempt to rationalize the monstrous, per a New York Times review.

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Poltergeist (1982)

Theyre here, the little blonde girl says as the TV flickers with static. Its an iconic moment in scary cinema to be sure and the events in Poltergeist are based on the terrifying things that happen at the Herrmann House in 1958. Bottles containing various substances began to pop and move about the house. The Herrmanns bottle of holy water tipped over for no apparent reason. Other household objects were thrown across the room with no devices that could have propelled them, per a story in LIFE magazine. News of the strange occurrences made the news, but after about a month and 70 documented reports of unusual activity, everything stopped. The Stephen Spielberg-produced Poltergeist is more sensational than what happened to the Herrmanns, but a classic nonetheless.

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Scream (1996)

Its one of the most iconic horror films of all time but few may know that Scream is based on a true story. A string of murders committed by Danny Rolling, aka the Gainesville Ripper served as the basis for Ghostface in the classic slasher flick starring Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, and Drew Barrymore. Rolling murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida, in quick succession, raping, stabbing, and mutilating his victims. He claimed he wanted to be the next Ted Bundy and pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and was sentenced to death in 1994.

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The Amityville Horror (1979)

In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family in their home in Long Island, NY. After the crimes, George and Kathy Lutz and their three children moved into the house but merely a month later, theyd fled. They said they were being terrorized by evil spirits and other paranormal phenomena; like experiencing cold spots in the house and finding sons Daniel and Christopher levitating in their beds. When a priest came to bless/exorcise the house, he allegedly heard a voice scream get out and vowed never to return. The events, which have since been labelled a hoax, served as inspiration for the best-selling book, and a film The Amityville Horror.

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The Birds (1963)

One of Alfred Hitchcocks most iconic films, The Birds centers on a small Californian coastal town terrorized and rendered hopeless by a flock of malevolent birds. Its based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier but has roots in history, when residents in Capitola, Calif., awoke to a scene straight out of a horror movie. Inexplicably, hordes of seabirds were dive-bombing their homes, crashing into cars and spewing half-digested anchovies onto lawns, according to local news reports. It was a complete mystery at the time, but scientists now believe a neurotoxin domoic acid was to blame for the birds bizarre behavior.

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The Entity (1982)

In 1974, single mother-of-three Doris Bither claimed to have experienced poltergeist activity: strange odors, objects falling from shelves by themselves, and weird lights. After seeing a hazy apparition, Bither claims to been sexually assault by the evil spirits inhabiting her home. She contacted a parapsychologists Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor, who took photos during his investigation of the house. Strange lights did appear in the photographs but upon analysis were attributed to common photography mistakes like accidental manipulation of the exposure dial. Bithers story is a sad one as she was by all accounts rather troubled, but where a psychologist or social worker would have identified her as a woman who needed help, Taff and Gaynor saw an opportunity to bolster their work. Bithers story was adapted to film in 1982 and she died in 1999.

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The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

An intelligent court drama with scary supernatural elements starring Laura Linney (love her), The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the story of a young woman who dies during an attempted exorcism. Father Richard Moore is charged with negligent homicide and an investigation into her death via his trial ensues. The character of Emily is based on the real experiences of German woman Anneliese Michel who at 16 began hallucinating and shaking uncontrollably. She was diagnosed with epilepsy and psychosis, but her Catholic devout family believes she was possessed by demons. Six years after her symptoms first showed, a local pastor was granted permission to perform an exorcism twice a week. After initial improvements, she deteriorated and died of starvation at age 23.

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The Exorcist (1973)

Still regarded as one of the most terrifying films of all time, The Exorcist is based on the book of the same name by William Peter Blatty. The film told the story of a young girl possessed by a demon and the priest tasked with exorcising the evil presence from her body. The novel and subsequent film are based on the true story of Roland Doe, 13-year-old young boy from the late 1940s whose aunt had taught him about spiritualism like how to use an Ouija board. Shortly after his aunt died, strange things began happening around the house, including dripping noises and scratch marks found on the boys body and mattress. Multiple priests were enlisted to perform exorcisms and the events were reported on in an article for The Washington Post, published August 1949.

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Snowtown (2011)

This Australian film is based on the true story of the horrific Snowtown murders committed by Robert Joe Wagner, James Spyridon Vlassakis, and John Justin Bunting in the early to late 90s in South Australia. Otherwise known as the bodies in the barrels murders, the remains of eight victims were discovered in steel drums in Snowtown on 20 May 1999. While at the cinemas, some audiences actually walked out due to the gruesome torture and violence depicted in the film which told the story of John Buntings life, but overall, Snowtown was critically well-received.

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The Stepfather (1987)

Though of course a sensationalized version, slasher movie The Stepfather is based loosely on the true story of murderer John List, who killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in New Jersey and then disappeared. He assumed a new identity as Bob Clark, settling in Denver and remarrying. He eluded justice for close to 18 years before he was finally apprehended in 1989 thanks to an episode of Americas Most Wanted. In The Stepfather, the fictional killer Jerry Blake marries a widow with a teenage daughter and continues his murderous tendencies, however in real life, List expressed remorse for what he'd done, and he died of complications from pneumonia in prison in 2008.

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The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

The Phantom of Texarkana is an unidentified serial killer that attacked eight people, five of whom died, over a 10-week period in the spring of 1946 around the Texarkana region of Arkansas and Texas. The slayings caused a state of panic through to the summer and served as the inspiration for the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown and was remade in 2014. While the prime suspect was petty criminal Youell Swinney the killer was never identified.

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Winchester (2018)

In San Jose, Calif., stands a house like no other. Its a gargantuan and chaotic Victorian structure built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester and heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Distraught after the deaths of both her daughter and husband, Mrs. Winchester saw a psychic medium who told her she would forever be haunted by those killed at the barrel of Winchester rifles. The spirits demanded she build them a house, and as more people continued to be killed by Winchester weapons, she could never cease construction. From 1884 to 1922, builders worked on the house round the clock, resulting in seven stories, some 160 rooms, 2,000 doors and 47 stairways, some of which lead to unexpected places like 15ft drops or nowhere at all. The horror film Winchester stars Helen Mirren as Mrs. Winchester in this spooky adaptation of the true story.

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Wolf Creek (2005)

In the late 80s and early 90s, Ivan Milat hunted and murdered multiple hitchhikersa practice considered a safe and cheap means of travel in Australia at the timethrough southern New South Wales in Australia. The bodies of seven missing young adults, aged 19 to 22, were found partially buried in the Belanglo State Forest. Milat was convicted and died in prison, serving as the inspiration for Wolf Creeks deranged serial killer Mick Taylor. The actor John Jarratt said it took him six months to perfect the menacing laugh his character is now famous for.

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16 of the Best Horror Movies Based on True Stories - Harper's BAZAAR

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero