The Best Horror Movies That Are Based On True Stories – Screen Rant

Horror movies based on true events bring an element of frightening realism to the films we take a look at some of the best ones.

Horror movies know how to scare their audience, but there's somethingscarier than anything else true stories. Every horror movie tends to embellish a bit, but there's something especially scary about horror movies that are based on real events.

Scary movies based on true events show they can happen to anyone. Horror movies tend to lean into fantasy and the supernatural or paranormal, so it's easy to separate fact from fiction. However, when a movie is based on a true story, those lines become blurred. It's even scarier when one realizes they are not exempt from truly terrifying events. Watching those scary moments play out on screen can easily provide some of the most effective scares a horror movie can muster up.

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Horror movies based on true events tend to focus on two elements the criminal activity of serial killers and possessions. Both are scary in their own ways. Here's a look at some of the scariest horror movies that are based on true stories.

The Conjuringmovie franchise is based on the case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.The first movie in the series sees the Warrens traveling to Carolyn and Roger Perron's home to look into the increasingly supernatural events taking place there. The haunting escalates as the Warrens learn more about the house's history.

While the movies are loosely based on the Warrens' previous cases, there are elements of the film that are said to be true. Both Ed and Lorraine wereself-taught demonologists, and Lorraine was a self-professed medium andclairvoyant. Their background brought them up close to the supernatural and unexplainable. The real Ed Warren died beforeThe Conjuring series started, but Lorraine was alive to see the early movies in the franchise come to fruition. She acted as a consultant on the films until her death in 2019. Her personal touch and experiences brought a level of authenticity that helped makeThe Conjuring movies truly frightening.

One of the cases that the Warrens looked into inspiredThe Amityville Horror. This haunted house horror movie kicks off withRonald DeFeo Jr. murdering his entire family in his home. One year later,George and Kathy Lutz move into the home with their children. The Lutz family only lasts a month in the home, as they are tormented by paranormal spirits. George becomes possessed by one of those spirits and nearly kills his entire family as a result.

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The bones ofThe Amityville Horror are true Ronald DeFeo Jr. really killed his entire family, and the Lutz family moved into his home a year later. The family claimed to be tormented by paranormal spirits and fled the house after only 28 days. That account was the basis for a book that inspired over a dozen movies. Something clearly happened in that house it seems too convenient that a year after the murders, a family could only last a month in the home. That storyhas clearlystruck a chord with horror movie audiences, asThe Amityville Horror movie series has been going strong for more than 40 years as of this writing; the most recent movie released in 2020.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is an interesting blend of horror and courtroom drama, which adds to the realism. The horror movie follows defense lawyer Erin Bruner as she defends a reverend charged with the wrongful death of a young woman named Emily. He administered a church-sanctioned exorcism that ended up killing the girl. Erinends up taking a leap of faith and argues that what happened to Emily cannot be explained by science alone.

The Exorcism of Emily Roseis loosely based on the real exorcism and subsequent death of a young German woman namedAnneliese Michel. Her parents and the priests involved with her exorcism were charged with negligent homicide. But the thing that makes this film so scary is the fictional court case. The real story provided the makings for a truly baffling and scary case, but the fact that what happened to Emily was frightening enough to convert a skeptical woman like Erin Bruner into a believer is powerful.

Bryan Bertino'sThe Strangers tells a chilling story of random violence. The movie follows a couple who goes on what should be a relaxing weekend away, but three strangers show up at their doorstep and terrorize the unsuspecting couple throughout the night instead. The horror movie was based on two separate events the Manson family Tate murders and a series of break-ins that occurred in Bertino's neighborhood as a child. That said, the idea itself is what makes this movie so scary.The Strangers proves that no one is exempt from random violence, and showcases the worst-case scenario, which is given a hyper-realistic bent to produce the movie's most terrifying sequences.

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Alfred Hitchcock'sPsycho is considered to be a horror masterpiece, but this now-iconic story did not solely come from the director's mind. The movie follows Marion Crane as she's on the run after embezzling from her company. She takes refuge in the roadside Bates Motel where she meets the seemingly quiet, gentleproprietor Norman Bates, and things take a turn for the worst. The horror movie is loosely based on the real-life killings ofserialkiller Ed Gein. In addition to his murderous tendencies, Gein was said to have an unhealthy obsession with his mother. This is a trait that Hitchcock passed onto the character of Norman Bates.

Psychois scary because it brazenly shows the horrors that humans are capable of. Norman Bates is one of the most famous villains in all of horror movie history, which aids in giving him a larger than life feel. However, knowing that he is based on a real person is even more terrifying. It shows audiences that even the least-suspecting person is capable of evils beyond belief.

The Exorcist is another iconic staple in horror movie history, and is still considered by many to be the scariest horror movie of all time. The movie follows the story of young Regan, who begins levitating and speaking in tongues.A local priest becomes convinced that Regan is possessed by a demon, so he makes a request to perform an exorcism on the girl. Elements of the movie were based on a 14-year-old boy who was allegedly possessed sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. A priest namedRaymond J. Bishop recorded the event, claiming that it was fueled by the supernatural.The Exorcistis perhaps the most famous movie about possession, and has inspired many others for good reason. Possessionis something that confounds, intrigues, and scares people. Seeing these events happen on screeneven when they are fictionalizedis scary because no one really has concrete evidence regarding whether demonic possession is real or not. It's one of the many reasons that horror movies based on true stories are able to continually scare the audience.

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Brynne is a lifelong lover of movies hailing from Chicago. Ever since discovering "The Ring" at age 13, she's had a slightly sadistic love affair with horror movies. Tweet her your horror movie recommendations @brynneramella. Please she's running out of movies to watch.

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The Best Horror Movies That Are Based On True Stories - Screen Rant