It is easy to push back the stories of ghosts and possessions until you experience one in your own life. And many are pretty confident that they would never have to encounter such demonic entities. This was mainly because they don’t believe in all of those. But what if that’s not the case? Here are 10 horror movies that are inspired by real-life events.
It is common knowledge that all these movies are exaggerated in one way or another. For better sales of the movie, a blatant and loose horror plot wouldn’t be enough. There would be a need for more hefty and believable content mixed with it. But these are 10 horror movies inspired by real-life incidents that have grave stories.
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Horror Films Inspired By True Events
The Exorcist (1973)
The movie released in 1973 was directed by William Friedkin and was based on the book of the same name by William Peter Blatty. The movie was pretty popular for the depiction of the girl and the way she was being freed from evil. The book was inspired by the real-world experience of a young boy named Roland Doe, possessed by a powerful dark spirit. The exorcism involved a number of psychiatric doctors and Jesuit priests.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
This classical horror film features a burned killer with razor fingers, who terrorizes the dreams of teenagers. The name of the killer, Freddy Krueger was taken from the director Wes Craven’s childhood bully. While the incidents in the movie were inspired by what Craven read about the group of Hmong refugees from Laos and Cambodia. These refugees suffered from traumatic nightmares that made them fear sleep. Having a nightmare and then a sleep-related death came to be known as arrhythmic death syndrome.
Child’s Play (1988)
The inspiration for ‘Child’s Play’ came from the claim made by the Key West painter and author Robert Eugene Otto. Otto supposedly had a childhood toy that would move from room to room, knock furniture over and have conversations with Otto. When a new family moved into Otto’s old house, they experienced so mysterious activities in regard to the doll. Thus the doll was removed and now it sits on display at the Key West’s Fort East Martello Museum.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
The movie is inspired by the paranormal activities that terrorized the Lutz family in 1975 as they moved into 112 Ocean Avenue. The family did not know that this was the house where Ronald Defeo had killed his family 13 months before they came to stay. The Lutz were terrified as they saw green slime on the wall and also had red-eyed pigs staring into the kitchen and living room. Less than a month later the family moved out of the town of Amityville.
Psycho (1960)
The all-time greatest movie, ‘Psycho‘ is one of the masterpieces of director Alfred Hitchcock. The novel of the same name was written by Robert Bloch. He had based his Norman Bates on the convicted murderer and grave robber Ed Gein, who during the 1950s had killed women and unearthed corpses in Wisconsin. The grave robber was changed into a serial killer who dressed like his mother.
The Conjuring (2013)
This movie is the most popular among horror movie enthusiasts. The cult favorite is inspired by the lives of the paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and their experience with the Perrons. The family had moved into a Rhode Island farmhouse and had experienced ghostly and terrifying occurrences in 1971.
Scream (1996)
A meta-horror slasher film directed by Wes Craven was also inspired by some true events related to the Gainesville Ripper aka Danny Rolling. Inspired by Ted Bundy, this killer had broken into several apartments and stabbed five students in Florida. The murderer was sentenced to death in 1994.
Poltergeist (1982)
Written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor, the movie is inspired by real-life incidents from the Hermann House in 1958. The housemates had reported inconveniences in the house, as there were cases of popping bottles, including holy water.
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005)
This movie released in 2005 was based on a legal case that ensued when two priests were charged with negligent homicide following a girl’s death after a violent exorcism. It was the case of Anneliese Michel that had been taken as a reference for this movie, whose recorded exorcism was played during the film’s credit.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
This was another of the movies inspired by the real-life events of Wisconsin’s Edward Gein that happened in the 1950s. Gein had decorated his house with human remains and made masks out of human skin. But there was no evidence of cannibalism. He was later arrested as a victim’s heart was found in a pan in Gein’s kitchen.
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