Horror movies always derive their most terrifying aspects from real life. Blood-curdling crimes and macabre events find their way onto the screen. Adaptations like these blur fact and fiction and show how some of the most horrible stories come from real life, thus making them all the more chilling. From infamous serial killers to unexplained supernatural encounters, the movies take real-life stories and transform them into scary cinematic experiences.
In this article, we discuss 20 horror movies based on real incidents.
1. The Conjuring (2013)
The Conjuring tells the true story of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren's investigation into a terror-stricken family. Based on a haunting by the Perron family in Rhode Island, the movie depicts chilling incidents associated with the property's dark history. The Perron haunting was among many high-profile cases Warren and his wife Lorraine handled. This led to a whole Conjuring universe and spawned other movies such as Annabelle and The Nun.
2. The Amityville Horror (1979)
The Amityville Horror is based on the infamous case of the Lutz family, who, based on the information of that time, moved into a house where a gruesome mass murder had occurred. In the real life of George and Kathy Lutz, the experience of paranormal activity included frightful things such as odd smells and voices in that infamous Long Island home. While some aspects of the movie remain disputed, the horror atmosphere and claims of possession made it a staple in the horror cinema.
3. Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle is inspired by the real-life incident of a possessed doll that is said to have terrorized a young couple in the 1970s. Now kept in the Warren's Occult Museum, the said doll was associated with several unnerving paranormal events. As per Ed and Lorraine Warren, the two paranormal investigators, the said doll was a portal of evil spirit that tortured the owners. The film is a prequel to The Conjuring and delves into the sinister origins of the doll, adding to the frightening mythos surrounding the artifact.
4. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie that combines courtroom drama with supernatural horror, taking inspiration from the tragic tale of Anneliese Michel, a German woman who underwent exorcisms before her death in 1976.
This real-life case is very controversial, with some people saying she was possessed, and others saying that she was a victim of mental illness. The movie talks about the legal battle that took place, playing out the struggle between faith and science. Even after such tragedy, the movie itself will always be a fearful film of possession and spiritual redemption.
5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is loosely based on the crimes of Ed Gein, a notorious serial killer and body snatcher. Although the movie itself does not seem to be an adaptation of Gein's story, its terrifying presentation of cannibalistic behaviour and gruesome murder echoes the macabre acts committed by Gein in the 1950s. Leatherface's murders in the film are highly monstrous and reflect the grotesque practices of Gein.
6. Psycho (1960)
Psycho was drawn from the infamous crimes of Ed Gein, the serial killer and body snatcher who shocked the world in the 1950s. Gein was exhuming bodies to make his trophies from the human remains, and these behaviours influenced Alfred Hitchcock's portrayal of Norman Bates. He appeared to be an ordinary, respectable man running a motel, yet had a darker, murderous alternate personality. Though the movie plot is merely fictional, the cold breath of Gein's horrors — from his obsession for his mother who had already died — forms the horror at the heart of this movie.
7. The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
The Haunting in Connecticut is a film based on a true paranormal experience of a family named Snedeker, who had moved to a former funeral home in Connecticut in the 1980s. They reported really disturbing experiences and visions of dead bodies, as well as malignant spirits. Paranormal investigators claim that the house had been haunted by spirits of people who passed through the funeral home. Despite questions about its legitimacy, the movie has a very chilling atmosphere with supernatural elements that make it a success.
8. The Girl Next Door (2007)
Based on the gruesome real-life torture and murder of Sylvia Likens in 1965, The Girl Next Door explores the tragic and cruel abuse she suffered while residing with the Baniszewski family. The movie portrays the gruesome physical and emotional torture Sylvia underwent right before her death, leaving the nation in shock. Though the film dramatizes some of the facts, the viciousness of the actual crime is retained in the film, which has been a chilling reminder of the human evil that is capable of such acts.
9. Wolf Creek (2005)
Wolf Creek is influenced by an actual Australian serial murderer known as Ivan Milat. Ivan Milat committed serial killings on unsuspecting backpackers in the Australian countryside in the 1990s.
The film revolves around the travellers who are taken in by a psychopath when exploring the Australian outback. This is, of course, a horror story, fictionalized for sure, but it is steeped in the awful facts of real crimes. The gritty realism makes it a darling of survival horror buffs.
10. Open Water (2003)
Open Water is based on the true story of two scuba divers who were left behind at sea by their tour boat in 1998. They were left stranded in the middle of the ocean to face dehydration, sharks, and overwhelming isolation.
The minimalism of the movie and the absence of actual horror elements heighten this tension and emphasize the fundamental fear of survival. While the real incident wasn't as deadly as portrayed in the movie, the concept of being lost in the middle of the ocean sends shivers down any individual's spine who's ever entered the ocean.
11. The Exorcist (1973)
The Exorcist, one of the scariest horror movies of all time, is actually a true story about an exorcism performed in 1949 on a young boy who was, to the public, "Robbie Mannheim." This young boy was allegedly possessed; he played with a Ouija board and his family experienced a chain of gruesome events. The whole thing was documented, with even some priests who attended experiencing strange phenomena. William Peter Blatty's novel and William Friedkin's film adaptation explore possession horrors and the battle between good and evil.
12. The Strangers (2008)
The Strangers is inspired by multiple real-life home invasion stories, most notably involving a family targeted by masked assailants. Although the film isn't based on any specific case, it is drawn from the universal fear of home invasions and the terror of someone entering one's personal space. In the movie, masked strangers represent random violence in home invasions in real life, as seen in the infamous Keddie Cabin Murders of 1981, in which an unknown assailant brutally killed a family.
13. Deliver Us from Evil (2014)
Deliver Us from Evil was inspired by the life experience of Ralph Sarchie, a New York cop who, while on a mission, faced paranormal experiences. The film narrates his horrifying experience with the demonic spirit responsible for some violent crimes. At first, Sarchie became a Catholic to stand against evil spirits; during this period, he served as a support assistant for an exorcist against evil spirits. The movie combines police procedural and supernatural horror.
14. The Entity (1982)
The Entity is a movie based on the real-life story of a woman called Doris Bither who, in the 1970s, was allegedly attacked by an invisible entity repeatedly. The film is a narration of the scary experiences she had with supernatural forces that appeared to attack her physically. In the real case, paranormal investigators and experts documented a series of strange occurrences. The movie's portrayal of psychological terror is memorable.
15. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is loosely based on a series of real-life deaths of some young men from Southeast Asia who mysteriously died in their sleep, allegedly due to terrifying nightmares. Wes Craven took the reports and created the iconic character of Freddy Krueger, a vengeful spirit haunting the dreams of teenagers. The real-life deaths were part of an ongoing mystery that captivated the media. It became a cultural phenomenon under Craven's direction as it merged psychological horror with some slasher elements.
16. Veronica (2017)
Based on real events surrounding the tragic death of a 14-year-old girl in Spain, who allegedly died after participating in a séance, Veronica is a movie about a teenager who, while using a Ouija board, unwittingly opens a portal to the supernatural world with terrifying consequences. The real case, which has become one of the most famous paranormal stories in Spain, is called "The Vallecas Case.". The film recounts the mystery surrounding the girl's death, makes use of all the dread that can be associated with dabbling into the unknown, and has a chilling aura.
17. Fire in the Sky (1993)
Fire in the Sky is a movie based on the real-life abduction of Travis Walton, a logger who asserted that he was abducted by extraterrestrial beings back in 1975. His disappearance for five days became one of the most famous UFO abduction cases ever. The movie follows the horrifying experience of Travis, encountering alien beings and all the skepticism he and his colleagues have to face in the end. Though many were skeptical of the credibility of Walton's tale, his remains one of the most credible stories in UFO folklore.
18. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs draws inspiration from the real-life acts of Ed Gein and Ted Bundy, among other serial killers. FBI agent Clarice Starling pursues an insane cannibalistic killer named Hannibal Lecter. Buffalo Bill's actions were inspired by real-life actions, like exhuming bodies and making trophies for his victims. One of the most iconic characters in cinematic history was created by the film's chilling portrayal of serial killers and its deep psychological exploration of criminal minds.
19. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
The Hills Have Eyes takes inspiration from the infamous 16th century Scottish legend about the "Sawney Bean Clan," a family of cannibals. It is a movie that revolves around a story of a family stranded in the desert, who soon becomes the target of a mutated cannibal family. Although the story is fictionalized, its influence comes from grim, macabre tales such as the Bean family, murdering other people and cannibalization over decades. From being very disturbing in describing a film about human savagery and the definition of survival horror, hundreds have followed this genre movie plot.
20. The Sacrament (2013)
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The Sacrament is based on the very real Jonestown Massacre of 1978, in which over 900 members of the People's Temple cult committed mass suicide at the behest of their leader, Jim Jones. This film tells the story of a group of journalists investigating a religious cult in an isolated location that uncovers its terrifying secrets. The movie, though not a direct adaptation of the Jonestown tragedy, takes great influence from the event; the cult leader is shown as manipulative and dangerous.
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