12 Horror movies that are based on true events
It’s usual to hear that a horror movie “is base on true events” and while is not always the case they’re some movies that are actually based on real murder and paranormal cases. It’s a huge marketing strategy that has been used for years because it works, silly but true. It’s easy to fall and believe that what is shown on the movie is true. This is why today I bring you 10 horror movies that are based on true events, paranormal and murder cases.
10 Horror movies that are based on true events
The Amityville Horror
Chiller about a family who are terrorized by supernatural forces when they move into a new house in New York State which was the scene of a recent mass killing and the home of an 18th-century satanist. When swarms of flies appear from nowhere and the pipes and walls begin to ooze slime and blood, they call on a local priest to exorcise the evil spirits.
Official movie plot
On November 13, 1974 Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. killed his father, mother, his two brothers and sisters in their house in 112 Ocean Avenue Amityville, Long Island, New York. He was convicted to six sentences of 25 years to life. He died on March 12, 2021 at the age of 69. His case inspired the book by Jay Anson The Amityville Horror published in 1977. Two years later the film adaptation was made and became the highest-grossing independent film and held the record until 1990.
The Conjuring
In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists Lorraine and Ed Warren are summoned to the home of Carolyn and Roger Perron. The Perrons and their five daughters have recently moved into a secluded farmhouse, where a supernatural presence has made itself known. Though the manifestations are relatively benign at first, events soon escalate in horrifying fashion, especially after the Warrens discover the house’s macabre history.
Official movie plot
On January 1971 the Perron family moved to a farmhouse in Rhode Island, New York. Soon the family began to notice strange things happening on the house. They asked to Ed and Lorraine Warren to investigate and after 10 years living on the house because of financial instability the finally moved out in 1980. At that point the hauntings ceased.
The Conjuring 2
In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren come out of a self-imposed sabbatical to travel to Enfield, a borough in north London. There, they meet Peggy Hodgson, an overwhelmed single mother of four who tells the couple that something evil is in her home. Ed and Lorraine believe her story when the youngest daughter starts to show signs of demonic possession. As the Warrens try to help the besieged girl, they become the next targets of the malicious spirit.
Official movie plot
In August 1977 the Hodgson family in Enfield, England, started to experience similar things to the Perron family. The Warrens believed a demonic presence was the reason of the hauntings. A exorcism was never performed and in 1979 the hauntings stopped without any reason.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The Rev. Moore is prosecuted for the wrongful death of a girl thought to be demonically possessed, because he administered the church-sanctioned exorcism that ultimately killed her. Prosecuting attorney Ethan Thomas contends that the young woman, Emily, suffered from schizophrenia and should have been medically diagnosed. Meanwhile, defense lawyer Erin Bruner argues that Emily’s condition cannot be explained by science alone.
Official movie plot
Annelise Michael was a German girl that has to pass over 67 exorcism rites, dying of malnutrition. Her parents and priest were convicted of negligence homicide. Her case inspired the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
La Casa Muda
Laura and her father stay overnight in a house where a mysterious noise makes her very frightened.
Official movie plot
Silent House
Sarah is working with her father and uncle to renovate an old family home to prepare it for sale. Long vacant, the house has no utilities, forcing the trio to rely on battery-operated lanterns to light their way. Sarah becomes separated from her relatives and soon finds she is trapped inside the cabin, with no contact with the outside world. Panic turns to real terror as the young woman experiences events that become increasingly ominous.
Official movie plot
Both of this movies were inspired by the events that toke place on an Uruguayan village in the 1940s.
An American Crime
Gertrude Baniszewski, a divorced mother of several children, agrees to take care of two girls, Sylvia and Jennie, while their parents travel with a carnival. Though her eldest daughter is the real troublemaker, Gertrude vents all her bitterness and frustration on innocent Sylvia. Gertrude imprisons the girl in the basement and tortures her, eventually encouraging her children to follow suit.
Official movie plot
The Girl Next Door
A teen suffers horrible abuse at the hands of her caretaker, who also encourages the neighborhood boys to torment the girl.
Official movie plot
Both movies are inspired by the case of the murder of Sylvia Likens in 1965. An American Crime shows what really happened while The Girl Next Door used the case as inspiration.
Zodiac
In the late 1960s and 1970s, fear grips the city of San Francisco as a serial killer called Zodiac stalks its residents. Investigators and reporters become obsessed with learning the killer’s identity and bringing him to justice. Meanwhile, Zodiac claims victim after victim and taunts the authorities with cryptic messages, cyphers and menacing phone calls.
Official movie plot
The Zodiac serial killer remains unidentified. The California Department of Justice has keep and open case file of the murders since 1969.
Wolf Creek
A chilling, factually based story of three road-trippers in remote Australia who are plunged into danger when they accept help from a friendly local. Kristy, Ben and Liz are three friends in their twenties who set out to hike through the scenic Wolf Creek National Park in the Australian Outback. The trouble begins when they find that their car won’t start and they run into a local bushman named Mick Taylor.
Official movie plot
The film used as inspiration the Australians backpackers killers Ivan Milat and Bradley Murdoch.
Open Water
Daniel and Susan embark on a tropical vacation with their scuba-diving certifications in tow. During a group dive, the two separate themselves from the others to dive a little deeper. An incorrect head-count suggests the entire group has returned, so the boat departs. When the pair surfaces, they make out a vessel in the distance, but it does not immediately set in that they have been left behind. With sharks lurking beneath, their survival chances grow smaller.
Official movie plot
In January 25, 1998 the couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan went with a group to practice scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. They were accidentally left behind by the group. Their bodies were never found and they’re presumed dead.
Veronica
During a solar eclipse, a teenage girl and her friends want to summon the spirit of the girl’s father using an Ouija board. However, during the session she loses consciousness and soon it becomes clear that evil demons have arrived.
Official movie plot
In 1990 Estefania Gutierrez Lazaro played with a Ouija board during a solar eclipse. This leaded to the paranormal events that she would experience for the next months until her death. The doctors never founded a real cause of death.