20 scary movies based on true stories and the real-life events that inspired them

Many scary movies draw inspiration from true stories, events, or figures. Notable scary movies include The Exorcist, The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, all of which have elements based on real events or legends. Discover some of the best scary movies based on true stories and the real-life events that inspired them.

Key takeaways

• Some scary movies draw inspiration from real-life crimes, hauntings, or mysteries.
• The movies often become scarier because audiences know they are rooted in real-life events.
• The real events behind these films are usually more disturbing than the movies themselves.
• Movies, such as The Conjuring, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and The Amityville Horror, are based on real hauntings and possessions.

Scary movies based on true stories

Some of the horror movies ever made are based on real-life events, crimes, or paranormal encounters. These films are often more chilling because they are rooted in actual stories that shocked the world. Below is a list of scary movies based on true stories and the real-life events that inspired them, arranged in order of their IMDb ratings.

1. The Exorcist

• Release date: 26 December 1973
• Directed by: William Friedkin
• Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb
• Running time: 2h 2m
• IMDb rating: 8.1/10

The 1973 classic horror film is about a young girl who becomes possessed by a demon, and the two Catholic priests who try to save her. It is based on the real-life case of a boy known as Roland Doe, who reportedly underwent an exorcism in 1949.

2. The Birds (1963)

• Release date: 28 March 1963
• Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
• Starring: Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
• Running time: 1h 59m
• IMDb rating: 7.6/10

Produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds is a 1963 American natural horror-thriller film that follows the story of a small town suddenly attacked by flocks of violent birds. It was inspired by a real event in 1961 in Capitola, California, where birds crashed into homes and streets after being disoriented by toxic algae.

3. The Conjuring

• Release date: 19 July 2013
• Directed by: James Wan
• Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor
• Running time: 1h 52m
• IMDb rate: 7.5/10

The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. It is about bout a family haunted by a dark spirit in their home. The movie is based on the true story of the Perron family, who lived in a farmhouse in Rhode Island in the 1970s.

4. The Lighthouse

• Release date: 19 May 2019
• Directed by: Robert Eggers
• Starring: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson
• Running time: 1h 50m
• IMDb rating: 7.4/10

Starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson,The Lighthouse is about two lighthouse keepers slowly losing their sanity while stranded on a remote island in the 1890s. While fictional, it was loosely inspired by the real-life Smalls Lighthouse Tragedy of 1801, where two men were trapped during a storm and one died.

5. Scream

• Release date: 18 December 1996
• Directed by: Wes Craven
• Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell
• Running time: 1h 51m
• IMDb rating: 7.4/10

Released on 18 December 1996, Scream is an American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson. It tells the story of a high school girl named Sidney who is hunted by a masked killer, Ghostface. The movie was inspired by the real-life case of Danny Rolling, also known as the Gainesville Ripper, who ended the lives of five college students in Florida in 1990.

6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

• Release date: 11 October 1974
• Directed by: Tobe Hooper
• Starring: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain
• Running time: 1h 23m
• IMDb rating: 7.4/10

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film written by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel. It is about a group of friends who are attacked by a family of cannibals, including the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface. The movie was loosely inspired by the real-life crimes of Ed Gein, a murderer and body snatcher from Wisconsin in the 1950s.

7. A Nightmare on Elm Street

• Release date: 9 November 1984
• Directed by: Wes Craven
• Starring: John Saxon, Ronee Blakley
• Running time: 1h 31m
• IMDb rating: 7.4/10

Written and directed by Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street depicts the story of a group of teens haunted in their dreams by a burned man with a glove of knives named Freddy Krueger. It was partly inspired by real reports in the 1970s and 1980s of Southeast Asian refugees who died suddenly in their sleep after having nightmares.

8. Poltergeist

• Release date: 4 June 1982
• Directed by: Tobe Hooper
• Starring: Heather O'Rourke, JoBeth Williams
• Running time: 1h 54m
• IMDb rating: 7.3/10

Poltergeist is a scary movie written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor. It centres on a family whose home is invaded by angry spirits that abduct their youngest daughter. The movie is loosely based on real events that happened to the Hermann family in New York in 1958, where strange things like flying bottles and moving objects were reported.

9. Angst

• Release year: 1983
• Directed by: Gerald Kargl
• Starring: Erwin Leder
• Running time: 1h 23m
• IMDb rating: 7.2/10

Angst is a 1983 Austrian horror thriller film which follows a psychopath recently released from prison and is loosely based on the true story of Werner Kniesek, an Austrian who ended the lives of a family shortly after being released. The movie was banned in many European countries after its release for its depictions of violence.

10. Dead Ringers

• Release date: 8 September 1988
• Directed by: David Cronenberg
• Starring: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold
• Running time: 1h 55m
• IMDb rating: 7.2/10

The 1988 psychological thriller film follows the adventures of identical twin gynaecologists, Beverly and Elliot, who slowly spiral into madness. It was inspired by the true-life story of Stewart and Cyril Marcus, twin doctors in New York who were found dead together in 1975 under mysterious circumstances.

11. Ravenous

• Release date: 19 March 1999
• Directed by: Antonia Bird
• Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Davies
• Running time: 1h 41m
• IMDb rating: 6.9/10

The 1999 horror film revolves around a soldier at a remote fort who discovers a terrifying secret involving cannibalism and supernatural hunger. It was inspired by real events, such as the Donner Party tragedy and the story of Alferd Packer, a man who survived by eating his companions during a harsh winter in the 1800s.

12. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

• Release date: 9 September 2005
• Directed by: Scott Derrickson
• Starring: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott
• Running time: 1h 59m
• IMDb rating: 6.7/10

Directed by Scott Derrickson, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is about a priest on trial after a young woman dies during an exorcism. It is based on the real story of Anneliese Michel, a German girl who underwent 67 exorcisms in the 1970s and died at age 23.

13. The Entity

• Release date: 30 September 1982
• Directed by: Sidney J. Furie
• Starring: Barbara Hershey
• Running time: 2h 5m
• IMDb rating: 6.7/10

The Entity, directed by Sidney J. Furie, was first released on 30 September 1982. It follows a single mother, Carla Moran, who is repeatedly attacked by an invisible force. It is based on the real-life case of Doris Bither, a California woman who claimed she was assaulted by a ghost in the 1970s.

14. Fire in the Sky

• Release date: 12 March 1993
• Directed by: Robert Lieberman
• Starring: D. B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick
• Running time: 1h 49m
• IMDb rating: 6.5/10

Fire in the Sky is a 1993 sci-fi horror movie about a man who disappears and returns claiming he was abducted by aliens. It is based on the real-life story of Travis Walton, a logger in Arizona who disappeared for five days in 1975.

15. Compliance

• Release date: 17 August 2012
• Directed by: Craig Zobel
• Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp
• Running time: 1h 30m
• IMDb rating: 6.4/10

Compliance is a 2012 American thriller film written and directed by Craig Zobel. It tells the story of a fast-food manager who follows a caller’s orders to search and control a young employee accused of theft. It is based on a real 2004 case in Kentucky, where a man pretending to be a police officer convinced staff at a McDonald’s to strip-search and abuse an innocent 18-year-old girl.

16. The Amityville Horror

• Release date: 24 July 1979
• Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg
• Starring: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Murray Hamilton
• Running time: 1h 58m
• IMDb rating: 6.2/10

The Amityville Horror was released on 24 July 1979 and depicts the story of a young couple who purchase a home haunted by combative supernatural forces. It is based on the real-life story of the Lutz family, who claimed they experienced terrifying paranormal events after moving into a house in Amityville, New York.

17. The Strangers

• Release date: 30 May 2008
• Directed by: Bryan Bertino
• Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman
• Running time: 1h 28m
• IMDb rating: 6.1/10

The 2008 American psychological horror film follows a couple attacked by masked people in their house at night. Real-life home invasion cases, including the Manson Family murders in 1969, inspired it. According to Collider, the director also said it was partly based on a childhood experience when strangers came to his home asking for someone who did not live there.

18. Borderland

• Release date: 11 March 2007
• Directed by: Zev Berman
• Starring: Brian Presley, Jake Muxworthy, Rider Strong
• Running time: 1h 45m
• IMDb rating: 5.6/10

Written and directed by Zev Berman, Borderland is one of the scary movies based on true stories. The movie is about college students who get caught in a deadly cult while visiting Mexico. It is loosely based on the true life story of Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, a drug lord and the leader of a religious cult that practised human sacrifice in the 1980s.

19. Winchester

• Release date: 2 February 2018
• Directed by: The Spierig Brothers
• Starring: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook
• Running time: 1h 39m
• IMDb rating: 5.5/10

Directed by The Spierig Brothers and written by the Spierigs and Tom Vaughan, Winchester is a 2013 scary movie which follows the adventures of Winchester as she is haunted by spirits inside her San Jose mansion in 1906. It is based on the real-life Winchester Mystery House in California, owned by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the man who made the famous rifles

20. Annabelle

• Release date: 29 September 2014
• Directed by: John R. Leonetti
• Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Alfre Woodard
• Running time: 1h 39m
• IMDb rating: 5.5/10

Annabelle follows the story of a creepy doll that brings evil into a couple’s home. It is based on the real-life story of a ragdoll owned by two nurses in the 1970s, who claimed it was possessed. It is a spin-off and prequel to the 2013 film The Conjuring. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren took the doll and kept it locked in their occult museum.

What is the scariest movie based on a true story?

The Exorcist is often considered the scariest movie based on a true story, inspired by a 1949 case of alleged demonic possession.

Is Michael Myers a true story?

No, Michael Myers is not based on a true story. He is a fictional character from the Halloween horror movie franchise created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill.

Was Exorcist based on a true story?

The movie was inspired by a real 1949 case of a boy known as Roland Doe, who reportedly underwent a series of exorcisms after showing signs of demonic possession.

Is Annabelle based on a true story?

Annabelle is based on a real Raggedy Ann doll that paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren claimed was haunted in the 1970s.

Scary movies based on true stories can be even more frightening because they are inspired by real events. Films like The Conjuring, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre show how real-life tragedies and mysteries can inspire unforgettable horror stories.

Legit.ng recently published an article about the best romance anime movies of all time. Romantic anime movies are irrefutably popular among movie lovers. These films explore diverse topics, from love, heartbreak, and conflicts to vengeance.

They also become more mysterious when producers combine them with musicals, action, psychological thrillers, science fiction, and other film genres. Discover some of the best romance anime movies that have catchy stories that will linger in your mind for a long time.

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Source: Legit.ng