5 Horror Films Based on True Stories

One of the oldest tropes in horror films is the claim that the events that the viewer is about to witness actually happened in real life.
Be it alien abductions or reanimated corpses marching into a living room to munch on an unsuspecting babysitter, the hope is that by merely stating that “these events are based on a true story” the audience will be more willing to suspend belief and in turn, be more scared that what they are watching on screen might actually happen to them.
Whether or not the plots of the following films actually happened in the real world might well be up for debate, but what cannot be questioned is the disturbing and shocking scenarios which make these movies some of the best horror films ever made.

1) The Amityville Horror

The Lutz family bought a house in a sleepy Long Island town at a price too good to be true. Of course, the reason for the discount was the fact that the previous occupants had been murdered by a family member. That much of the story is well-documented.
What happens next is the focus of the film and a lot less verifiable. The Lutz family claimed that the house was haunted, and the movie takes the viewer through the escalation of spectral activity in the house. Slime oozes from the walls, flies accumulate on the windows, and the youngest daughter’s room is frequently visited by the glowing eyes of a demon named Jodie.
Even if the claims of the Lutzes are not to be believed, the story that they’ve concocted has long-since haunted the nightmares of those who have seen this movie, and can be said to be part of the inspiration for the television show, “American Horror Story.”

2) Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film about a motel owner who secretly watches his temporary tenants through peepholes, dresses up as his own mother and surprises them in the shower with a sharp knife suitable for stabbing is one of the iconic horror films of all time. 
The film was inspired by the true story of Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who dug up dead bodies to
collect as souvenirs and later confessed to the murders of two women and was sent to a mental hospital in lieu of prison.

3) Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Ed Gein’s exploits were also the inspiration for Tobe Hooper’s low budget horror tale that also played upon the very real 1970′s practice of hitchhiking.
A van filled with five innocent youths picks up the wrong hitchhiker who ends up attacking them with a straight razor. They fight him off, only to discover that they’ve run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Attempts to seek shelter lead them right into the clutches of a disturbed family with a lust for homicide.
Elements of Psycho are updated for the era, with the knife replaced by a chainsaw. Leatherface, the leader of the clan, wears a mask made out of human flesh and the “dead mother sitting in a chair” motif is also revisited in the film.
Ed Gein’s “hobby” of collecting body parts as souvenirs was also the inspiration for the serial killer in “Silence of the Lambs.” As far as horror films go, Gein is the gift that keeps on giving.

4) The Hills Have Eyes

Scotland is the source of the story that Wes Craven attempted to update in this cult classic. The original tale of Sawney Bean is about a clan from the 1500′s that took to incest in an effort to keep their numbers high, and cannibalism in order to keep other clan’s numbers low.
Craven set his tale in the Nevada desert, as a vacationing family makes a wrong turn and ends up driving right through the heart of the land populated by an inbred band of vicious cannibals. The battle between the primitive, lawless freaks and the family serves as a perfect allegory for man’s constant battle to remain in control over nature.

5) Open Water

Vacations gone wrong are a common horror device, but few films have created a sense of true isolation and hopelessness as this 2003 film by Chris Kentis. It is based on the true story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who went on a scuba diving exhibition with a large group of tourists near the Great Barrier Reef.
Due to a poorly conducted head count, the boat left thinking that everyone had returned aboard. Unfortunately, the Lonergans were left behind, completely stranded, miles from shore in shark-infested waters.
In the movie, the stranded couple go from fully expecting the boat to realize they are missing through the harsh realization that it is just a matter of time before they are devoured by the increasingly hungry sharks that are circling their position. Chilling in its simplicity, Open Water shows you don’t need a big budget to deliver big time horror.