There are certain nights that call you to curl up in bed or on the couch and watch something really scary. All of us love doing this every now and then, but what makes some films even more frightening is when you find out that they’re based on things that actually happened!
Psycho, 1960
A thriller/horror, Psycho is based on Ed Gein’s crimes in Wisconsin and the murders he committed there. The inspiration for a number of excellent films, Gein has a total of nine masks fashioned from human skin when he was arrested.
The Exorcist, 1973
A movie as classic as real money Blackjack, it actually takes for its inspiration a book which was in turn based on the story of an actual young boy by the name of Roland Doe. Doe was possessed by demonic forces back in 1949, and the exorcism which eventually took place was so terrifying that those who witnessed it wrote about their experience.
Deranged, 1974
Think you’ll ever love someone so much you’ll struggle to part with their inert bodies after they die? This 1974 movie is another one about Ed Gein’s inability to let go of his dead mama and the twisted paths he took to try and hold on to her in any way he could.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974
This movie is another one very loosely based on possibly the most well-known serial killer to come out of the United States, Ed Gein.
Child’s Play, 1988
The script for Child’s Play was based on a nurse who had allegedly put a voodoo curse on a childhood doll belonging to author Robert Eugene Otto which turned it into a nighttime menace. It adds an extra layer of scariness to know that possessed dolls have been a reality to some.
Ravenous, 1999
Everyone enjoys a good meal, but what if your next one was made up of human flesh? Ravenous is a rather underrated movie that covers cannibalism and it will spook you no end. You are what you eat, after all.
The Amityville Horror, 2005
This flick is based on events which took place at 112 Ocean Avenue, the new dwelling of the Lutz family, in Amityville in 1975.
The Girl Next Door, 2007
This feature is loosely based on what is believed by many to be the most terrible crime in the state of Indiana in the USA. Sylvia Likens was only 16-years old when the torture inflicted by Gertrude Baniszewski and a group of children under her control eventually killed her, and this movie tells the sad story.
A Nightmare on Elm Street, 2010
If you are a fan of blood and gore and villains with knives instead of fingers, this is the movie for you! The makers were inspired by the stories of a group of refugees from Laos who had died whilst in the throes of a nightmare. The autopsies revealed that there had been nothing wrong with them physically.
The Conjuring, 2013
Ed and Lorraine Warren are paranormal investigators in real life who claim that this actual case was one of their most difficult.
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