Want to get so scared you crap in your pants this Halloween? Best way to get into the spooky feel is to watch some classic horror movies that send chills down your spine. While most horror movies appear completely fake, down to the red-food colored blood and cheesy special effects, we often look over the words “based on a true story” printed on the movie poster. Here is a list of some of Hollywood’s recent and classic true story-to-horror movie adaptations.
1. The Amityville Horror (1979, 2005)
Movie Plot: One year before new tenants George and Kathy Lutz move into a house in the suburbia of Amityville, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered the six members of his family. The Lutz are terrorized by paranormal phenomena.
Real Story: The ï¬lm is based on a nonï¬ction book describing the paranormal phenomena that occurred in the four weeks the Lutz family occupied the house. Such phenomena include accounts of disembodied voices, demonic imagery and walls bleeding green slime. Since then, investigators have researched the scene and have deemed the story a hoax.
2. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Movie Plot: Reporter John Klein gets lost while driving and ends up in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He encounters the “Mothman,” a winged creature who foretells disastrous events-notably, the collapse of a bridge over the Ohio River leading into Point Pleasant.
Real Story: Reports of sightings of a large, winged, unidentiï¬ed creature occurred in Point Pleasant between 1966-67. On December 15, 1967, the bridge connecting Point Pleasant to Ohio collapsed, killing 46 people. The 40-year old bridge collapsed due to proper maintenance and the “Mothman” sightings were never accurately documented.
3.The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Movie Story: A priest is on trial for the death of a young woman named Emily Rose, whom he had performed an exorcism on. The movie documents the woman’s struggles with being possessed, as well as what the priest saw.
Real Story: The real Emily Rose was inspired by the story of a 16-year old German girl named Annelise Michel. In 1968 she began displaying symptoms of demonic possession like self-abuse, starvation, paralysis, and visions. In 1975, two priests performed exorcisms and claimed that Michel was possessed by several demons. During that time, Michel barely ate, which led to her death by starvation in July 1976. Her parents and the priests were tried and found guilty of manslaughter.
4. The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
Movie Story: The Campbell family moves into a former mortuary in Connecticut to be close to the hospital that takes care of their cancer-stricken son, Matt. They soon realize that this former mortuary contains malevolent forces.
Real Story: The ï¬lm was inspired by the Carmen Snedecker and her family, who moved to Connecticut in the ‘80s to be close to their son Phillip, who was receiving treatment for cancer. Phillip became more erratic and claimed that the house was haunted. However, his parents believed that he was becoming schizophrenic. Eventually Carmen was haunted by a shower curtain wrapped around her and tried to kill her. The family moved out of the house, and Phillip did not trust his mother again until a few months before his cancer relapse an ultimate death on January 2012.
5. An American Haunting (2005)
Movie Story: A young woman is haunted by a terrifying dream in the present day. Her mother discovers a series of letters indicating that the house that they live in belonged to a 19th century owner who was terrorized by a killer known as the Bell Witch.
Real Story: The poltergeist historically known as the Bell Witch was said to be a schoolteacher who worked with several people to terrorize a family. No Bell Witch sightings or accounts have been made in the present day. Many accounts of the Bell Witch have been lost over time.