13 Scary Movies Based on True Stories

The%20Amityville%20Horror%20house%20is%20based%20on%20this%20actual%20house%20and%20stories%20from%20its%20residents.%20The%20movie%20is%20just%20one%20of%20many%20that%20are%20at%20least%20partially%20based%20on%20actual%20events.%20%28Photo%20by%20Paul%20Hawthorne%2FGetty%20Images%29

While%20the%20supernatural%20elements%20of%20%26%238216%3BThe%20Exorcist%26%238217%3B%20are%20no%20doubt%20exaggerated%20to%20some%20degree%2C%20the%20book%20that%20inspired%20the%20movie%20drew%20its%20own%20inspiration%20from%20a%20string%20of%20events%20in%20the%201940s%20and%201950s%20concerning%20the%20actual%20exorcism%20of%20a%2013-year-old%20boy%20in%20Maryland.

Although%20the%20psychotic%20chainsaw-wielding%20%26%238220%3BLeatherface%26%238221%3B%20and%20his%20deranged%20family%20never%20really%20existed%2C%20the%20concept%20of%20a%20man%20wearing%20the%20skin%20of%20his%20victims%20was%20inspired%20directly%20by%20Ed%20Gein%2C%20who%20made%20masks%20and%20dresses%20out%20of%20human%20skin%20and%20plenty%20of%20household%20items%20out%20of%20bones%20and%20teeth.

The%20story%20of%20the%20movie%20obviously%20made%20its%20heroes%20more%2C%20well%2C%20heroic.%20But%20the%20shark%20attacks%20that%20plagued%20a%20New%20Jersey%20coastline%20for%20a%20terrifying%20two-week%20period%20in%201916%20provided%20the%20basis%20for%20the%20backstory%20of%20the%20novel%20and%20movie%20version%20of%20%26%238216%3BJaws.%26%238217%3B

The%20basis%20for%20the%20movie%2C%20in%20which%20a%20clan%20of%20bloodthirsty%20cannibals%20terrorizes%20a%20lost%20family%20on%20a%20trip%20through%20the%20desert%2C%20is%20inspired%20directly%20by%20the%20legend%20of%20Sawney%20Bean%2C%20who%20led%20a%200-person%20clan%20in%20the%20hills%20of%20Scotland%20who%20%28according%20to%20the%20legend%29%20murdered%20and%20ate%20over%201%2C000%20people%20in%20the%2015th%20century.%20The%20story%26%238217%3Bs%20variance%20has%20transformed%20it%20into%20a%20myth%2C%20with%20historians%20questioning%20its%20veracity%20%26%238211%3B%20but%20all%20documentation%20points%20to%20a%20basis%20of%20at%20least%20some%20truth%20to%20the%20story.

The%20decades%20that%20have%20passed%20since%20the%20original%20story%20of%20%26%238216%3BThe%20Amityville%20Horror%26%238217%3B%20havs%20led%20it%20to%20be%20increasingly%20questioned%20by%20historians%20and%20even%20thought%20to%20be%20a%20hoax.%20But%20the%20Lutz%20family%20swears%20to%20this%20day%20they%20were%20terrified%20by%20the%20ghosts%20of%20dead%20bodies%20and%20plenty%20of%20demonic%20imagery%20that%20eventually%20drove%20them%20out%20after%20just%20a%20month%20living%20there.

The%20lack%20of%20damning%20evidence%20makes%20the%20story%20that%20much%20more%20frightening%3A%20in%201974%2C%20a%20woman%20claiming%20to%20be%20repeatedly%20attacked%20and%20even%20raped%20by%20a%20demon%20possessing%20her%20body%20drew%20paranormal%20investigators%20to%20her%20house.%20The%20two%20men%20witnessed%20other%20paranormal%20activity%20like%20lights%20and%20objects%20moving%20around%20when%20they%20visited%20her%20house%2C%20and%20their%20story%20provided%20the%20basis%20for%20what%20became%20%26%238216%3BThe%20Entity.%26%238217%3B

This%20movie%20is%20inspired%20directly%20by%20real-life%20serial%20killer%20Henry%20lee%20Lucas%2C%20who%20confessed%20to%20over%20600%20murders%20between%201960%20and%201983.%20Thought%20most%20of%20them%20have%20been%20questioned%20or%20disproved%2C%20they%20provided%20the%20basis%20for%20much%20of%20the%20movie%2C%20which%20portrays%20Lucas%20as%20the%20most%20prolific%20killer%20of%20all%20time.

The%20movie%20is%20based%20on%20a%20book%20detailing%20creepy%20voodoo%20practices%20in%20Haiti%2C%20where%20one%20man%20claims%20he%20had%20been%20drugged%20with%20a%20special%20white%20powder%20that%20simulated%20death%20to%20him%2C%20only%20to%20be%20resurrected%20and%20used%20for%20field%20work%20as%20a%20zombie.%20The%20movie%20obviously%20exaggerates%20all%20these%20details%2C%20but%20the%20fact%20that%20zombies%20have%20kinda%20existed%20in%20real%20life%20makes%20the%20story%20more%20chilling.

Hannibal%20Lecter%20is%20such%20an%20iconic%20character%20in%20horror%2C%20it%26%238217%3Bs%20hard%20to%20believe%20he%20was%20even%20inspired%20by%20anyone%20else.%20But%20bits%20and%20pieces%20from%20the%20backstory%20of%20notable%20killers%20and%20cannibals%20like%20Albert%20Fish%20likely%20helped%20author%20Thomas%20Harris%20craft%20the%20character%2C%20who%20Anthony%20Hopkins%20most%20famously%20portrayed%20in%20%26%238216%3BThe%20Silence%20of%20the%20Lambs.%26%238217%3B

Emily%20Rose%20is%20partially%20inspired%20by%20the%20story%20of%20Anneliese%20Michel%2C%20a%2016-year-old%20German%20girl%20who%20suffered%20from%20demonic%20possession%20for%20what%20is%20thought%20to%20be%20over%20a%20decade.%20The%2010-month-long%20exorcism%20process%20by%20two%20priests%20in%201975%20ultimately%20led%20to%20Michel%26%238217%3Bs%20death%2C%20and%20manslaughter%20charges%20for%20the%20priests%20and%20her%20parents.%20The%20whole%20thing%20has%20a%20%26%238220%3Bswept-under-the-rug%26%238221%3B%20feel%20to%20it%2C%20so%20it%26%238217%3Bs%20fair%20to%20theorize%20that%20the%20movie%20is%20based%20on%20true%20events.

%26%238216%3BOpen%20Water%26%238217%3B%20addresses%20a%20core%20human%20fear%2C%20being%20alone%20with%20a%20deadly%20creature%20in%20an%20area%20where%20you%20cannot%20be%20protected.%20In%20this%20case%2C%20it%26%238217%3Bs%20sharks%20and%20the%20open%20ocean.%20The%20movie%20is%20based%20on%20an%20Australian%20couple%20that%20disappeared%20after%20being%20left%20behind%20by%20a%20scuba%20diving%20crew%20in%20the%20open%20ocean.

Originally%20written%20as%20fiction%2C%20the%20script%20for%20%26%238216%3BWolf%20Creek%26%238217%3B%20was%20eventually%20changed%20with%20inspiration%20from%20real-life%20killers%20in%20Australia%20who%20abducted%2C%20tortured%20and%20killed%20tourists%20and%20hitchhikers%20between%20the%20%26%238217%3B90s%20and%202000s.