What’s scarier than a scary movie? How about a scary movie based on actual events? Seeing fictionalized horrors unfold is one thing. Knowing that real individuals experienced these terrible things adds a whole new level of terror.
Our roundup of the scariest movies based on true events covers various topics for a well-rounded marathon of stories that will have you hesitating to leave your home.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as the real-world controversial paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren for this fictionalized retelling of the infamous “the Devil may me do it” trial. The movie follows the Warrens as they search for the truth behind a small-town murder and try to strengthen a defense for demonic possession.
The Devil May Me Do It is overly fantastical in depicting the supernatural and curses. It does use the defendant’s real name, Arne Cheyenne Johnson, and accurately notes that after the jury convicted him of manslaughter, he only served five years.
Black Water (2007)
Hollywood loves to recreate tales of ferocious beasts. From the brutal lion attacks in The Ghost in the Darkness (1996) to the Australian crocodile terror of Rogue (2007), Mother Nature’s wrath has made for heart-pounding cinematic experiences. Black Water joined the ranks in 2007, paralleling Rogue by being based on crocodile attacks in Australia’s Northern Territory four years prior.
Despite remaining relatively unknown, Black Water’s use of actual footage of saltwater crocodiles lends to a tense and uncomfortable trip through the mangrove swamps of Australia.
The Entity (1982)
The 1982 film starring Barbara Hershey and Ron Silver is based on a 1974 case in which a woman contacted a parapsychologist with claims that she had been repeatedly attacked and assaulted by multiple unseen entities in her home in Culver City, California. In real life, the parapsychologist did find evidence of paranormal activities.
Author Frank De Felitta first adapted the haunting of Doris Bither into a book, documenting one of the most famous instances of a supernatural manifestation causing physical harm to the living.
Open Water (2003)
The tragic story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan inspired the 2003 movie Open Water. In January 1998, the couple embarked on a tourist group dive of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. The company in charge of the dive unintentionally left the Lonergans behind, only realizing they were missing two days later. Search parties never found the pair, and it’s believed they drowned at sea.
Open Water amps the terror by pitting the Lonergans against hungry sharks. The movie is entirely speculative, giving viewers an unsettling glimpse into the potential final moments of the hapless couple.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
At 16 years old, Anna Elisabeth “Anneliese” Michel started exhibiting symptoms resulting in a diagnosis of psychosis and depression. Her condition worsened, her mood grew darker, and she spoke of hearing voices, ultimately causing her family to turn to the supernatural. For ten months, she underwent 67 exorcisms, eventually passing away in July 1976 from malnutrition and dehydration. The young girl’s death and subsequent homicide trial serve as the basis for The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
The clever horror film doubles as a legal drama, focusing on the alleged possession and the trial of her parents and the priest overseeing the exorcisms.
Monster (2003)
Charlize Theron depicts the life of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos in an Oscar-winning performance. Monster isn’t an outright horror movie, though you can’t help but feel dread every time Theron, unrecognizable in makeup, is on the screen.
Monster was Patty Jenkins’ directorial debut, and she was bold for tackling a project she also wrote. The result was far from amateur, as Jenkins’ direction and Theron’s performance left audiences rightfully uncomfortable.
Scream (1996)
Scream and the highly successful movie franchise came to pass when screenwriter Kevin Williamson found inspiration in the horrific 1990 serial murders of five college students in Gainesville, Florida. Williamson dramatized The Gainesville Ripper by adding phone calls and scary masks to Scream, arguably the movie’s most frightening aspects.
There is a direct tie between the themes in Wes Craven’s film and the actual murders, and that’s the focus the movie puts on the community response.
Poltergeist (1982)
What, exactly, is happening on Long Island, N.Y.? While famous for being home to the Amityville horror house, the Lutz family wasn’t the first driven from their haunted home. In 1958, James and Lucille Herman Steven claimed that a poltergeist was terrorizing their family. Their story didn’t quite entirely take off, and the public quickly forgot it until Stephen Spielberg unearthed it for a new story.
Like the fictional Freelings in Poltergeist, the Hermann family allegedly faced a supernatural threat in their Long Island home. Sure, no one came face-to-face with gruesome entities, and there is no verified Native American burial ground. Still, the stories align well enough that it’s evident Spielberg was versed on the Hermann family.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
In West Virginia during the 1960s, residents reported sightings of an unusual creature known as the Mothman. When a bridge collapsed, killing 46 people in 1967, locals linked the mysterious Mothman to tragic events.
Mark Pellington’s 2002 supernatural mystery elaborated on the lore of the Mothman. With each reported sighting came a new tragedy, suggesting that the Mothman is prophetic and not an actual danger. Still, the imagery of the shadowy figure with red eyes is sure to stick with you for a while.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
The real-life Lutz family lasted 28 days in their Amityville, N.Y., home before evil spirits chased them out. The catalyst of their nightmare was the DeFeo murders, the real slaying of the DeFeo family by Ronald DeFeo Jr. After the Lutz family moved in, they claim to have been terrorized by entities haunting the home.
The Amityville Horror chronicles the 28 days the Lutz spent in the home, showcasing some of the manifestations they state drove them from the Amityville residence.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven based his classic horror movie about a serial killer haunting young people in their sleep on newspaper stories from 1981. The story is about 26 young Southeast Asian refugees who inexplicably died in their sleep after expressing fears that their nightmares would cause them to die.
While the knife-wielding Freddy Krueger was a creation of Craven’s mind, he did base the fiend’s signature colors on the real-world idea that red and green are difficult for the human eye to see.
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
The fictitious Campbell family in the movie represents the Snedeker family in real life. When the Snedekers moved into a rental home previously operated as a funeral home, they found themselves harassed by demons.
The case was infamously part of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s legacy. Though its validity was called into question after Ed died in 2006, the film retains much of the details of the Snedeker’s supernatural encounter.
Stuck (2007)
In 2001, a homeless man named Gregory Glenn Biggs was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in which he became stuck in the driver’s windshield. The driver, Chante Jawan Mallard, left him to die in her car rather than summon help. The 2007 film is based on this incident, except the victim in the movie manages to turn the tables on his assailant.
The movie focuses primarily on the event itself, though Biggs’ story did result in a trial where Mallard received a 50-year sentence.
The Strangers (2008)
This movie about a nightmarish extended home invasion is based on a quadruple home invasion homicide that occurred in the director’s neighborhood when he was a child and the Sharon Tate murders carried out by the Manson family in 1969.
The real background behind the movie elevates its scare factor, especially as the plot is already rooted in reality and not driven by a supernatural force.
The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)
The Haunting of Sharon Tate is based on the true and horrific story of Charles Manson and his group killing the pregnant Sharon Tate. Played by Hilary Duff in this retelling, the low-rated movie is a dramatization of the murder of Tate back in 1969.
Making a ghost story out of Tate’s murder wound up being just as tasteless as it sounds, earning the film hefty criticisms.
Jaws (1975)
According to the author of the book Jaws, the story isn’t based on a real series of events. Still, people draw a lot of similarities to the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks that killed four people. While there might not be an exact story the book and film are based on, there are enough real shark attacks that make us wary when talking about Jaws.
Despite its critical success, Jaws’ author, Peter Benchley, ultimately regretted making a great white shark a villain as audiences took the story as gospel and started believing sharks to be killing machines.
The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
2006’s The Hills Have Eyes —a remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 film of the same name — is apparently based on the chilling story of a Scottish clan who lived in the 16th century and cannibalized more than 1,000 people over a 25-year period.
It’s a gruesome story that does share parallels with the on-screen brutality of the gory remake.