Random Terrifying Horror Movies And True Stories They're Based On (16 items)

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  (#16) The Rite

  • Anthony Hopkins, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Rutger Hauer, Ciarán Hinds, Alice Braga, Colin O'Donoghue, Toby Jones, Torrey DeVitto, Chris Marquette, Don Kress, Marija Karan, Nico Toffoli, Cecilia Dazzi, Marta Gastini, Peter Arpesella, Attila Bardóczy, Rosa Pianeta, Giampiero Ingrassia, Adriano Aragon, Jasper Jacob, Arianna Veronesi, Ben Cheetham, Nadia Kibout, Anita Pititto, Fabiola Balestriere, Anikó Vincze, Sandor Baranyai, Rosario Tedesco, Andrea Calligari

  The Movie

  The Rite is a 2011 movie based on Matt Baglio's book, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. Directed by Mikael Håfström, the horror film documents the life of a young man who only enters the seminary to receive a free college education. Michael, the main character, does well in the religious environment, though. One particular priest notices and insists that the young man venture to Rome to receive exorcism training. 

  Michael goes, still skeptical, until he meets a young girl that seems quite possessed. Michael's tutor, Father Lucas, fails to exorcise the girl. When she dies, the demon, Baal, inhabits the priest and Michael has no choice but to perform an exorcism of his own.

  The Reality

  The supernatural scary movie was based on the experiences of Father Gary Thomas. An American priest, Thomas ventured to Rome in 2005 and took exorcism classes. He apprenticed with Capuchin Father Carmine De Filippis, the inspiration for Father Lucas. Thomas even teamed up with a reporter, much like the fictional Michael did in the movie. The real priest never saw a death caused by possession, but he did attend approximately 80 exorcisms.
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  (#15) The Girl Next Door

  • Catherine Mary Stewart, William Atherton, Mark Margolis, Jack Ketchum, Michael Zegen, Grant Show, Kevin Chamberlin, Graham Patrick Martin, Daniel Farrands, Blanche Baker, Peter Stickles, Austin Williams, Andrew van den Houten, Madeline Taylor, Daniel Manche, Blythe Auffarth, Krista Gall, Benjamin Ross Kaplan, Jennifer Alexander, Spenser Leigh, Gabrielle Howarth, Jocelyn Kuritsky, Dean Faulkenberry, Gary Patent, Eric Toth, Robert Tonino, Carlin Rizzo, Wynn Van Dusen, Lluis Fe Perez, Jason Rigsby, Alana Rader, Vivian Hernandez, Michael Nardella, Gerard Houarner, Dan Abram, J.M. Parkhurst, Christine Choo, Rory Douglas, Santo Silvestro, Leon Blot, Greg Northrop, Linda Addison, Monica O'Rourke, Kevin Carroll, Ashley Musteric, Andy Bennett, Nick Kelios, Lily Cohen, George Kloak, Dagmara Jankowska, Jeffrey Wolpert, David Auffarth, Janet Hefferan, Chris Steinacker, Nick Purritano, Anthony Stone, David Hefferan, Malgorzata Staniszewska, Beth Gittleman, Rhodi Hawk, Irene Katehis, Benjamin Laddin

  The Movie

  Gregory Wilson's The Girl Next Door is, perhaps, one of the most depraved horror films ever made. Released in 2007, the movie is chilling not because of a chainsaw-wielding serial killer or a twisted poltergeist. The true villain is both more human and more horrifying than any scary movie lover could imagine. A young teen girl, Meg, is the title character and the most sympathetic. After her parents die in a car accident, she and her younger sister are fostered by a mom in the neighborhood. 

  Nothing goes well for the orphaned girls, and Ruth, the woman who takes them in, is evil unadulterated. She beats Meg, burns her, and taunts her ceaselessly. Few adults believe the victim's claims, though. In fact, when the young teen tries to seek help, she is brutalized further. Ruth allows her biological sons to rape and assault Meg. Eventually, the innocent girl dies from neglect and abuse. Her sister barely makes it out of the toxic house alive.

  The Reality

  Unfortunately, Wilson's film is based on true events and a book written by Jack Ketchum. Sylvia Likens and her sister Jenny were the true victims in this Indiana crime. The girls' parents, Lester and Betty Likens, boarded the girls in Gertrude Baniszewski's house for $20 a week. When Baniszewski received payment late, she began to brutalize the children; Sylvia was her main target. She beat the young teen, sexually assaulted her, and encouraged neighborhood children to join the depravity. On October 26, 1965, police found Sylvia's fatally mangled body with over 150 wounds and bruises. Shockingly, Baniszewski was released from a life prison sentence on parole. She died a free woman.
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  (#2) The Exorcist

  • Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, William Peter Blatty, Jason Miller, Mercedes McCambridge, Jack MacGowran, Barton Heyman, Peter Masterson, Titos Vandis, Donna Mitchell, William O'Malley, Eileen Dietz, Kitty Winn, Robert Symonds, Robert Gerringer, Mason Curry, Arthur Storch, Rudolf Schündler, John Mahon, Roy Cooper, Mary Boylan, Dick Callinan, Toni Darnay, Ron Faber, Wallace Rooney, Vasiliki Maliaros, Bernard Eismann, Joanne Dusseau, Gina Petrushka, Vincent Russell, Thomas Bermingham, Paul Bateson, Elinore Blair, John Nicola, Yvonne Jones, Don LaBonte, Beatrice Hunter

  The Movie

  Often touted as the scariest film of all time. The Exorcist was somehow based on a true story. The Academy Award-winning 1973 film The Exorcist followed the story of 13-year-old Regan who, after a seizure, begins to show signs of demonic possession.

  After medical testing fails (and results in the doctors being assaulted), Regan's family attempts to have the demon, who's apparently inside of her, forced out. Father Karras and Father Merrin attempt to exorcise the demon in an attempt to save the girl from the possession, with terrifying consequences.

  The little girl pleasures herself with a cross to the point of bleeding and mutilation, is capable of telekinesis, turns her head all the way around, and even levitates.

  These are some of the most messed up scenes in movie history.

  The Reality

  The story, which resulted in what has been called the scariest movie ever, is sketchy but believed to be inspired by the exorcism of Robbie Mannheim, also known as Roland Doe. A 12-year old boy. Not a girl.

  According to the attending priest, the boy attempted to contact his late aunt using an Ouija board, after which paranormal activity started in the home, including unexplained noises and an occurrence of a poltergeist-like event involving blankets flying around of their own accord. Robbie then began to show signs of possession, speaking in tongues and blisters and cuts appearing on his body. He was taken to a mental institute in St. Louis where he was treated both mentally and spiritually. It was here that a group of priests started to perform various exorcising rituals to try and extract the demon. After a staggering 30 attempts, the priests were satisfied that they had successfully banished the demon from Robbie's body.

  After the ceremony he went on to have a very normal life, including a successful career at NASA. If my mother only knew that demon possession could lead to working for NASA, I'm positive that she would have made me play with Oujia boards every night.

  The exact details of the story, including what some believe to be only mild paranormal happenings, are highly disputed as the story has been passed down and retold in numerous versions.

  But still, "mild" paranormal happenings are still paranormal happenings.
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  (#6) Audrey Rose

  • Anthony Hopkins, Marsha Mason, John Hillerman, John Beck, Norman Lloyd, Robert Walden, Philip Sterling, Stephen Pearlman, Susan Swift

  The Movie

  Audrey Rose, a little girl, dies in a tragic car crash. Two minutes later, Ivy Templeton is born. Fast forward 11 years and Elliot Hoover, father to Audrey, begins to stalk the Templeton family in New York after he becomes convinced that Audrey was reincarnated into Ivy.

  Ivy begins to have nightmares and strange events occur, many similar to the fiery car crash that killed Audrey. Elliot Hoover ends up kidnapping Ivy in an attempt to grant his daughter's spirit peace, a move that lands him in a highly publicized criminal trial.

  The Reality

  Frank De Felitta, author of the novel and the 1977 movie, was inspired to create the work by his son, Raymond. The boy suddenly began playing the piano like a pro despite no formal training or lessons. He claimed that his fingers were doing it by themselves.

  De Felitta sought to understand how Raymond could have gained such expertise on his own. He consulted an occultist who expressed that it was an "incarnation leak," as in a skill Raymond perfected in a previous lifetime and carried into the next.
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  (#10) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

  • Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

  The Movie

  Sharing a home with Otis and Otis' sister, serial killer Henry mercilessly kills numerous women. On one occasion, Henry kills a pair of hookers picked up by him and Otis, with Otis witnessing the murders.

  As the killings continue, Otis becomes more and more involved in the murders. Henry kills hundreds, all without remorse, but also builds a relationship with Otis' sister as the two have similar backgrounds.

  The Reality

  The film was directly inspired by serial killer Henry Lee Lucas and his accomplice Ottis Toole. Though Henry was convicted of 11 murders, the film took license with the other killings for a dramatic effect.

  Henry allegedly confessed to as many as 600 murders; however, many believe he only did so for improved prison conditions, not because he actually committed the crimes. He is one of the only cases in Texas where his death sentence was commuted to life in prison. Lucas died in prison of heart failure in 2001.
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  (#8) The Serpent and the Rainbow

  • Bill Pullman, Paul Winfield, Michael Gough, Diamanda Galás, Paul Guilfoyle, Theresa Merritt, Zakes Mokae, Cathy Tyson, Dey Young, Francis Guinan, Brent Jennings, Badja Djola, William Newman, Conrad Roberts, Kimberleigh Aarn, Aleta Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Sally-Anne Munn, Rosa Bautista, Otilio Nerius, Gerard Matonbe, Ana Rosa Smith Avila, Miguel Valdez, Betty García Rodríguez, Venat Ruis, Luis Telemako, Rosemary Sylvain, Jean Pierre, Marie Carmel Noel, Barbara Guillaume, Jean-Baptiste Rosvelt, Americo Jose, Luis Tavare Pesquera, Ana Ramirez, Jackson Delgado, Buche, Saveur D'Orlean, Philogen Thomas, Maurice Altenor, Evencio Mosquera Slaco, Robert De James, Harold Desire, Lucienne Charles, Frantz Thomas, Josiana Sant Louis, Maxo Fercilien, Juliana Jose, Jacques Achilles, Providenia Alcantara, Claudia Pimentel, Rosa Charles, Robert Regaldo, Federico Nunez, Dikatel Charles, Suzette Cajusle, Ti-Blanc, Elias Gastavo, Johnny Pephanon, Francesco Chavez, Jaime Pina Gautier, Iversose Beuville, Ramon Cherry

  The Movie

  Working for a pharmaceutical company, ethnobotanist Dennis Alan is sent to Haiti to research a drug used in Haitian vodou in order to determine if the drug can be used as anesthesia. Alan finds a local witch doctor, who claims he can make the drug, but Alan is arrested, tortured, and ordered to leave the country before receiving the drug.

  Alan flees the country but not before forcing the drug out of the witch doctor. He returns home to Boston to meet with his employer, where the wife of his boss tells him in a possessed state that his death is imminent.

  The Reality

  The book on which the film is based is believed to have been inspired by the events of Haitian man Clairvius Narcisse. Narcisse was declared dead in 1962 after receiving a cocktail of drugs to mimic a coma.

  He was buried, but exhumed a few days later and given another set of drugs which brought him back to life in a zombie state. Narcisse was forced to work on a sugar plantation for two years until his master died, and he was freed and returned to his family in 1980.

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