We’ve all seen the line on movie posters that reads, “based on a true story.” It makes most of us shiver a little bit, knowing that the bizarre and horrific film we just read about has roots somewhere in reality. However, it’s fair to say that some movies are more “based” than others are. Many of these movies are some of the most enduring classics of horror movie history… whether it’s because they’re somewhat true is a matter of personal opinion, however.
The first, and perhaps the best known movie that’s been based off a true story is Alfred Hitchcock’s thrilling masterpiece “Psycho”. The movie is about a deeply disturbed hotel owner who murdered his mother, and then suppressed the memory. He believes that she is still alive, and develops another personality where he dresses like his mother and murders guests at the hotel. This story, bizarre and grisly enough, is based off of the real life serial killer Ed Gein. A Wisconsin resident, Gein was arrested in 1957 for stealing corpses and committing 2 murders. He had an obsession with skin, and he’d made numerous things with the flesh and bones of the bodies he’d stolen and the people he’d killed. He was also making a woman suit from skin, hoping to become a woman someday.
The case of Ed Gein also inspired two other films. One is the gory and brutal “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, a slasher film about a bizarre serial killer named Leatherface who supposedly crafted his mask from his victims. The other is “The Silence of the Lambs,” which has a serial killer named Buffalo Bill, who kidnaps and murders overweight women to make a suit from their flesh. Buffalo Bill also appears to have an obsession with his mother.
Another famous movie, “The Amityville Horror” is supposedly based off of a true story. In this story a family moves into a new home that’s the site of a mass murder. After only 28 days strange, paranormal events drive the family out, and the horrible happenings stop. The film was based off of a self-proclaimed non-fiction book that described all sorts of paranormal events that a real family encountered in a house. These included cold spots, disembodied voices, and the wall bleeding green slime. While the book is real, no serious investigator believes that the real life Amityville Horror was anything other than a sad hoax.
“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is another of the recent, truth inspired horror movies to leave it’s mark on the populace. A priest is being tried for the death of a girl named Emily Rose who died during an exorcism. The meat of the film takes place mostly in flashbacks, where we see the bizarre happenings and supernatural proof of a young girl possessed by a demon. The film was inspired by the case of a girl in Germany who, at the age of 16 underwent a 10 month long exorcism for symptoms of demonic possession, including self mutilation, visions, and paralysis. The girl died of starvation, and those involved were tried for manslaughter.
