Jaws and other horror films based on true events
Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic black and white chiller is perhaps most famous for its shower scene murder and that Psycho theme by Bernard Herrmann, but the film – which was based on the 1959 book by Robert Bloch – was based in part on the murders by Ed Gein, also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, in Wisconsin.
He was found to have murdered two women and had several human remains. Soon after his mother's death, it’s said Gein began to create a "woman suit" so that he could become his mother, influencing the character of Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins)
Gein’s acts of depravity were that notorious that he also inspired elements of both The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) – Gein had several masks made from faces - and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), just like Buffalo Bill he skinned victims and had even had human skins covering lampshades and chair seats.
The Exorcist (1973)
Until Jaws, The Exorcist was the highest grossing horror film of all time, with it still turning heads in the number two position. It is based on the best-selling book by William Peter Blatty, who had taken elements of his present-day suburban horror story from the pages of history.
The film revolves around a possessed Regan (Linda Blair), but the true source tale of demonic possession focusses on a 12-year-old boy from Washington D.C.
In 1949, priests performed an exorcism on a boy referred to as "Roland Doe," a.k.a. Ronald Hunkeler, with items moving around the room and a moving bed, words scratched on the body all reported – just like in the film by William Friedkin.
A TV movie called Possessed was made about the actual case in 2000 and starred former James Bond Timothy Dalton and Christopher Plummer. It was directed by Steven E. de Souza, who also wrote the likes of Die Hard and Commando.
Jaws (1975)
Although it was denied by the author of Jaws, Peter Benchley, by many it is thought that the events of Jaws are inspired by the first recorded shark attacks in the USA.
The 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks also get mentioned in Jaws, by Matt Hooper and Chief Brody when they are trying to reason with Mayor Vaughn, whilst stood next to the Amity Island billboard that has been graffitied.
A TV movie of those real-life events made 2004 and was called Twelve Days of Terror.
The other true element to Jaws is that of the USS Indianapolis speech, there may have been no Quint on board, but the ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine, the men did go into the water and many did succumb to sharks. The other element that it was not correct on was he date, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis was July 30th, but in the film it is stated as June 29th.
Although at one point it was mooted that this story could have been a Jaws prequel helmed by Steven Spielberg, there have been two versions of this story that have made it to screen. One was called Mission of the Shark (1991) and the other was USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, which starred Nicolas Cage, Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea) and was directed by Jake from Jaws the Revenge (1987), Mario Van Peebles.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
For God’s sake get out! So screamed the posters, and after just 28 days of residing at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, the Lutz family left their house in the middle of the night, never to return.
These events would become known as The Amityville Horror, with the successful film being based on the best-selling book by Jay Anson.
Numerous sequels have followed, with even Amityville Shark House (2022). And talking of sharks, Mayor Vaughn actor Murray Hamilton also featured in the horror favourite, with a cast that was led by James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger.
The film and book would have us believe that the house is evil, it is certainly the star of the film (if not the original house or location) and its evil eye windows can be seen staring at us throughout the titles and the poster – interestingly enough the windows of the original house were changed to normal rectangular ones to stop people finding it.
The truth and the half-truths have long been conjecture but it is certainly undeniable that the murders at Amityville and the subsequent stay by the Lutz’s has become the stuff of horror lore, from possession to houses being built on Indian burial grounds and blood running down walls.
And that is still what makes it a massively accessible story, it’s a classic haunted house movie, hokey in places but that is part of the fun of it.
Poltergeist (1982)
Steven Spielberg was on story and producer duties of this classic ghost story that was directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Salem’s Lot) and followed the Freeling family’s journey into the world of spirits in their own home.
The film is very loosely based on the true story of the Herrmann House and the 70 documented strange events that happened there in 1958.
It all started with bottles popping their corks and lids all over the house, which was heard and witness by both the family and the police, which continued on different days across different rooms in the house, with bottles seemingly moving in mid-air.
Like the Freeling house in Poltergeist, it was a new house and the Hermann family were the only people to have ever lived in it, the mystery continues to as the cause of the events – which even continued after a priest had blessed the family home.
A young family finds they have paranormal activity within their home, it’s a poltergeist (meaning noisy spirit in German). What starts off as something playful soon descends into terror as the children are attacked in their rooms. The daughter, Carol Anne, is taken by the spirits and makes contact via the television – in the film’s most iconic moment – can she be saved and can the family stop themselves being dragged to the afterlife?
What sets Poltergeist apart from most haunted house movies is that it is set in a nice house, in a nice neighbourhood and everything looks normal. There is no Scooby-Doo haunted mansion vibe, no evil eyes like the Amityville house. It could be our house or yours, and that is its power.
All horror films should of course be watched with the lights off but Poltergeist loves the darkness, especially when the strobing effects kick-in. Fittingly, it really drags you into the television.
The Entity (1982)
The Entity continued the cycle of horror films influenced by a true story, but this time arguably the real-life story was far more fantastical and disturbing than that which appeared on the big screen.
Doris Bither’s story begins in 1974 when she was subjected to what has been described as spectral rape and something that went beyond what people first thought may have been sleep paralysis.
And the attacks weren’t just on Doris, they were also violently attacking her children. As with many of these stories, it wasn’t long before paranormal investigators were called in.
The eventual film, which was directed by Sidney J Furie and starred Barbara Hershey and Ron Silver, was based on the best-selling book by Frank De Felitta, and was published in 1978.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
The razor-fingered sweater-wearing Freddy Krueger who haunts the nightmares of teenagers may not be real, but the story that inspired writer and director Wes Craven to pen the horror classic certainly is.
Craven was inspired to write Elm Street the script after reading a story in the Los Angeles Times about Hmong refugees who had escaped genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam who were – perhaps understandably – kept awake by extreme nightmares.
Was it stress or something else? Either way, those poor refugees were all dead within 12 months, with the phenomena becoming known as Asian Death Syndrome.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
John Klein (Richard Gere) is a journalist for The Washington Post, who finds himself drawn to a small West Virginia town, called Point Pleasant. He joins forces with a local police sergeant (Laura Linney) to help investigate sightings of a mysterious creature, known as the Mothman, who is said to the harbinger of death
The film plays out like a big screen episode of The X-Files and is never not creepy, its climax taking its cue from what was then – in 1967 – the worst bridge disaster in US history. But what caused the disaster, and who is it linked to the myth of the Mothman?
The Reef (2010)
Ranking as one of the best shark films since Jaws is The Reef and takes its basis from the true shark attack story from 1983.
A 15-foot tiger shark attacks a boat and toys with its passengers, leading to two deaths and one very lucky survivor.
Flash forward almost 30 years and The Reef is released, which although taking its inspiration from those very real events, it is also a very different story.
In its eagerness to have us believe this retelling is true to what happened The Reef even ends with a write up of what happened to the film’s survivors, never once acknowledging the true horrific story in any way.
This feels somewhat disrespectful and a misstep from the filmmakers in what otherwise is a great shark film, which is regularly in people's top three shark movies. Discover that real story here.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The Enfield Haunting is perhaps the most well-known case of poltergeist activity in the UK and forms the main story basis of The Conjuring 2.
It continues the story or Earl and Lorraine Warren, world famous demonologists, with the film kicking off with a scene in The Amityville House, before moving to 1970s North London and the extraordinary events that place at an ordinary house in Enfield around two sisters during the autumn of 1977.
Being Hollywood, the film takes several liberties and shoehorns in the spin off character The Nun, but the Enfield-set scenes are impressive and there are some creepily effective set pieces from director James Wan (Saw and Insidious).
What’s your favourite horror film that is based on a true story?
Words by Dean Newman.
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