It’s another Halloween Edition time and this week we are looking into true stories! This will definitely be a hard week for me because being not so experienced with the horror genre I have limited choices. So I went with sort of a vague route. Here are three horror movies that have elements which are based on true stories. Some bigger, some smaller.
3. SCREAM (1996)
I did not know this was vaguely based on a true story but apparently the villain is. He is inspired by the Gainesville Ripper, real name Danny Rolling, who killed five Florida students by knife over a span of three days in August 1990. Considering the fact that the movie came out just six years after that.. it’s quite scary. Now I’ve seen Scream ages ago. Part of me probably doesn’t even remember it that well which is why I haven’t logged it on Letterboxd. A problem with many 90’s movies I’ve faced for years. Definitely need to actually really watch this one.
2. THE CONJURING 2 (2016)
When I saw the theme for this week I knew I wanted to include The Conjuring 2. While the first movie is also based on a true story, the second one is far more interesting to me personally. It’s based on the supposed story of a young girl who was possessed by the Enfield Poltergeist that would “talk” through her. So all the fun stuff! I love this series but not necessarily all the franchise movies. Looking forward for the third one for sure.
1. THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (2015)
This is such a random pick because I hardly remember this movie. It has Ryan Reynolds in it and I remember something about him going crazy. That’s pretty much all I remember but that shall do. It’s also based on a true story! The real-life Lutz family moved to an Amityville home in 1975 about a year after Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six family members there. The Lutzes moved out after just 28 days, citing strange odours, sounds, gelatinous drops, and other terrifying phenomena. Creepy! But with this one of course I could have watched the original but I haven’t yet. I will try to though.
THIS SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES
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Scream is a great pick!
I also went with The Amityville horror, although I chose the original film. The remake is pretty good too! 😀
Yes, I need to watch it again so I can fully realise its greatness. I remember so little. 😀
We share The Conjuring 2! I used Amityville for the previous list and I’m trying not to repeat. And I agree about 90’s moving all kinda…blending in together. Especially the horror movies.
Yay! I feel like Conjuring was popular this week, one or two both. And yes, I need to watch many 90’s movies again to fully remember them. 😀
LOVE both Conjuring movies. Generally speaking the second one doesn’t get as much attention as the first one but I absolutely loved it. Great seeing it on this list.
Oh my god we matched on Amityville and both used shirtless Ryan Reynolds gifts lol
Hahahahaha. We are thinking about the same things I guess. 😀
I was not surprised 😀
Oh man! I really need to watch the Scream and Conjuring movies! I’m so far behind on those movies!
Yes to all! Perfect movies to watch during October too!
It took me a while, as it does with almost all horror movies, to watch Scream but I heard that it took a somewhat humorous approach to the material so I gave it a shot. I didn’t hate it but that one watch was more than enough for me. I think I even watched the first sequel eventually.
I’ve seen the original Amityville (on its initial release in the theatre) and while it was pretty lame it was passable but despite a jacked up Ryan Reynolds I had zero interest in the remake.
The Conjurings are very popular today but I’ve seen neither.the first nor the second.
Here are the three I came up with.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)-Plot: An attorney (Laura Linney) defends a priest (Tom Wilkinson) accused of negligent homicide after an exorcism.
Basis: Anneliese Michel died after being subjected to an exorcism. She was found to have been malnourished and dehydrated. Her parents and the responsible priests were charged with negligent homicide and sentenced to three years’ probation. Her epilepsy was likely the real culprit.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)-Plot: A man (Richard Gere) investigates the Mothman, a strange red-eyed creature that appears to signify impending disasters.
Basis: Journalist John Keel wrote The Mothman Prophecies after investigating hundreds of reports of sightings and other strange phenomena in Point Pleasant, West Virginia during the late 1960s.
The Entity (1982)-Plot: A woman (Barbara Hershey) is tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon.
Basis: In 1974 Doris Bither claimed to have been repeatedly sexually assaulted by an invisible entity leading to her being observed by doctoral students at the University of California, Los Angeles.
I saw the Emily Rose movie around searching for this weeks movies so I put it in my list. Seems like something I’d be interested in.
Scream is a good movie even though I was scared but the humour helped. I had no idea it was based on a true story. I haven’t seen The Conjuring yet but I have seen this Amity Horror and thought it was a mess, the original Amity is ..not good but it’s fun to watch this train wreck.
I didn’t know about Scream being inspired by a real case. I rewatched all the Scream movies a few years ago, and they hold up well so I definitely recommend rewatching them, especially with a new one coming.