Hollywood's Horror Movies That Based On True Stories
Shows and films are often plagued with the tag line, “Inspired by
actual events” or “Based on a true story”. Now, most of the time they
aren’t technically lying: someone somewhere did something horrible and
they wrote about it in their blog. Usually, films and TV jump at the
chance for as much gore and heart-wrenching details they can squeeze out
of their sources not unlike a teenager popping a dozen zits (I'm so
sorry for that mental image).
But once in a while Hollywood does something truly shocking: they
show restraint because the details in the actual story are so outrageous
that audiences wouldn’t believe it.
American Horror Story: Coven
While American Horror Story
focuses on the more unusual side of storytelling, this season’s focus on
the witches and voodoo of New Orleans has one very prominent villain:
Kathy Bates as Madame Delphine LaLaurie. And those who were scarred by
the opening scene of Bates walking through the attic of tortures where
she kept her slaves, you should probably turn away now. You know that
quick shot of a slave with his face flayed? In real life, that was the
punishment the slaves begged for. Let that sink in for a moment.
LaLaurie was the real life flesh and blood epitome of Ramsay Snow and
Joffrey Baratheon combined. Or in non-Thronies terms: she was Freddy
Krueger mixed with Hannibal Lecter, Bellatrix Lestrange, and a dash of
insane. Her house burned when the cook, who was literally chained to the
stove, set it on fire to avoid being punished in the upstairs room. The
fire ended up revealing a plethora of instruments that would make Eli
Roth blush and slaves tied up – some dead from prolonged torture and
others not so dead but probably wished they were. Some were flayed, had
limbs torn off, and had iron collars around their throats to make sure
their head could only be in one position…for months. But unlike
the show's version, LaLaurie got away with it for so long because she
didn't seem crazy; she was nice to slaves in public. But holy roast one
wrong move and you would never be seen again. The slaves who survived
the horrors were put on display so that people would see the stories
were true. She was so monstrous that the people in her town chased her
out. Apparently it dawned on them that there was slightly wrong with
torturing slaves before they promptly turned to their own and demanded
they go back picking that cotton.
An American Haunting
Words cannot express how badly this
movie represents the real thing. Instead of focusing on the more
supernatural elements like Betsy being the sole target and flung about
the room in front of a dozen people, or anyone who tried to talk to her
getting a face full of ghost palm, including her own mom and future
husband (it was a hot for teacher situation), the writers decided to
make it about incest. That's right. If you get defiled by your parent,
just astral project an angry version of yourself and beat yourself up.
Because that’s a much less ridiculous plot.
Never mind the fact that John Bell’s death is the only one in
American history that has “Death by Ghost” on its record; or that Andrew
Jackson – the President – heard about the house, came to stay and
promptly left because he got so freaked out. Let’s see that from a
different perspective: a man who’s job it was to kill people and saw
unimaginable horrors on battlefields got so frightened by what was
happening at this house that he said he would rather face the English
army than go back.
I mean, he’s no Teddy Roosevelt but…come on. That should at least warrant a mention right?
Exorcism of Emily Rose
As freaky and nearly unbelievable as this film was – Jennifer
Carpenter’s acting actually made her co-workers think she was possessed –
it has nothing on the real Emily Rose: Anneliese Michel. What makeup
Carpenter sported as the movie progressed is dulled by the down right
terrifying look that Michel had in real life. There were also over 40
exorcism attempts from the time her family decided to call the priest to
her death, none of which were pretty. And Emily Rose scratching the
walls and eating bugs? Yeah, Michel did that and a few other nasty
things that Hollywood decided not to include like attacking her own
family, which was chalked up to...seizures. While things are obviously
added for dramatic effect, the trial of the priest is true as are the
recordings that were used in the courtroom scene.
The Hills Have Eyes
Yep, this is a real story and it’s
way more disgusting than what was shown. The family killing and eating
tourists were cannibals (obviously) with more than their fair share of
incest flooding their system. Reports state that over 1,000 families
went missing and countless bones were found in the family’s cave over
the course of their family's life in the hills.
Think about that the next time you find your family doing something
weird, like eating cold pizza or ketchup with eggs. It could always be
worse.
An American Crime
Perhaps one of the most senseless
murders ever committed, the story of Sylvia Likens is completely
heartbreaking simply because there are so many chances for it to have
been prevented. Sylvia and her sister were sent to live with Gertrude
something or other (her last name is just ridiculous to spell out). An American Crime
actually glosses over or just plain ignores the more gruesome aspects
of the case, instead opting for a more emotional connection or whatever.
While it’s pretty commendable for Hollywood to show some version of
class, it diminishes the pure horror Sylvia went through. The policemen
who found her body in the basement were actually traumatized by what
happened to her, most of who had been on the force for years.
Instead of the audience getting the full grasp of what made this case
so horrifying, they created a watered down version that tries (and
fails) to go for more of an emotional impact. I'm not saying they should
have gone full on Tarantino. Just follow the case for Pete's sake. You
can't go wrong with facts.
The Strangers
One of the most underrated (and possibly misunderstood) films in recent years, The Strangers, takes place when a couple is terrorized by three masked villains whose motivations are straight out of nightmares.
The real story is much more gruesome and contains elements from three
actual separate incidents – the infamous Sharon Tate murders, the
slaughter of a family staying in Cabin 28, and a story about a couple in
the Czech Republic who were killed by three teenagers in the woods.
It’s not clear if the last one is an actual event or just made up; but
then again, it is the Czech Republic so chances are good that it happened at some point.
Every one knows about the Tate murders, even if you don't know who
Sharon Tate was. But the events inspired the tagline: "Because you were
home", which is unfortunately the reason why the nine month pregnant
Tate and her friends were killed. That and Charles Manson is one hell of
a manipulator.
But without a doubt, the most disturbing story comes from Cabin 28,
AKA the Keddie Murders, in which a family was slaughtered
because...well, no one knows why actually. It was done in the middle of
the night in a wilderness resort type place surrounded by at least a
dozen other cabins; the nearest one was only 15 feet away and over the
10 hour slaughter, not one person passing by heard a peep. It wasn't
until one of the other daughters came back after a sleep-over that the
bodies were found. Her phone call (the one that inspired the Mormon boys
scene) about there being blood all over the place was no exaggeration:
it was freaking everywhere.
The weirdest part? Out of the seven potential victims in the house,
only the three oldest were brutally murdered; one of the daughters went
missing only to be found dead three years later a few miles away; and
the three youngest were unharmed in another room. Obviously, the case
was never solved and cast a lasting gloom over the once thriving resort.
Its never recovered its former glory and despite multiple attempts at
renovating, no one wants to stay in a place where a family was murdered
and the killers were never caught. People are weird like that.
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