Deliver Us From Evil (2014): Horror–Inspired by Real Events, Starring Eric Bana

Eric Bana portrays the real-life New York cop Ralph Sarchie, who encountered paranormal activity while working on crimes in the city.

This is director Scott Derrickson’s second film based on real events.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga play Ed and Lorraine Warren, demonologists known for investigating the Lutz family. The Conjuring draws on a previous case of theirs that involved a creepy doll. Wilson and Farmiga continued to star in the Conjuring universe, reprising their roles for The Conjuring 2 (2016) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021).

The Possession originated from an eBay listing for a “dybbuk box” accompanied by a horror story written by its owner, Kevin Mannis. In Hebrew folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious a spirit that has the ability to haunt and possess the living.

Colin O’Donoghue stars as Michael Kovak, whose experiences are inspired by the real-life Father Gary Thomas, “one of 14 Vatican-certified exorcists working in the U.S.” While studying in Rome, Thomas met journalist Matt Baglio, who wrote about Thomas’ journey in The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. Thomas helped supervise the making of the film.

In 1986, the Snedeker family rented a home in Connecticut that turned out to be a former mortuary. Well-known demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren declared the home to be overrun by demons. The experiences of the Snedeker family provide the inspiration for what happens to the Campbell family in The Haunting in Connecticut.

After committing a hit-and-run where the victim becomes lodged in the windshield, a young nursing assistant named Brandi (Mena Suvari) tries to figure out her next course of action. Brandi is based on Chante Jawan Mallard, a Texan woman who hit Gregory Glen Biggs — a homeless man — and left him embedded in her windshield until he died. She was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison for her crime.

Rider Strong and Sean Astin star in Borderland, a film that centers on three friends who head down to Mexico to celebrate their college graduation but stumble upon a cult that practices human sacrifice. The film is loosely based on the life of Adolfo Constanzo, an American-born serial killer and cult leader who moved to Mexico City as an adult where he met friends who would become his future followers.

What begins as a family vacation to the mangroves of Northern Australia ends up with a crocodile attack and a fight to survive in Black Water. The marketing for the film said that it was based on real-life events, and to an extent, that’s true. The movie is inspired by a crocodile attack that happened in Northern Australia in 2003. The film used footage of real crocodiles (and some CGI) to create the vicious monsters portrayed in the embellished story.

The story of Emily Rose is loosely based on that of Anneliese Michel, a young German woman who underwent an exorcism and later died from malnutrition and dehydration. Her parents and the priests involved were charged with negligent homicide following her death. This is director Scott Derrickson’s first exorcism movie based on real events.

A couple left behind in the open ocean after their scuba diving group left without them isn’t just the premise of Open Water, but the real story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan.

The Lonergans were tourists visiting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef when they were left behind Jan. 25, 1998. Experts doubt that the Lonergans shared the same fate as the characters in the film, but the couple was never found.

Charlize Theron won 17 awards, including an Oscar, for her portrayal of former prostitute-turned-serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Wuornos was convicted on six counts of first-degree murder — though there was a seventh victim — and was executed in Florida in 2002.

Jeremy Renner plays well-known serial killer and rapist Jeffrey Dahmer in the 2002 biopic. Though the crimes portrayed are real events, the victims’ names were changed. The Dahmer story was also portrayed in the 2017 film My Friend Dahmer, with Ross Lynch starring as the serial killer. Evan Peters also portrayed Dahmer in the 2022 Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

In the Amanda Seyfried starrer Things Heard & Seen, a Manhattan couple moves to a historic hamlet where they discover that their marriage has sinister secrets involving their new home’s history. The film was based on the 2016 novel All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage. The novel and film are loosely based off alleged supernatural experiences in a home Brundage and her husband rented.

Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds short story may have been an inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds, but the film was reportedly based on real-life events. The film centers on a Californian coastal town that was terrorized by a flock of birds. In 1961, birds in the Monterey Bay area reportedly acted disoriented and rammed into people’s houses due to an unknown cause. In 2011, it was reported that researchers found a toxin-making algae in the birds that cause amnesia, disorientation and seizures.

The 1996 original slasher film that would spawn a franchise was inspired by the Gainesville, Florida, mutilations in which several young people were murdered in the Florida community. After screenwriter Kevin Williamson watched a television special on the Gainesville murders, the story inspired what would be a script about a knife-wielding killer.

The 1982 classic co-written by Steven Spielberg tells the story of a family whose home was built on a burial ground and plagued by its violent spirits. The premise of the story was based on the Hermann family, who claimed that their Long Island, New York, home was haunted by a poltergeist due to objects mysteriously flying around the house. The family, who eventually moved, believe the events were due to the home being near a Native American burial site.

The 1974 film centered on chainsaw murderer Leatherface is loosely inspired by the life and crimes of killer Ed Gein, also known as “the Butcher of Plainfield” or “Plainfield Ghoul,” in the 1950s. Gein exhumed corpses from graveyards and made keepsakes from their bones and skin. Gein also had a history of wearing women’s clothes as Leatherface does in the original film.

Bryan Bertino’s 2008 film, which starred Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, chronicled a terrifying home invasion. The story was inspired by real-life violent crimes, including the murders committed by the Manson Family and the 1981 Keddie Cabin Murders, in which four people were killed by three masked assailants in a California resort town. It was announced Sept. 13 that The Strangers will be getting a reboot from Lionsgate, with Madelaine Petsch to star and Renny Harlin directing.

The chilling 2007 film starring Jake Gyllenhaal was based on the Zodiac Killer, who was behind brutal murders in San Francisco throughout the 1960s and ’70s. The killer would also taunt police by sharing puzzles and coded messages through the press. The David Fincher film centered on political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (portrayed by Gyllenhaal) who spent decades obsessing over uncovering the identity of the killer. However, the Zodiac Killer case remains unsolved.

The Exorcist continues to frighten audiences years after its 1974 debut, but the film’s inspiration is just as chilling. The film’s premise is based off the case of 14-year-old boy known as Roland Doe. In 1994, it was reported that Doe was possessed by something sinister, and an exorcism was performed on him by priests. The exorcism reportedly had to be stopped because Doe ripped off and threw a piece of mattress spring at the priest. Red scratches would appear on Doe a few days later with marks spelling out “LOUIS.” The circumstances surrounding Doe continue to be a mystery.