10 Times Horror Movies Happened in Real Life

10 Times Horror Movies Happened in Real-Life

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were looking at true tragedies that eerily parallel the events of preexisting horror films, whether by coincidence or through mimicry.

Bath Salts Zombie (2012)

28 Days Later (2002)

Danny Boyles post-apocalyptic masterpiece perfected the formula of the fast zombie. 28 Days Later felt horrifyingly feasible in its concept of a virus that drives people into an unthinking, violent frenzy. It didnt even take that to put Rudy Eugene in such a state. In 2012, the Miami man was filmed attacking Ronald Poppo, cannibalizing much of his face before police shot Eugene dead. Though they suspected a designer street drug dubbed bath salts, the exact reason for the breakdown was never determined. There have still been multiple violent incidents involving bath salts. The outbreak is thankfully more contained than the Internet and Boyles gruesome visions. Still, with Eugene dead and Poppo left completely blind, the horror is much too real.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_cannibal_attack

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Days_Later

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/its-bigger-than-bath-salts_b_1562014

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-19197411

https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/articles/the-bizarre-behaviors-of-bath-salt-addicts-313616

Nightline (1979-)

ABC

Story on bath salts cannibalism: https://youtu.be/bXo-0iFj8Ys?si=oYwKvvr5VQQzhacr

28 Days Later (2002)

Fox Searchlight Pictures

First zombie attack: https://youtu.be/9ffcMj9sy30?si=kDC8JEv5mHLiaYlp

Turning: https://youtu.be/S6bKFjxPbC4?si=DhfQ5rZI07NC51a7

Gone Girl Kidnapping (2015)

Misery (1990)

Stephen Kings hostage thriller Misery was masterfully adapted into a cautionary tale about entitled fandom. In 2015, an incident in Californias South Lake Tahoe marked an even more sobering indictment of society. Once-distinguished lawyer Matthew Muller decided to ransom evil rich people for charity after being disbarred over severe mental illness. One victim was physical therapist Denise Huskins, whom Muller kidnapped and sexually assaulted in a remote cabin. When he released Huskins, police scandalously suspected that her story was a hoax. The media naturally hearkened to the then-recent David Fincher caper Gone Girl. More apt comparisons to Annie Wilkes were made when Muller was apprehended following a home invasion two months later. He was ultimately served justice for his own twisted entitlement, despite peoples reluctance to believe his victim.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Muller

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_(film)

https://abcnews.go.com/US/girl-kidnapper-charged-home-invasions-years-earlier/story?id=117208223

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/denise-huskins-aaron-quinn-american-nightmare-gone-girl-kidnapping-cold-cases/

American Nightmare (2024)

Netflix

3-part documentary on the crime

Law&Crime Network fact-check for reference: https://youtu.be/_fM5CQO4gYM?si=W8sAFYVSK6ya9XEB

Misery (1990)

Columbia Pictures

Annie tortures Paul: https://youtu.be/2pbfkNI2d_A?si=7HImDtNolMADjcjU

Gone Girl (2014)

20th Century Fox

Amys plan: https://youtu.be/Q-0had_dhQo?si=DvhGURRTbLGBE3YE

Green River Camping Trip (2019)

Cabin Fever (2002)

Eli Roth first unleashed his sick mind for realistic horror with a cabin holiday being spoiled by a flesh-eating bacteria. Reports of this nightmare scenario in other ecosystems have long gotten under the publics skin. Finally, in 2019, Jonathan Metcalf found the actual Cabin Fever in Kentuckys Green River. Actually, his family stayed outdoors during their Memorial Day camping trip, which was canceled when Metcalf began experiencing horrible pain in his lower body. The doctor diagnosed him with a bacteria which required partial amputation of his thigh. Metcalf ultimately got lucky, although Roths ultra-gory vision of necrotizing fasciitis is an exaggerated extreme. Still, if Cabin Fever doesn't tell you to be careful on a camping trip, then Metcalf would.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_Fever_(2002_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrotizing_fasciitis

https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Kentucky-man-gets-flesh-eating-bacteria-turing-camping-trip-512859631.html

https://nypost.com/2019/07/18/kentucky-man-caught-flesh-eating-bacteria-on-camping-trip/

https://screenrant.com/cabin-fever-movie-true-story-flesh-eating-virus/

https://collider.com/cabin-fever-eli-roth/

WKYT

Report on Metcalf: https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Kentucky-man-gets-flesh-eating-bacteria-turing-camping-trip-512859631.html

Fox News

Info on flesh-eating bacteria: https://youtu.be/Pc1gyDNnC_0?si=hrCukjoyuk44MODB

Cabin Fever (2002)

Lions Gate Films, Black Sky Entertainment

Sick: https://youtu.be/BxFaosg1mV4?si=gp9qsfiZF55YTCpW

Help: https://youtu.be/jCatADs_uW8?si=TB9_tJfjvzQKiVfE

Lake: https://youtu.be/smtDfh1TXe8?si=tCdEDO-Hw2rcCZpf

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)

Lionsage

Ending features a shipment of fresh spring water, eerily implying the spread of bacteria

Pig Farmer Killer (1995-2001)

Texas Chain Saw Massacre series (1974-)

Despite its highly publicized basis in true crime cases like Ed Gein, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is just a terrible fantasy about the perils of the backroads. That fantasy was found to be reality in rural British Columbia in 2002. After Robert Picktons arrest, it came out that he had spent years abducting women from the Vancouver area, then murdering and butchering them at his family farm. The gruesome story of the Pig Farmer Killer was sensationalized in the media as the kind of horror usually associated with Leatherface. Pickton was killed in prison 17 years after being convinced of six homicides. At one point, he had bragged about claiming 49 victims.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/canadian-serial-killer-robert-pickton-brought-victims-pig-farm-dead-pr-rcna155020

https://www.horrorbound.net/blog/2019/4/15/real-life-horror-robertpickton

Most Evil Killers (2017-)

Sky Mix

S06E12 Robert Pickton

Full episode: https://youtu.be/FquScnWQDRM?si=qTirJ4f3fyybo5S3

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Bryanston Distributing Company

Hook: https://youtu.be/NGAb2Q10cLY?si=3B8FWyiJexPC-2-3

Leatherface freakout: https://youtu.be/QxRigGcXrrI?si=PD4BFz2Y02RrKNCC

The Death of Liz Moore (1976)

The Omen (1976)

A series of terrible occurrences linked to Richard Donners The Omen sparked the myth that the production was cursed. Perhaps the most eerie tragedy befell Liz Moore after she designed props for the film. Two months after its release, she and boyfriend John Richardson got into a car accident while working in the Netherlands. Moore was beheaded by a tire from the other car. This is similar to one of the most shocking deaths in The Omen, in which a truck releases a sheet of glass that decapitates David Warners character. Such ghastly accidents were really supernatural acts to ensure Damien Thornes destiny as the Antichrist. Moores death thus convinced superstitious viewers that her colleagues misfortunes were no coincidence. Certainly, they were all tragic.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Moore_(sculptor)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omen

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/cursed-production-richard-donner-the-omen/

https://collider.com/the-omen-curse-production/

Art related to Liz Moore: https://www.2001italia.it/2013/05/making-starchild-in-2001-tribute-to-liz.html

Photo of John Richardson: https://www.007.com/movie-magic-with-john-richardson-part-1/

The Omen (1976)

20th Century Fox

Father Brennans death: https://youtu.be/26j_tLPjxVE?si=IAQPBhDVAa6f1S6O

Beheading: https://youtu.be/FLlSjyZupzU?si=iYiQASKAU_cz2O-H

Possessions

The Exorcist (1973)

Obviously, the existence of demonic possession is ever in dispute. It certainly made for compelling fiction in William Friedkin's genre-defining masterpiece The Exorcist. With the visceral impact it's had through the years, the psychosomatic was inevitable. In 2012, Friedkin told Entertainment Weekly that many viewers later reported being possessed. Jason Miller, who played the exorcists assistant, would be stopped in the streets by people wanting him to save their souls. Life also imitated art through Friedkin himself when he witnessed Father Gabriele Amorth perform an exorcism in 2016. The so-called Dean of Exorcists alone had dealt with possessions and delusions long before Friedkin's fanbase. And though the filmmaker identified as an agnostic, he believed he saw true evil that day.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_and_Father_Amorth

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-exorcist-what-it-was-like-to-see-the-movie-in-theaters

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/exorcist-10-creepy-details-scariest-160000754.html

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/02/A-psychologist-says-the-televised-version-of-The-Exorcist/6511360302400/

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/father-amorth-the-vatican-exorcist

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/exorcist-director-william-friedkin-making-exorcism-documentary-1003387/

The Exorcist (1973)

Warner Bros.

Exorcism: https://youtu.be/bWyi3ShHxzM?si=K5UpHQfrvdZi8Ul2

Bothering Jason Miller: https://youtu.be/QFoAOkN6Xco?si=htv2H586r-w9BcJ6

Jason Miller: https://youtu.be/LHnDyOr0DfI?si=4GLZGcgBLmbbZ4jB

YouTube: Star Sessions

William Friedkin interview: https://youtu.be/EBZ1TsF5DEU?si=pHGjma6pdo1lDXxu

The Devil and Father Amorth (2017)

The Orchard

Real exorcism: https://youtu.be/B41g0ZjS8M8?si=cY-mUmYC1oN9a8it

The Murder of Sharon Gregory (1988)

Friday the 13th series (1980-)

Horror fans have long been obsessed with Jason Voorheess killing spree, usually of teenagers. The Friday the 13th movies were particularly a favorite of Massachusetts grocery clerk Mark Branchs. Sharon Gregory, a psychology student like Amy Steels character in Part II, made this the subject of a profile that ended in tragedy. On October 24th, 1988, Branch donned Jasons signature black boots and hockey mask, and stabbed Gregory to death. The killer took his own life shortly thereafter, and the victims study was never recovered. Branchs act may have been modeled after movies, but it was clearly the culmination of a lonely youth and mental illness. Sadly, gruesome tragedies such as these are not supernatural.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_(franchise)

https://abkt1.medium.com/friday-the-13th-copy-cat-killer-4a3f49bce951

https://www.truecrimene.com/episodes/iexh969gwii28h30cqbkpca98nuccd

Psychic Detectives (2003-06)

Court TV

Poor clip of documentary episode: https://youtu.be/6FqRYpQHxkg?si=egCKEHBIUTbjeksv

Images related to case: https://www.instagram.com/p/CywmPLZPrAq/?img_index=1

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Paramount Pictures

Hiding from Jason: https://youtu.be/-CzO7z1dZ1A?si=QjLdf0AODJKkqJHY

Amy Steel as Ginny: https://youtu.be/zEIqJ4321TE?si=hySHPTw58iuQHN4c

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Paramount Pictures

Installment released same year as murder: https://youtu.be/TRCSLhYz9CA?si=9ywN31K0EIeXBdQb

Richard Delmer Boyer (1982)

Halloween II (1981)

Much of what makes John Carpenters Halloween the definitive slasher is its realism. But it was the more far-fetched sequel that entered reality. A year after the films release, Richard Delmer Boyer of Fullerton, California recreated a scene in which Michael Myers steals a knife from an elderly couple he decides to spare. However, Boyer went through with killing Francis and Eileen Harbitz. He later blamed being in the same inebriated condition under which he repeatedly watched Halloween II. It was the first time a mainstream movie was used as evidence in a US murder trial, but the jury was not convinced that the defendant was an unconscious copycat. In 1992, Boyer was convicted of an earlier murder, and labeled a serial killer.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Delmer_Boyer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_II_(1981_film)

https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/48/247.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-23-me-963-story.html

San Quentin Prison

Richard Delmer Boyer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Delmer_Boyer#/media/File:Richard_Delmer_Boyer_CDCR.jpg

Halloween II (1981)

Universal Pictures

Knife theft: https://youtu.be/5kEjACDcZdc?si=wxufXk16XUv2Dss6

Michael attacks nurse: https://youtu.be/QaSr6mpkTII?si=7Vz_Eb_NTkRER66X

Halloween (1978)

Compass International Pictures, Aquarius Releasing

Closet: https://youtu.be/zds8bggSEuc?si=KReuW_Vu0ClAtaz0

Jonathan Cruz (2017)

The Purge (2013)

Before getting swept up in speculative political thrills, the Purge franchise began with the horror of a crime spree without legal recourse. Thankfully, the law quickly caught up to Jonathan Cruz in 2017. But the 19-year-old Indianapolis man had already robbed several people and committed three murders over the course of four days. That far exceeds James DeMonacos vision of an annual half-day in which all crime is legal. Still, Cruz described his actions as purging in social and private media that were investigated after his arrest. He pleaded guilty to the crimes he anticipated answering for. The law was very much in effect during his purge, but that tragically did not stop it.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purge_(2013_film)

https://abcnews.go.com/US/indianapolis-man-accused-day-purge-killings-allegedly-inspired/story?id=39555272

https://www.wrtv.com/news/crime/purge-killer-johnathan-cruz-to-be-formally-sentenced-thursdsay

https://www.wrtv.com/news/crime/purge-killer-johnathan-cruz-pleads-guilty-to-3-homicides

https://www.wwlp.com/news/indiana-teen-goes-on-purge-allegedly-killed-three-people-in-four-days/amp/

WTHR

Cruzs trial: https://youtu.be/EyJRXXVs8J8?si=sVVAHNxgZ5NQGVgA

WRTV

Cruz walks to trial: https://youtu.be/W0iNJvaFpUk?si=Q0oCoTFrYwPeZgeR

Story on Cruzs guilty plea: https://youtu.be/nfTRUBRcNJE?si=tmBlQu_XZd2K-6gc

The Purge (2013)

Universal Pictures

Let us purge: https://youtu.be/e3mwmwPhr08?si=v2BQ8oyARI8ZUoCt

The Murder of Alisson Cambier (2001)

Scream franchise (1996-)

Many fictional copycats in the Scream series are inspired by true crime and horror tropes. The meta satires have in turn inspired real-life slashers. It all began in 1998, when two teenagers killed one of thems mother to steal her money, purchase Ghostface masks, and continue their spree. But the closest copycat killing was of Belgian teen Alisson Cambier in 2001. When she rejected the advances of 24-year-old neighbor Thierry Jardin, he donned a Ghostface mask, stabbed her 30 times, and confessed to her father over the phone. This is just one of several incidents in which disturbed individuals merely modeled their acts after this self-reflexive horror franchise. Of course, its not unusual for the most twisted fiction to become reality.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(franchise)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_copycat_crimes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/18/filmnews.film

https://www.mamamia.com.au/scream-copycat-murders/

Personal photo of Cambier: https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrimeDiscussion/comments/1i8kwx7/on_november_9th_2001_15yearold_alisson_cambier/

Benoit Doppagne

Jardin in court: https://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/scream-jaradin-la-lame-de-l-amoureux-econduit_AN-202108030001.html

Scream (1996)

Dimension Films

Ghostface attacks: https://youtu.be/Sn5SkCvPEYo?si=7Nbs29FbA4EmeLBU

Killers revealed, demonstrating the 1998 murder: https://youtu.be/mrXiNlPoFXs?si=4uZGDXQuHyoPpKqD

Scream 2 (1997)

Dimensions Films

Phone call, to illustrate Jardins confession: https://youtu.be/8tJi27bvqxo?si=A50GBcTZ_oKZWgww

Private video of the most famous Ghostface copycat killers: https://youtu.be/ZXRYxhN_Rg0?si=ZY6IhrGj8fkBrQte

What do you think of these cases and their place in horror pop culture? Make your observations in the comments.

Scream IV (2023)

Paramount Pictures

More-or-less indicting ourselves for sensationalism: https://youtu.be/ou-m4ceMnjM?si=2thIh5IEWGdX9a07