Top 20 Movies Based on Real Unsolved Mysteries

In 1962, three inmates pulled off one of the most infamous prison breaks in history by escaping from the heavily fortified Alcatraz. Their daring attempt became the focus of this 1979 movie starring Clint Eastwood as the mastermind Frank Morris. As depicted in the film, Morris and his accomplices chiseled through cell vents, crawled through a utility corridor and set off on an improvised raft—all without being caught. Their absence wasn’t noticed until the next morning, by which time they were long gone. Even with an extensive search, no bodies were found. The FBI eventually concluded they likely drowned, but some folks believed otherwise. While the film’s ending hints at a successful escape, there’s no proof the men survived.

Some aspects of this Jason Statham-led heist movie may be dramatized, but the real 1971 robbery was just as wild. Inspired by a Sherlock Holmes story, a gang of thieves tunneled their way into a Lloyds bank from a shop two doors away. While the robbery was still in progress, a radio buff overheard their walkie-talkie chat and alerted the police. His first warning was dismissed, but after recording the gang’s conversations, authorities launched a frantic search. A month after the heist, some members of the crew were caught, but not all. The film unravels the mystery of whether the stolen content included compromising photos of Princess Margaret. But to this day, nothing has been confirmed.

This tale unfolds a parent’s worst nightmare. Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins, a mother whose child goes missing—only for the police to return the wrong kid six months later. When she refuses to accept this imposter, she’s branded an unfit mother and sent to an asylum. As bizarre as it sounds, this happened to the real Christine in the late 1920s. Her fight against the police exposed deep corruption, but the real tragedy was her son’s fate. It was later discovered that Christine’s 9-year-old, Walter, was among the victims of the Wineville Chicken murders. Though the killer’s mother confessed to the crime, Christine never gave up hope and continued searching for her son.

Starring Gene Hackman as a gold prospector, “Eureka” follows a man who strikes it rich during the final days of the gold rush. Years later, he’s a restless tycoon who has a strong dislike for his daughter’s husband. The film’s tension increases as he clashes with his unscrupulous business partners—only to meet a violent end at the hands of a ruthless gang. Though the film has several shortcomings, here's the kicker: It’s actually loosely based on the grisly murder of Harry Oakes, a wealthy gold miner in the 1930s. He was killed under mysterious circumstances, and the prime suspect, his son-in-law, was later acquitted. Decades later, the case remains an unsettling enigma with no resolution and no justice.

In 1971, the infamous D.B. Cooper hijacked an aircraft headed to Washington using a fake bomb threat. His ruse was successful and he secured $200,000 in ransom before parachuting into oblivion. Despite one of the biggest FBI manhunts, no one knows if he survived or where some of the money went. This 1981 film takes that mystery and runs with it. But anyone expecting a deep insight into the real heist may be disappointed because the film draws from J.D. Reed's 1980 novel “Free Fall,’ adding its own twists. Cooper becomes Jim, a clever ex-military man, dodging an agent while his estranged wife gets dragged into the mess. It’s far from fact but still an entertaining ride.

In 1975, a group of loggers were driving down a forest road when they noticed a strange light. According to his crew’s account, Travis Walton got out of the truck and was struck by a beam of light. Terrified, his peers fled—and when they returned minutes later, Walton was gone. They reported the incident to the police, who, with no trace of Walton, suspected foul play. Five days later, Walton returned, claiming he’d been taken aboard an alien spacecraft. Some believe his outlandish account was influenced by a made-for-TV movie, and over time, clues hinted at a possible hoax. Still, no one’s cracked the case completely. The film “Fire in the Sky” retells Walton’s wild story, amping up the horror for thrills.

Between 1986 and 1994, an elusive serial killer terrorized South Korea, brutally murdering 15 women and girls in rural areas. Despite efforts to stop him, he evaded capture for 30 years. But in 2019, his luck ran out and Lee Choon-jae was finally unmasked. Already in prison for killing his sister-in-law, he also confessed to the Hwaseong murders, though he was never prosecuted for them. Back in 2003 when “Memories of Murder” hit the screens, this killer’s identity was still unsolved. Director Bong Joon-ho expertly captures that dark time through the perspectives of two detectives trapped in an endless chase for South Korea’s first confirmed serial killer.

How far would you go for the truth? Rex and Saskia are a young couple on a vacation. They stop at a gas station and Saskia goes in to get some beverages and never returns. Obsessed with finding her, Rex’s persistence leads him to the man who abducted her, who offers him a chilling proposition. As nightmarish as it seems, this tale draws partially from true events. Tim Krabbé, author of the novella behind “The Vanishing,” was struck by a newspaper article about a female tourist who went missing during a bus trip. While many details were fabricated for fiction, that real-life case planted the seed for this thriller. But unlike the real woman, Saskia doesn’t get a happy ending.

In Martin McDonagh’s gripping crime drama, Frances McDormand plays a grieving mother outraged by the police’s failure to apprehend her daughter’s killer. So, she rents billboards at strategic locations calling out the chief of police for his inactions. The idea struck McDonagh during a trip when he spotted a couple of billboards accusing a man of killing his wife, Kathy Page, and slamming the police for their incompetence. This haunting imagery sparked his 2017 film. And McDormand’s fierce character was born from the director’s vision that only a fierce mother could’ve placed those billboards. Not much is known about the real case but this movie sure proves that inspiration can spark from raw, real pain in the unlikeliest corners.

In Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, James Stewart plays an adventurous photographer stuck at home with a broken leg. Bored to death, he begins spying on his neighbors. When a man’s wife suddenly vanishes and he begins acting suspiciously, Jeff becomes convinced he murdered her. For Mrs. Thorwald’s mysterious fate, Hitchcock drew from two real cases: the 1910 murder of Corrine Henrietta Turner and the 1924 killing of Emily Kaye—both at the hands of their partners. Mrs. Thorwald’s ring being a pivotal clue in discovering the truth mirrors Harvey Crippen’s slip-up in Turner’s murder, while the search for the victim’s head echoes grim details of Kaye’s case. Though both murderers met the gallows, some details of their crimes remain shrouded in mystery.

“Strangers” writer-director Bryan Bertino was directly influenced by the Manson killings and the accompanying true crime book “Helter Skelter.” However, many critics and academics also note strong similarities with a quadruple homicide that occurred in 1981. In April of that year, Glenna Sharp, two of her children, and a family friend were killed in Keddie, California. The historic event bears many similarities with “The Strangers,” including the isolated setting, the breaking into of a private residence, and the vicious nature of the killings. The main suspects in the case are Martin Smartt and his friend John Boubede, but they both died without being charged thanks to a tragically bungled investigation.

The Mothman is one of the most enduring legends in modern American folklore. Between November 1966 and December 1967, the West Virginian city of Point Pleasant was inundated with sightings of the Mothman. Famously described as a large man-bird hybrid, the Mothman became a national sensation when UFOlogist John Keel published his investigative book “The Mothman Prophecies.” He argued that the Mothman was a supernatural creature with connections to the Silver Bridge, which collapsed in December of 1967, killing forty-six people. Keel’s famous book was turned into a movie in 2002 starring Richard Gere as a journalist who becomes entangled in the mystery. The enjoyment of this one hinges entirely on how much stock you put into the Mothman legend.

Starring Jodie Foster and John Lithgow, “Mesmerized” is loosely based on the mystery of the Pimlico poisoning. Named after the London district in which it occurred, this event concerns the bizarre death of Edwin Bartlett. Bartlett had been found dead with chloroform in his stomach. However, no one could figure out how it got there, as his throat and larynx were free of burns. Bartlett’s wife Adelaide was arrested and charged with the death. However, a significant lack of evidence resulted in her acquittal. No one knew how the chloroform got into Edwin’s stomach, with some arguing that Edwin gulped it down quickly to end his own life. Adelaide Bartlett later disappeared from public record, taking any potential answers with her.

The people of Texarkana were not enjoying ice cream and sunsets during the summer of 1946. Instead, they were locking themselves inside their homes and watching the police patrol their neighborhoods. It was the town that dreaded sundown, and that’s because the Phantom Killer was on the loose. The evasive culprit had killed five and attacked eight throughout the preceding spring, with all of the crimes occurring on weekend nights. The killer was never caught or identified, although many experts believe it was career criminal Youell Swinney. The story greatly inspired the cult slasher, which was filmed in the real area and employed the locals as extras. To mirror reality, the killer’s face is never seen.

Like “The Mothman Prophecies,” “Willow Creek” wants you to believe in a mythological creature. Perhaps the most legendary object of modern American folklore, Bigfoot has generated endless discussion throughout the years. The cryptid’s popularity skyrocketed in the late ‘60s with the Patterson–Gimlin film, which purports to show Bigfoot sauntering around the woods of northern California. The short film serves as a microcosm of the Bigfoot debate, with some screaming hoax while others insist on its authenticity. The Patterson–Gimlin film is directly referenced in the found footage film “Willow Creek,” which sees a couple traveling into the forest to film their own Bigfoot video. It’s an undertaking that many have done, hoping to catch a glimpse of America’s greatest legend.

A cult favorite, “The Entity” is about a single mother named Carla Moran who is sexually assaulted and terrorized by a poltergeist. Moran is directly based on Doris Bither, a woman who reportedly experienced paranormal events in the mid ‘70s. Bither contacted parapsychologist Barry Taff and relayed that she had been assaulted and stalked by a malicious entity. Taff didn’t believe the assault claims but nevertheless agreed to investigate Bither’s house. He and assistant Kerry Gaynor reportedly experienced significant poltergeist activity, and Taff labeled it an official haunting. Others are more skeptical, arguing that Taff was a poor investigator who misinterpreted harmless events as paranormal evidence.

Directed by Brian De Palma and starring an A-list cast, “The Black Dahlia” is based on James Ellroy’s semi-fictional novel of the same name. The story is based on the famous case of the Black Dahlia. Real name Elizabeth Short, the Dahlia was infamously killed in 1947, and her death remains one of the most tantalizing unsolved mysteries in modern history. Ellroy’s novel blends fiction with fact, basing much of the story in reality while making up various fictitious elements. One of Ellroy’s inventions is a character named Ramona, who is eventually revealed to be the killer. De Palma carried this over into his film, with Fiona Shaw playing the murderer. In real life, no one has the faintest idea as to who killed Elizabeth Short.

The very name of Jack the Ripper is synonymous with unsolved crimes. Back in 1888, an unknown person terrorized the seedy London district of Whitechapel, killing at least five sex workers. This instantly became the biggest true crime story of its age thanks to the ferocious nature of the killings and the media sensation that it inspired. It has become legend by remaining unsolved. The movie takes its name from the famous “From Hell” letter, which was a piece of correspondence allegedly written by the killer. Included with the letter was half a human kidney. The case has inspired numerous films, including this horror thriller starring Johnny Depp as detective Frederick Abberline.

One of the biggest questions that has plagued America since the mid ‘70s is, “What the heck happened to Jimmy Hoffa?” Hoffa was a prominent labor union leader who got involved with organized crime and disappeared in the summer of 1975. His body has never been found. In 2004, an investigator named Charles Brandt published the nonfiction book “I Heard You Paint Houses,” which is about labor union official Frank Sheeran. Sheeran claims to have killed Hoffa on orders of the Bufalino crime family, and this event is played as gospel in Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation. It’s important to note that nothing has been confirmed, and many people doubt the authenticity of Sheeran’s claim. To this day, Hoffa’s disappearance remains a mystery.

This is a different kind of true crime film. Rather than focusing on the killings, the movie devotes two and a half hours to the investigative process. This makes it all the more frustrating, because as we know, the Zodiac Killer was never caught. One of America’s most notorious serial killers, the Zodiac took at least five lives in California and taunted both the police and media with boastful letters. They suddenly ceased communication with the media in 1974 following one last letter, and the trail went freezing cold. A team calling themselves the Case Breakers claimed to have solved the case in October of 2021, but experts quickly cast doubt on their claim. The case was not in fact broken and officially remains open.






Which of these unsolved mysteries scared you the most? Let us know in the comment section.






[a]NOTE TO VO ARTIST: Pls voice everything in blue, including the line after #1!