Buzz
Horror films, whether masterpieces or flops, have been a staple for many years. Often, these films hide more than what’s obvious at first glance. This list uncovers some lesser-known truths behind some of the most famous horror movies from recent decades. Caution: potential spoilers ahead.
10. Child’s Play 3
In February 1993, two-year-old James Bulger was abducted from a shopping center in Bootle, Merseyside, England, by two 11-year-old boys. The boys brutally murdered the toddler after torturing him and left his body on a railway track, where it was discovered two days later.
The judge overseeing the trial suggested that violent horror films might have influenced violent crimes like Bulger’s murder. There were reports that one of the boys, Jon Venables, had watched Child’s Play 3, where Chucky (a possessed doll) gets drenched in paint and suffers extreme facial disfigurement. Bulger’s body showed signs of abuse, and he had also been covered in paint.
However, the police dismissed the claims, stating they could not find solid evidence linking the movie scene to the crime.
9. A Nightmare On Elm Street
Wes Craven, renowned for his work in the horror genre, directed a number of iconic films, including the Scream series, two The Hills Have Eyes films, and The Last House On The Left. However, he will likely be most remembered for creating one of the most terrifying horror villains in history: Freddy Krueger.
The inspiration for Freddy Krueger came from several sources, including a homeless man who terrified Craven as a child and a DC Comics superhero, Plasticman. The character’s name was drawn from a personal encounter with a childhood bully, named Fred Krueger, who tormented Craven.
8. The Blair Witch Project
The cast of The Blair Witch Project had little idea of what they were about to experience when they began filming. Over the course of eight days, they came to believe that the Blair Witch legend was real. To intensify the atmosphere, they were deliberately given less food each day to increase the tension among them.
The film became a massive success, though it might have been a bit too convincing for some. Actress Heather Donahue’s mother was shocked to start receiving sympathy cards after the movie’s release. These cards were from people who genuinely thought Heather had gone missing or even passed away.
7. Final Destination
A series of eerie events surrounding the Final Destination franchise unsettled the cast, screenwriters, and executives before and during the movie productions.
The executive in charge of the first film had planned to read the script during a flight to New York City. That plan changed when he noticed the original title, Flight 180, and realized he had just boarded Flight 180 to New York. The script remained untouched until the plane arrived in NYC. While filming the third movie, the cast got stuck on the roller coaster during their first take and were trapped for thirty minutes.
While the special effects team was searching for a steel gimbal knuckle needed for the fifth film, they couldn’t believe their luck when they discovered it being sold. Their disbelief grew when they realized it was the very same gimbal knuckle that had mysteriously disappeared from the first film’s set years earlier.
6. Jeepers Creepers
The opening scenes of Jeepers Creepers, released in 2001, were inspired by a real crime from 1990. While the director never officially confirmed it, the similarities between the real events and the film’s sequence are too uncanny to dismiss.
In 1990, Dennis DePue murdered his wife after she filed for divorce. He shot her in the back of the head and disposed of her body behind an abandoned school building. A couple, Ray and Marie Thornton, witnessed the crime and were subsequently chased by DePue for miles. The crime was reenacted on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries in 1991, which mirrors the beginning of Jeepers Creepers almost exactly, where a brother and sister are pursued by a monster after seeing a man dump bodies behind an abandoned church.
5. The Hills Have Eyes
The Hills Have Eyes is a brutal horror film that tells the story of a US family being hunted by a group of deranged mutants in the desert. The movie is filled with bloodshed and brutality as humans, mutants, and animals fall victim to horrific violence.
The inspiration behind this chilling film and its sequels stems from a dark Scottish legend. According to the legend, Sawney Bean, a sadistic cannibal, and his family slaughtered and consumed over 1,000 people while hiding in a cave on the southwestern coast of Scotland. Wes Craven confirmed that this tale was a key influence on the script for the 2006 remake of The Hills.
4. The Omen
As unsettling as The Omen is, it pales in comparison to the eerie real-life occurrences linked to it. The film’s release on June 6, 1976, certainly added to the sense of dread surrounding it.
In one of the film’s most haunting scenes, a man meets his end by being decapitated by a glass plate. Tragically, the special effects consultant who designed this sequence died in a car crash, his body split in two. Moreover, actor Gregory Peck’s son took his own life shortly after Peck was cast as Damien’s father. On the way to England for filming, Peck's flight was struck by lightning twice, narrowly avoiding disaster.
During production, the movie’s producer was staying at the Hilton Hotel in London when a bomb exploded nearby. Fortunately, Mace Neufield was not in his room at the time. He narrowly escaped another bomb blast when a restaurant was destroyed shortly before he arrived.
10 Cloverfield Lane
In addition to being a standout film, 10 Cloverfield Lane is famous for one of the most shocking twist endings of 2016. It follows a man who holds two people captive in his home, claiming the outside air is poisonous and that they will die if they try to escape.
When the protagonist finally manages to escape, she uncovers a reality even more bizarre than the story her captor had spun. What some viewers may not have noticed, however, is that the film subtly addresses domestic abuse, a point highlighted by numerous film critics. One particular critic noted that the film illustrates that leaving an abusive environment doesn't automatically solve all the underlying issues. The director expressed satisfaction that some audiences were able to grasp the deeper layers of the film beyond its surface plot.
The Conjuring 2
While many of the claims surrounding the film’s supposed supernatural effects are highly questionable, one particularly eerie incident remains unsolved. A 65-year-old man who was watching the movie in a cinema in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India, collapsed during the final scenes after complaining of chest pain. He was rushed to the hospital but was later pronounced dead. However, both the man’s body and the driver tasked with transporting it mysteriously disappeared, and they have yet to be located.
The Babadook
At the turn of the millennium, Jennifer Kent was told a chilling story by one of her friends. The woman shared that her young son was terrified of a mysterious figure he called the “bogeyman” who seemed to be watching him. In an effort to soothe him, his mother would pretend to see the entity and engage in conversations with it.
This unsettling story stayed with Kent, inspiring her to create a short film in 2005 based on it. Over the years, the narrative lingered in her mind, eventually culminating in the 2014 horror film The Babadook. Kent reflected that the original story shared by the mother sparked her imagination, leading to the creation of the film’s main character. She came to realize that she had made a psychological horror film that resonated deeply with mothers around the world.
