There are so many intriguing true crime stories out there that it’s no wonder a decent amount of them get made into films.
There is a HUGE audience out there who likes to be scared as much as possible (myself included) and it seems like the market for these movies is only growing as time goes on.
Here are 10 films that were based on true, terrifying stories that you might want to add to your list if you are a true crime buff.
These responses come to us from the Buzzfeed Community.
1. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Based on a serial killer known as ‘The Phantom Killer’ that terrorized Texarkana in 1946 over the course of ten weeks. He attacked eight people and killed five of them…and was never caught.
The movie was remade as a loose adaptation in 2014.
2. An American Crime (2007)
This is a truly disturbing story about a 16-year-old girl who was tortured and eventually murdered by her guardian and neighborhood children in Indiana in 1965.
3. Murder By Numbers (2002)
The famous case of “thrill killers” Leopold and Loeb in the 1920s was the basis for this film.
The two wealthy young men kidnapped a killed a young boy in order to try to commit the perfect crime.
4. Bully (2001)
In 1993, a group of Florida teens murdered their friend Bobby Kent, who was prone to violent outbursts and bullying of his best friend, Marty Puccio.
This is a sleazy, creepy movie that shows the dark underbelly of suburbia in America.
5. Annabelle (2014)
Believe it or not, this creepy doll movie is based on a true story about two paranormal investigators in the 1960s who were asked to look into a possessed doll.
Yikes!
6. The Amityville Horror (1979)
The brutal murders and subsequent haunting of the Lutz family in the 1970s in their house in Amityville, Long Island, New York were the subject of a bestselling book and later this movie.
The film was remade in 2005.
7. Zodiac (2007)
The still-unsolved Zodiac murders that rocked the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s are the basis for this terrific movie from director David Fincher.
If you haven’t seen this movie, do yourself a favor and check it out?
8. In Cold Blood (1967)
Truman Capote’s classic book was turned into a movie a few years after its publication. The story is about two ex-convicts who killed a farm family in western Kansas because they thought the father had a large stash of money in the safe in the house.
The most interesting part of the film adaptation? They filmed the movie in the actual house where the murders took place in 1959.
9. Monster (2003)
Aileen Wuornos is probably the most well-known female serial killer in American history. She prowled seedy areas of Florida, working as a prostitute and murdering some of her male clients.
Wuornos was executed in 2002.
10. Bernie (2011)
This film that falls into the true crime and dark comedy categories starring Jack Black is based on the murder of a Texas woman named Majorie Nugent by her friend, Bernie Tiede.
How many of these movies have you seen?
Are there any films based on creepy, true events that you’d like to add to the list?
Let us know in the comments!
