Based on a true story

Film is the cinematic imitation of life. Some movies take that imitation to a bit of an extreme though. Rather than dwelling on actual beliefs, no matter how unbelievable, some dwell on actual events, no matter how gruesome, frightening or weird. This is pretty much going to be a catalogue of some of the reality based horror movies out there.

Both versions of The Shining, though they are not based on actual events, are based on an actual haunting. The Overlook Hotel in real life is known as the Stanley Hotel. The made-for-TV version produced and written by Stephen King and directed by Mick Garris was actually filmed on the grounds of the Stanley Hotel. The Sci-fi Channel show Ghost Hunters also had a live 6-hour investigation on the Stanley Hotel haunting for a 2006 Halloween Special. One aspect of the haunting was actually made reference to in 1408 when Mike Enslin brings up that the spiritual presence offers turndown service.

John Carpenter's The Fog happens to be partially based on truth as well. The premise that brings about the vengeful ghosts happens to be based on an actual shipwreck off of the coast of California. Near the town of Goleta, California in the 19th century a ship sank and its contents were plundered. Details of the wreck are sort of sparse and hard to find. One thing is important in the story and the purpose of this article. The shipwreck that was the premise for The Fog actually did happen.

Amityville Horror was based on actual spiritual events as well. Sure certain details were changed. For example the address was moved a couple of blocks down the street from the actual house. That is roughly the extent of the blatant changes since the people who worked on the film probably wanted to keep it as faithful to actual events as possible. There are reports to go against the reality claims of the film but nonetheless it is worth looking into. The opening of the films, murder of a family, is true. There are reports that call into doubt the spiritual activity of the house though. There have not been any reports of any of the strange activity in the house since the family depicted in the film moved out.

Rosemary's Baby actually has a tie to Chicago. Ever heard of the "devil baby of Hull House?" Unusual but circumstance and legend happens to state that there was a baby that was born in Hull House that looked like the stereotypical representation of the devil. The basic legend of the story is a couple, a devout Catholic woman and a male atheist. The woman tried putting up a picture of the Virgin Mary and the husband tore it down saying that he would rather have his child to be the devil than to have a picture of the Virgin Mary up in his home. Lo and behold the baby they had was born with pointed ears, horns, scaly skin and a tail. The staff of Hull House tried baptizing the baby at which point the baby escaped during the ceremony and reportedly started dancing and laughing. The baby was then thrown in the attic and left for dead. The truth of this legend is questionable though many maintain that the story is true.

The Exorcist interestingly enough has ties in reality. It was considered a cursed movie in filming with random misfortune happening, one example is one of the sets burned down. It was based on the true story. The actual victim of possession was a boy. It did not take place in Georgetown. The actual event took place, well, started in Cottage Town, Maryland. Cottage Town is a semi-isolated area just a short distance from Mount Rainier. The road leading to the exorcism took the boy from Cottage Town to St. Louis, from St. Louis to Washington D.C. and from Washington D.C. back to St. Louis. Some aspects of the film were embellished but according to an actual priest, Reverend William O'Malley, who acted in the film, playing a priest, researched and accounted the truth of the occurrence. His researches lead him to something that he usually tells students when the topic arises, that The Exorcist is 80% true.

The town in the game and movie Silent Hill is actually based on a small Pennsylvanian town. Part of the story of the movie is that underground coal fires lead to a lot of deaths and mass evacuation that lead to the actual town of Silent Hill being completely stripped of a population. Centralia, Pennsylvania had an underground coal fire which, rather than making Centralia completely deserted there are people who stayed in the area and still live there today without much of a problem. Roads are not that good though since they cracked and buckled do to the escaping gases from the coal fire underground. For footage of the actual town currently you can just do a search for Centralia, Pennsylvania and find at least some amateur documentaries that were posted up in different places, one of which being Youtube.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based off of a true story in which an exorcism and quite possibly even the devil lead to the untimely death of a woman. The setting however varies from the movie to reality. The movie made it seem like a rural American town. The setting is not rural or town, nor is it American. It is based off of the story of a German woman named Anneliese Michel, who died at the age of 23 reportedly of malnutrition and dehydration. The court case, which creates the backdrop for the film, actually happened. It does call into question the existence of something more. The priests who worked on the exorcism, Pastor Ernst Alt and Father Arnold Renz, failed miserably, possibly because Anneliese was not possessed and just needed medical attention or because the medication made it so that the exorcism did not work. While Exorcism of Emily Rose was a fine movie, a German film by the name of Requiem by Hans-Christian Schmid comes closer to the actual real-life events.

An American Haunting is based off the Bell witch haunting. This is the first recorded case of two events. One event is a ghost coming in contact with an American President. The film ignores the presidential meeting with the supernatural entity altogether. The other is a ghost killing someone. Actual legend says that it was the ghost that was the direct cause of John Bell's death on December 20, 1820. The movie makes the move that his daughter might have been the one to cause it. It also leaves out a major development in which Andrew Jackson and his entourage stayed in the Bell House. One of his entourage proclaimed himself a witch tamer who intended to kill the spirit. The spirit then promptly attacked him. The Jackson troupe left midday on the day following the attack and Andrew Jackson is alleged to have said "I would rather fight the entire British army than to deal with the Bell Witch." Another alleged quote from Jackson was "I would rather take on the entire British fleet than stay one night in the Bell House."

There is something more to reality than what we wish to know. For more information on various inspirations or what the films are based on, you can always watch the special features on a DVD.