Mayank Shandilya
The moment it is said that a movie has been inspired by true events, the audience tend to anticipate the movie more. And if it happens to be a horror movie, things get even more exciting. That’s all the marketing team needs to say to get the build up going. But when the audience do realize that they have been fooled, the movie may lose its sheen.
Sometimes people may choose to completely ignore how accurate the movie is and love it anyway. Here is the list of movies that totally lied to you.
10. The Amityville Horror (2005)
The movie is titled ‘The Amityville Horror: A True Story’. Fun Fact: It isn’t. The movie is more of a screenplay brewed over two people thinking about ways of horror. It had got people excited by its claim of being based on a real life incident. Other than that it only had shoddy pieces of direction and mediocre actors. The movie has a gallant entry sequence of the priest entering the horror house. But the priest never even visited the house, contrary to the movie’s antics. He only had a couple of conversations over the phone with the Lutz family. And the supernatural powers of the priest manifested in the movie is only a figment of imagination. Hence, the so called true story is anything but true.
9. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
The movie is an Urban Legend. There are not any evidences that might prove that it is something more. But the marketing team of the movie made sure it became a real thrilling piece. Hence, the movie intrigued a lot of people. The urban legend happened in the timeline of 1996-67 but the movie portrayed it in the 2000s. Richard Gere played the role of reporter John Klein. The reporter that accidentally lands up in the city of Mothman. The city with its horrors. Also, the reporter’s real name was John Keel. And just like the fictionalisation of the name, the entire story is made up. Or maybe there is a piece of information that remains to be seen.
8. Wolf Creek (2005)
The movie is supposed to be based on a real incident in Australia. An incident where three American backpackers were killed by a local bushman during their meteorite expedition. The movie was a landmark in the horror genre of Australian movies. And it is a very well directed movie with some brilliant performances. The only downside is, it isn’t anything real unlike what the film credits proclaimed. It is loosely based on two very different murder cases. Somehow, the writer of the movie found a striking chord between the two and etched a storyline. And quite a good one though.
7. The Exorcist (1973)
‘The Exorcist’ was like a breath of fresh air in the horror genre. And it did wonders for the times to come. But there were quite a few things that were wrong about it. Firstly, the very existence of the possessed girl is questionable. There isn’t any record of the girl. Also, the exorcism of a boy inspired the book which made the director think about its depiction. And the very efficacy of exorcism isn’t clear or justifiable. With all its doubts and uncertainties, the movie still remains one of the classic. It laid the foundation to use the innocence of kids and mesh it with the skillful horrifying ways.
6. Escape To Victory (1981)
Make up a story about Nazi and more often than not, it is easily believed. And make up a story about the horrors of Nazis, the notions of truth become unassailable. Such is the story of ‘Escape To Victory’, where Sylvester Stallone captains a soccer team against the Nazi guards. The movie had a team of Allied soldiers captained by our very own Sylvester Stallone. The truth is far from it. The real story is about a group of Ukrainian inmates that defeated Nazi officers. And they defeated them quite a few times. Hence, they were executed. The reason being that Nazis couldn’t handle the humiliation. Also, the movie in its true Hollywood style depicted a glamorous version of this. It became a notion of right over wrong and everything that a virtue aspires. Inspiring but not True.
Read More: Movies Based on True Stories
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Firstly, thank god the movie isn’t inspired from true events. Thank God. Some of the instances in the movie is so horrifying and vivid that it stays with you for a while. And it is something that you wouldn’t want. The film is known for its notoriety. It made a claim of being based on a true story and after the movie released, the claim became a terror. The director Tobe Hooper once went to a pawn shop where he saw a lot of chainsaws and it got him going. He became so intoxicated by the thought of using Chainsaws that he wrote an entire screenplay around it. Somewhere, down the line people started associating the cannibal Ed Gein with the movie’s character. And to the audience it made sense. But the movie is only a figment of imagination. And I repeat Thank God for that.
4. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
It made the fraternity of movie industry realise that horror can also be made on a shoestring budget. And that horror movies require perspective and not just some terrific camera work and sound mixing. The movie used a normal video camera and it worked for the authenticity of its horrifying nature. But the makers went a little far to give credibility to their work. To make belief that the movie was based on a true story they fabricated quite a few articles and online footages. It worked during the release and the movie saw a huge collection. But when the facts came out, not only the director but also the studio lost its credibility. And people finally saw through the facade. But that doesn’t rob the movie of its brilliance.
3. Fargo (1996)
‘Fargo’ is a brilliant movie and it would have not been affected even if the makers didn’t claim it to be based on a true incident. But they did. People were intrigued by the city and its whole setup and people. It certainly worked for its tourism and especially when the place is anything but a tourist spot. The movie did reap a lot of benefits. The benefits of a True Story. But later the director Joel Coen admitted that the movie wasn’t based on a true incident. And he only did that to pique the audience’s mind. The murders shown weren’t a result of serial killing but were only an isolated case. And it didn’t have anything wildly spectacular about it. It was all the Coen brothers that made a spectacle out of it.
2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
In the realm of reality, there never was Private Ryan. Also, there wasn’t a group of men that died only to make Ryan reach his home. The movie publicised that it was based on a true story but it wasn’t. The movie remains as one of the scenic marvels of war depictions. But it is purely a figment of imagination. It is only an enactment. Well on the bright side at least nobody died so that someone could go home in the middle of war.
Read More: Movies Like Pursuit of Happyness
1. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
It breaks my heart to say it but the real story is far from its depiction in the movie. Chris Gardner, the role portrayed by Will Smith wasn’t a great father at all. He was very careless and once forgot all about his son and left him at a gas station. He did return but only after four hours. Also, Gardner was arrested for domestic violence. So there’s that. Sometimes the reel seems better than real and that is what makes the world of cinema a wonderful escape. I wish Chris Gardner would have been the same kind like portrayed by Will Smith but that is not how the world works. The Pursuit of Happiness had its grey shades. And I guess the concealment of that robbed the movie of its stand at Oscars.
