WWW.FRONTPAGEDETECTIVES.COM / CRIME ARCHIVES

Horror Show: 6 Movies Based on Shocking Real-Life Crimes

The big screen has not lagged in exploring the appeal real crime has on people's imagination.

PUBLISHED JUL 21, 2024

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by JESHOOTS.com

True Crime Movies Strike the Right Chord

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Elti Meshau

True crime has established itself as a popular genre amongst the American public. 34% of US adults regularly listen to true crime podcasts, Pew Research Centre reported. Various OTT platforms have released acclaimed, true crime shows in recent years like American Nightmare, Mindhunter, and Unbelievable. The big screen has not lagged in exploring the appeal real crime has on people's imagination. Here are six movies in recent years that have used as their subjects real crimes that both terrorized and shocked people.

1. Zodiac

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (Don Fouke's description of Zodiac Killer)

Zodiac released in 2007 starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. in main roles. It was centered around the real-life killings that happened all across Northern California. The killings remain unsolved, Collider reported. The killer received the moniker Zodiac after he began posting letters to various publications using that name. The movie covers Zodiac's interaction and impact on real-life people like Paul Avery, who became the serial killer's unlikely pen pal. Avery played by Downey Jr. received personal threats when he refused to publish some of the killer's letters. The movie was successful and received many accolades.

2. The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street released in 2013 starred Leonardo Dicaprio, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie in major roles. The movie followed the life and crimes of Jordan Belfort, the founder of the brokerage house Stratton Oakmont, ATI reported. Belfort ran a years-long securities fraud scheme which caused his investors to lose almost $200 million. Belfort's crime ultimately caught up with him and in 1999 he was indicted for securities fraud and money laundering. In 2003, he was sentenced to four years in prison. He came out after serving 22 months and became a motivational speaker. The movie was acclaimed and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (for DiCaprio), and Best Supporting Actor (for Hill) in the Academy Awards.

3. Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Can You Ever Forgive Me? directed by Marielle Heller, focuses on how desperation drives a writer to forge letters of popular celebrities and sell them at high prices, Time reported. The movie starred Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant in lead roles. It is based on the real-life story of Israel Lee, a moderately successful celebrity biographer through the 70s and 80s. Later when her career went into decline she began forging letters. By the time the FBI caught her, she had written and sold almost 400 forgeries, some of which remain in circulation. She was sentenced to six months in house arrest and five years of probation.

4. Monster

Monster was a serial killer biopic directed by Patty Jenkins, released back in 2003, Collider reported. The movie followed Aileen Wuornos who killed seven men from 1989 to 1990. Wuornos was portrayed by Charlize Theron who shaved off her eyebrows and put on 30 pounds. The movie focuses on the sexual abuse that Wuornos endured, the trauma that caused her to commit those killings, and her love story with another woman. In the movie, Wuornos' partner was named Selby Wall, in reality, the person was Tyria Moore. Dubbed "America's first female serial killer," Wuornos was executed by lethal injection. The movie won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, according to IMDb.

5. All the President's Men

All the President's Men revolved around two reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who investigated the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post, Collider reported. The movie was released in 1976, a few years after the real investigation. The reporters broke the Watergate Scandal in the mid-1970s which caused Richard Nixon to resign from his office. In June 1972, a break-in happened at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, which exposed multiple abuses of power by the Nixon administration, HISTORY reported. The movie starred Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in the main roles.

6. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (Ted Bundy's 1979 Florida Department of Corrections mugshot, taken August 1, 1979.)

The movie, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, captures notorious serial killer Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend. Liz refused to believe the allegations brought against Bundy for a long time. The movie was based on the book The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy by Elizabeth Kendall, the real-life beau of Bundy, in his last years, Collider reported. Though Kendall suspected Bundy much earlier in real life of the killings, her movie counterpart does not have her trust broken till the last moments. The change was made to show how much control Bundy exercised over Liz with his appeal. "I want the audience to invest in the relationship between Zac and Lily, and to believe in that relationship so that by the end of the film, when she finally holds him accountable, I wanted the audience to also feel the same level of disgust that she's feeling because, for the first half of the movie, you were almost lulled into a sense of, well, maybe he's not such a bad guy," Director Joe Berlinger said to Esquire. The movie had Zac Efron and Lily Collins in starring roles.