19 Shocking True Crime Events That Were So Disturbing, Hollywood Literally Turned Them Into Movies

You either love to hate it or hate to love it.

Warning: This post contains mentions of suicide, rape, sexual violence, and assault.

Some movies are so disturbing, they make me wanna throw the whole TV away instead of finishing them; then one hits me with “based on a true story,” and now my interest is piqued. Here are 19 unbelievably twisted crimes and the movies that gave these heinous acts the Hollywood treatment.

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1. The Murder of Lindsay Hawker

Sedic International Inc. / Via youtube.com

In March 2007, Lindsay Ann Hawker, a British woman teaching in Japan, was sexually assaulted and murdered by Tatsuya Ichihashi. After this heinous act, he went on the run for two and a half years and performed plastic surgery on himself to further evade authorities. He sliced off his lower lip, dug out his own moles, then paid for two more surgeries to change his nose. He was eventually caught and sentenced to life in prison.

In the movie I Am Ichihashi: Journal of a Murderer, he’s played by Dean Fujioka.

Sedic International / Via youtube.com

2. The Killing Spree of Henry Lee Lucas

Maljack Productions / Alamy

How many killings does it take to be considered a serial killer? Two? Three? How about around 600? Though Henry Lee Lucas was only convicted of killing three people, including his own damn mother, later in prison he confessed to killing over 600. That’s out of control. He confessed to so many killings that he was dubbed the Confession Killer. But in the end, that extreme number may have been a lie.

In the movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer he’s played hauntingly by Michael Rooker. 

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3. The Porn-Set Attack by Stephen Clancy Hill

Parkside Productions / Via youtube.com

In June 2010, Stephen Clancy Hill, an adult film actor (who went by the stage name Steve Driver), sharpened a movie prop samurai sword and attacked three people after he was fired and told to leave the porn studio where he had been living. One of those men was his friend Herbert Wong, who was attempting to calm him down. Herbert eventually died from his wounds, and Stephen killed himself by jumping off a hill while surrounded by police after being on the run for four days.

The tragic film Mope takes a deep dive into the porn industry. Stephen is played by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Herbert Wong is played by Kelly Sry. 

Dial 988 in the US to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386. Find other international suicide helplines at Befrienders Worldwide (befrienders.org).

Parkside Productions / Via youtube.com

4. Necrophiliac and Serial Killer John Christie

Columbia Pictures / Alamy

John Christie was a British man who killed eight people, including his wife, in 1940s and '50s London. Not only did he kill them and hide the bodies around his house and garden, but he also had sex with many of his victims as they were dying. The husband of one of his victims was wrongfully hanged for killing his own wife, and John was even a witness at the trial. Imagine everyone's surprise when they realized just three years later that John was the killer all along.

The film 10 Rillington Place focuses mostly on the trial.

Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com

5. The Murder of Dariusz Janiszewski by Krystian Bala

Saban Films / Alamy

Krystian Bala planned and carried out the murder of small business owner Dariusz Janiszewski in Poland. Dariusz's body was found floating in a lake, and the crime went unsolved for three years. Krystian was so bold that he used the killing as inspiration for his first novel, which eventually got him caught. And if you're wondering, his book Amok became a hit in Poland, and he planned on killing a second victim to inspire a follow-up novel. 

In the film Dark Crimes, Jim Carrey plays the detective in hot pursuit of the killer. 

Saban Films / Via youtube.com

6. The Attack on Nancy Kerrigan

AI-Film, Clubhouse Pictures / LuckyChap / Entertainment / beIN Media Group / Alamy

This film follows the infamous story of two star figure skaters, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. Their rivalry turned to violence when Tonya’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, planned the attack on Nancy with a baton to the leg that would take her out of competition. Tonya was later banned from figure skating and would eventually turn to boxing and even appear on Dancing With the Stars. 

Tonya is played expertly by Margot Robbie in the film I, Tonya.

AI-Film, Clubhouse Pictures / Via youtube.com

7. The Night Stalker

MRB Productions / Via youtube.com

Richard Ramirez was a despicable human who went by many names: the Night Stalker, the Walk-In Killer, and the Valley Intruder. He entered homes, raped, tortured, and killed for 14 months in California and was convicted on 13 counts of murder. He would eventually be caught thanks to the description given by a 13-year-old boy, and by "caught" I mean a group of citizens spotted him and beat the hell out of him until the cops arrived. 

In the film The Night Stalker, he’s played by Lou Diamond Phillips.

MRB Productions / Via youtube.com

8. The Clutter Family Murders

Columbia Pictures / Pax Enterprises / Alamy

The murders of four members of the Clutter family by ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith in Kansas rocked the nation and became the subject of the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The two convicts broke into the family's house to steal a safe full of money, but when it was revealed there was never any safe, the two ex-convicts resorted to killing the family with shotgun blasts to their heads. 

The 1967 film In Cold Blood was shot in the actual home where the murders took place.

Columbia Pictures / Pax Enterprises / Via youtube.com

9. Son of Sam

Touchstone Pictures / 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks / Hostage Productions / Alamy

In the summer of 1976, David Berkowitz used a .44-caliber gun to kill six people and wounded 11 more, which led to the biggest manhunt in New York City history. To add to this, he sent letters to police, mocking them as he eluded capture, which caused widespread panic throughout the city.  

The film Summer of Sam was directed by Spike Lee and featured an all-star cast. 

Touchstone Pictures / Via youtube.com

10. The Snowtown Murders

Carver Films / Alamy

Over the course of eight years, John Justin Bunting, Robert Joe Wagner, and James Spyridon Vlassakis killed 12 people in a small town in South Australia. John was the leader and would invent reasons to kill them. The murders shockingly brought tourists to Snowtown, which was now infamous for the acts of brutality.

The movie Snowtown was chilling, to say the least.

Carver Films / Via youtube.com

11. Hwaseong Serial Murders

Sidus / Alamy

Lee Chun-jae was a serial killer and sexual predator who killed 14 young women and girls from 1985 to 1994 in South Korea. He was actually only arrested for the sexual assault and killing of a 13-year-old girl in 1988, but after 20 years, he admitted to the remainder of his crimes, which had gone unsolved before his confession. 

The film Memories of Murder was inspired by the investigation and was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who would go on to direct Parasite.

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12. The Murder of Sylvia Likens

Modernciné / Modern Girl Productions / Via youtube.com

In a matter of three excruciatingly long months, 16-year-old Sylvia Likens was tortured, beaten, malnourished, and tormented by her caretaker and several neighborhood kids in Indianapolis until she eventually died from her injuries. Her caretaker, Gertrude Baniszewski, was so strict and so sick, she'd force children as young as 10 to take part in Sylvia's abuse. 

The film The Girl Next Door chronicles the tragic story.

Modernciné / Modern Girl Productions / Via youtube.com

13. The Backpack Murders

Australian Film Finance Corp. (AFFC) / The South Australian Film Corp. / 403 Productions / True Crime Channel / Best FX (Boom Sound) / Emu Creek Pictures / Alamy

In a tale that will make you question backpacking, the Backpack Murders were orchestrated by serial killer Ivan Milat between 1989 and 1992. Ivan would offer travelers in Australia rides, then eventually rob and kill them in various brutal ways. We know of seven victims, although there are believed to have been many more. 

Wolf Creek is a horror film inspired by the killings.

Australian Film Finance Corp. (AFFC) / Via youtube.com

14. The Murder of Bobby Kent

Lionsgate Films / StudioCanal / Muse Productions / Blacklist Films / Gravity Entertainment / Alamy

Be careful of your friend group, because Bobby Kent was murdered by seven friends, including his best friend, Martin Puccio. Bobby was described as a bully within the friend group; Martin would often come home with bruises after spending time with Bobby. His killing was a way to stop his alleged abusive reign of terror.  

The film Bully tells the story of this tragic friendship.

Lionsgate Films / Via youtube.com

15. The Murder of Marjorie Nugent

Mandalay Vision / Wind Dancer Productions / Detour Filmproduction / Castle Rock Entertainment / Collins House Productions / Horsethief Pictures / Alamy

Bernie Tiede, a Texas mortician, seemingly became best friends with wealthy widow Marjorie Nugent, who was more than 40 years his senior. They became so close that she made him her sole heir, and for that, Bernie shot her in the back four times with a .44-caliber rifle. In the end, no one in their town cared that Marjorie died because everyone in the neighborhood hated her and those very same residents loved Bernie, seeing him as the nicest man in the world. 

The film Bernie is a black comedy that chronicles the relationship between Bernie and Marjorie.

Mandalay Vision / Via youtube.com

16. The Sun Gym Gang

Paramount Pictures / De Line Pictures / Pheonix International / Alamy

What happens when a group of bodybuilders decide to become supervillains? Well, that's what the Sun Gym Gang did. They kidnapped, extorted, and attempted to murder Marc Schiller and then successfully murdered Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton. The Miami gang was led by Sun Gym manager Daniel Lugo. He and his accomplices targeted wealthy men whom they'd kidnap and force to transfer their assets to the gang. 

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, and Anthony Mackie take up the roles of this infamous gang in the Michael Bay film Pain & Gain. 

Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

17. The Spree Killer

Warner Bros. / Pressman-Williams / Jill Jakes Production / Badlands Co. / Alamy

Charles Raymond Starkweather was a 20-year-old spree killer who was accompanied on his murderous rampage in the late '50s by his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate. He killed 10 victims in just eight days, including Caril's mother, stepfather, and half baby sister. He was executed just 17 months after his arrest.  

Terrence Malick would make his directorial debut with a film based on the events, called Badlands.

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

18. Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the Lonely Hearts Killers

Roxanne / Alamy

This one is a doozy. Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck met via a "lonely hearts" newspaper ad in 1947, and after Raymond admitted to Martha that he was a criminal, she abandoned her children and dedicated her life to him — a life that would see the two of them using those same lonely hearts ads to lure unsuspecting victims to their house to be killed by the abusive and sadistic couple. 

The crime film The Honeymoon Killers commits their story to the screen in stark, pulpy fashion. 

Roxanne / Via youtube.com

19. Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield

Shamley Productions / Alamy

Ed Gein killed fewer people than most on this list, but he was the most infamous and the most influential to the imaginations of Hollywood filmmakers. His deeds were also the most gruesome on this list because he mutilated corpses by creating masks and trophies out of body parts. He was a snatcher, murderer, and grave robber. When he was arrested for the death of Bernice Worden, police entered his home and found Bernice's headless, gutted body hanging from the ceiling, organs in jars, and skulls used as soup bowls. He practiced necrophilia and wore human skin as masks and suits around the house. 

He’s the killer Hollywood is most obsessed with because there have been a number of prominent films based on his cruelty, including House of 1000 Corpses, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the most famous one, Psycho.

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