Dahmer (2002)
The fiction: A recluse in Wisconsin captures, murders, and does really unspeakable things to a total of 17 male victims.
The fact: It's about Jeffrey Dahmer. Do you really need a source for that? By the way, yes, that's Hawkeye.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
The fiction: A man investigates the Mothman, a strange red-eyed creature that appears to signify impending disasters.
The fact: Real world journalist John Keel wrote the book The Mothman Prophecies after investigating hundreds of reports of sightings and other strange phenomena in Point Pleasant, West Virginia during the late 1960s.
Open Water (2003)
The fiction: A scuba-diving couple find themselves stranded in shark-infested Caribbean waters.
The fact: The true story involves Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind while scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef because their tour guides failed to take a head count. Their bodies were never found.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
The fiction: An attorney defends a priest accused of negligent homicide after an exorcism.
The fact: In real life a German woman named Anneliese Michel died after being subjected to an exorcism. She was found to have been malnourished and dehydrated, and her parents and the responsible priests were charged with negligent homicide and sentenced to three years' probation. Her epilepsy was likely the real culprit.
Wolf Creek (2005)
The fiction: Three backpackers are hunted by a madman through the Australian outback.
The fact: Writer and director Greg McLean said Wolf Creek was based on three separate real life Australian serial killers: Ivan Milat, AKA The Backpacker Killer, who murdered backpackers in the '90s; Bradley Murdoch, who allegedly tried to kidnap a woman after murdering her boyfriend; and the Snowtown Murders, a series of 11 grisly murders carried out by four men and one woman in the small town of Snowtown in South Australia.
Them (2006)
The fiction: A couple are attacked in their home by a group of sadistic children and teenagers.
The fact: Them is reportedly based on the story of an Austrian couple murdered at their home in the Czech Republic. That said, the details on those alleged real events are hard to come by, so take this one with a grain of salt.
The Girl Next Door (2007)
The fiction: A young woman is tortured and killed in suburban America.
The fact: Real life Sylvia Likens was tortured, humiliated, and sexually abused for months by her caretakers, the Baniszewski family, and various neighborhood youths, leading to her death. It's really soul-wrenching stuff; do yourself a favor and don't look into it any further.
Borderland (2007)
The fiction: A group of college students discover a cult that practices human sacrifice in Mexico.
The fact: The real story is of Adolfo Constanzo, a "witch doctor" who ingratiated himself with cartels in Mexico as he racked up a crazy body count as a serial killer. He used human remains to perform "spells" and attracted an impressive following of cult members and accomplices. He wasn't caught until he murdered an American college student in 1989.
Zodiac (2007)
The fiction: Investigators hunt the Zodiac Killer, who was active in the San Francisco Bay area during the '60s and '70s.
Thefact: David Fincher's film was based on James Vanderbilt's 1986 nonfiction book of the same name. The Zodiac Killer was a real serial killer directly linked to at least five murders in the late '60s. He was never positively identified.
Primeval (2007)
The fiction: A team of American journalists travel to the African country Burundi to hunt a giant crocodile.
The fact: The real crocodile is named Gustave, and he's reportedly 20 feet long and over 60 years old. They say he's claimed more than 300 victims, and he may still be at large today.
Done - Dark Blue
