True to Life Horrors

Throughout time, many of us have enjoyed watching horror movies. Often times, these movies are scary, but none are more scary than those that are based on real life experiences. Here, in this article, I want to discuss some of these specific horror movies.

Amityville is about a house in the town of Amityville, Long Island. 112 Ocean Avenue, to be more specific. This 2 ½ story Dutch Colonial home has long been known for the horrors that happened within its walls. It was bought by a man named Ronald DeFeo Sr., in June of 1965. The house came with a boathouse on the Amityville River. It was a beautiful an spacious house with plenty of room for DeFeo's wife and five children. This seemingly perfect and happy home ended up being the demise of this family.

The oldest son, Ronald "Butch" DeFeo Jr., wasn't a happy kid. By the time he became an adolescent, he had a bad temper and often ended up in fist fights with his father. By the time he was 17, he was involved with drugs and petty theft. Even though he had an easy job, and a weekly allowance, Butch, as he was called became angry and resentful towards his father. He felt that his father was a stingy man. His anger and resentment led him to fake a robbery and steal a great deal of money from his grandfather's car dealership, where he was employed. He split the money with his friend, who was also involved with the fake robbery. His father exposed what he did, and Butch became enraged and wanted revenge.

Reports say that in the early morning of November 13, 1974, Butch grabbed his .35 Marlin Rifle, and shot and killed his entire family as they lay sleeping in their beds. The only person said to be awake when shot was his mother. He killed his parents first, then proceeded to kill his four siblings. Reports say that all six of his victims were found on their stomachs with their heads resting on their arms.

Butch was later convicted of six counts of second degree murder, and was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences at the Greenhaven Penitentiary in Stormville, New York.

These facts are true and documented, it is what followed that horrific night that is questioned, and yet the basis of the movie .Some say it is fact, and some believe that it is nothing more than an elaborate story created by Butch DeFeo and his lawyer with the hopes of a new trial. Either way, George Lutzes himself has said that the stories of the haunting are true, but many things in the movie were fictionalized. I would say this was done only to add to the horror that already exists.

It is said that the house sold in December of 1975, to a newlywed couple, the Lutzes, and their three children, only 13 months after the horrific murders took place in that house. According to an interview with Mr. Lutzes, and posted on amityvillehorrortruth.com, the couple was informed of what had happened in that house, and were asked by a friend to have the house blessed before moving in.

They did just that, having a priest that was also a friend of the family come to bless the house. When he was leaving, the priest told the Lutzes that he "felt something" in a room on the second floor. That was the first strange thing that happened in that house. The second, also happening on the day they were moving in, was their dog accidentally hanging himself , but surviving, while attempting to jump a fence in the yard. The Lutzes believe that the dog was trying to escape the property.

Over the next 28 days, the Lutzes family says that more and more strange and horrifying things happened. First, there were strange smells around the house, then a green, slimy substance found on the walls, the toilets turned black, and there were swarms of flies in the room on the second floor where the priest "felt something". They say that there was even a black oozing substance coming from the keyholes in the doors.

It is said that along with these strange happenings in the house itself, there were also personality changes among the Lutzes. George Lutzes said that he found himself waking up each morning at 3:15 a.m. with the urge to check the boathouse. An urge so strong, he could not control it. He began to days without bathing, and also lost weight and became sick. His wife, Kathy, began having nightmares, and the children began fighting all of the time.

Then, the family began to hear noises in the house. They weren't the only ones. It is said that any company that they entertained also heard the noises. They heard footsteps in the rooms above them. One guest suggested that they open a window in each room and go through the house praying. The friend said that it helped in another home where similar sounds had been heard. George said that the prayer didn't work, but he did hear voices screaming, "Will you please stop?" The voices were so loud, George actually went through the house to look for whomever the voices belonged to.

Furniture began to move, the front door began to slam, and George heard what sounded like a clock radio slightly off station go off.

It is said that later, their young daughter, Missy began to talk to "an imaginary friend, named Jodie". It was this imaginary friend whom the Lutzes believe was really an entity that came forth to speak through and influence their daughter that scared them the most. At first, the adults thought it was good for the little girl to have an imaginary friend. Missy told them that her friend "Jodie" was able to change forms. This did not alarm the Lutzes, it was when their daughter told them that "Jodie " told her , "you will live here forever", that this "friend" frightened the family.

This statement, along with the other things happening, and the sense of eyes watching them all of the time is what made the Lutzes flee there new home. They left the home only 28 days after moving in.

The Exorcist is another horror movie that is based on actual events. This movie is considered to be one of the most horrifying movies ever made. Although this movie portrays a demonically possessed young girl, it is actually based on the 1949 demonic possession of a young boy.

The actual possession happened in Mount Rainer, Maryland, and the exorcism began in Georgetown University Hospital, and finally ended at Alexian Brothers Hospital, in Saint Louis, Missouri. The boy was only 13 when this all happened to him.

It is said that the family began experiencing strange things in their home on January 18, 1949. Scratching noises came from the house's walls, the boy's bed would shake violently, and objects would just jump to the floor when the boy was near. One minister, who was skeptical, even removed the boy from his own home for a night and took him to his own house, just to see what would happen. The minister reported that in the dark, he heard vibrating sounds coming from the bed, and scratching sounds coming from the wall. The minister also said that other strange things happened that night. A heavy chair that the boy sat in tilted seemingly on its own, and tipped over. A pallet of blankets moved around the room as the boy lay sleeping on them.

It is said that before the boy was finally freed of his demonic possession, 20-30 rites of exorcism were performed. When the final exorcism was being performed. The young boy would go into violent tantrums, cussing and screaming, and saying Latin phrases. The boy, himself, stated that after the final rite of exorcism was performed, he saw a vision of Saint Michael casting the devil out. The exorcism was finally complete when the boy was taken to a Catholic church.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is another fact based horror movie, though it is only somewhat based on facts. It is based on the real life murderer, named Ed Gein. He is suspected to have killed several victims between the years of 1954 and 1957.

The house that is depicted in this movie is very similar to the actual home of Ed Gein. The gruesome things found in the house in the movie are very similar to those things found in the actual Gein house in 1957. As in the movie, Gein did wear a human scalp and face, but in the movie, he did this because of a skin disease. In real life, Gein did this because of his desire to be a woman. In addition to the scalp and face that he wore, Gein also wore a vest made of skin, complete with female breasts and genitalia that he wore over his own skin.

In the movie, we see this murderer kill people with a chainsaw. The real life Gein is thought to have shot his victims with a pistol. The two bodies that were found and identifiable were both shot to death. One body, that of a woman named Bernice Worden, was found in 1957 hanging from the rafters in a shed behind Gein's house. She had been gutted just like a game hunter would gut a deer. Her head had been removed.

It is believed that Gein had a very strict and religious mother who constantly preached to Gein and his brother. It is said that she was always warning the boys to stay away from promiscuous women. She moved her sons to a farm in Plainsfield, Wisconsin to get them away from the sins that she felt were in the city. Gein was a shy boy. As a matter of fact, he was ignored at school and thought to be quite feminine. When he made any attempt to make friends, his mother would scold him for it, and as a result, he became an introvert.

Although Gein's mother treated him this way, he worshipped her, and he would become very angry if his brother spoke ill of her. On May 16, 1944, there was a brush fire near their farm. Gein and his brother went in different directions to fight the fire. Once the fire was put out, Gein supposedly became concerned because he hadn't seen his brother, yet, when the police showed up, Gein led them directly to his body. He was lying dead in an area that the fire hadn't even reached and had bruises on his head. Gein was not considered a suspect because he was such a shy boy. The ruled cause of death was asphyxiation.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not the only movie based on Eddie Gein. Psycho is also considered to be somewhat based of this murderer.. The character of Norman Bates is said to be a depiction of Gein. The depiction of Norman Bates' worship of his mother and desire to be a woman are what make this movie portray the true story of Ed Gein.

The movie An American Haunting is based on what are said to be true events that have been validated and documented in the state of Tennessee and President Andrew Jackson. It is said to be the only case in the history of the United States where the death of an individual was deemed to be caused by some sort of entity.

The movie is about a mother who has a young daughter who is going through things much as the real life Betsy Bell did between the years of 1818 and 1820. The story of Betsy Bell and her family took place in Red River, Tennessee. It is said that during this time, Betsy Bell and her family were visited by some presence that haunted the entire family.

It started with sounds being heard around the house at night, and strange animals all around the farm. The sounds that were heard eventually turned into physical and brutal contact with some of the family members. These family members suffered both physical and emotional torment.

The attacks on the family members grew in strength. It is said that the entity began physically attacking young Betsy Bell by slapping her, clawing at her, dragging her across the room, and beating her. This entity became known as "Kate" and seemed to attack John Bell, Sr., Betsy's father even worse than Betsy.

The entity actually communicated with the Bell family. The first communications were through sounds, but later, it actually spoke to them in a very ominous voice. The Bell family actually questioned the entity and found out that it called itself "Kate Batt's witch" and said that its mission was to kill John Bell, Sr. They say that the entity could predict the future, reveal secrets of anyone around, quote the Bible Scriptures without any flaws, and see things that would happen far away. Things would later be reported with accuracy as to what the entity said.

The entity, or "Kate" as it became known as, later claimed to have poisoned John Bell, Sr. while he was asleep. "Kate" said that he gave him a dose of strange medicine, and the liquid was found in his room later on. Authorities tested the liquid on a cat, after it was found. The cat went into seizures and died.

It has been said that the entity was at the funeral and it laughed and sang songs while everyone else mourned the loss of John Bell, Sr. . The entity left with a promise to return 7 years later. True to its word, the entity did return in 1828 for a few weeks. It visited the home of John Bell, Jr. and told him of his past, present, and future. She told him that there was a reason for his father's death, but never said what the reason was. When it left this time, the entity said it would return again in 107 years. That would have been in 1935. Some people believe that the entity never actually left. It is said that many other strange things have happened in that area over the years.

Some people are reluctant to believe that this entity even existed. These people believe that John Bell, Sr. is the one who inflicted the pain and bodily harm on his family himself. He was supposedly an abusive father, and some people believe that the Bell family finally got tired of his abuse and banned together to poison him themselves.

In the movie, Betsy Bell actually created the entity herself as a means of protecting herself from her sexually abusive father. In fact, there are no records of sexual abuse in real life. It is also depicted in the movie that Betsy herself is responsible for her father's death. In fact, there is no such record of this either. According to the documentation, John Bell, Sr.'s death was causes by the entity that became to be known as "Kate Batt's Witch", or "The Bell Witch"

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie that is based on the true story of a girl named Anneliese Michel . It is said that in 1968, when the girl was only 17, she began to have convulsions. She was diagnosed with Grand Mal epilepsy in 1969. Soon after this diagnosis, the young girl began to experience hallucinations while she would pray. She described these hallucinations as devilish. She also began to hear voices telling her that she was damned.

It was determined by the courts, that by 1973, Anneliese suffered from depression and was thinking about suicide. By 1975, her parents were convinced that she was possessed and gave up on psychiatric treatment. Her parents chose to rely only on exorcisms to heal their daughter. Anneliese's symptoms are now compared to the symptoms of schizophrenia. T is believed that had her parents continues with psychiatric treatment, she may have responded to it well.

The idea that this young girl was possessed first came from a woman who was with Anneliese on a pilgrim mage. She made observations of the girl including those such as Anneliese's avoidance of walking past a certain statue of Jesus, and her refusal to drink water from a holy spring. This older woman also said that the girl smelled "hellishly bad" Later, an exorcist from a nearby town decided that the girl was indeed possessed by demons. It took three requests for the exorcism before it was finally granted by the Bishop. The Bishop assigned, not one, but two priests to carry out the exorcism, rather than the one that is depicted in the movie. These two priests performed a total of 67 rites of exorcism over a 10 month period. They held one or two exorcisms a week, and they often lasted up to four hours.

The girl, herself, was convinced that demons had possessed her. She said that she was possessed by Lucifer, Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and even Fleischmann, who was a Frankish Priest from the 16th century who had been disgraced. These are only a few of the demons the she believed had possessed her.

Anneliese was said to have done many strange things during the time in which her parents believed she was possessed. She licked her own urine off of the floor, she ate flies, spiders, and even coal. At one point, it is said that she even bit the head off of a dead bird. At one point, she crawled under a table and barked like a dog would for two days. Often times, it is said, that she could be heard screaming for hours.

In the end of this true and tragic story, Anneliese died. Four people were charged in her death. They were charged, and convicted of negligent homicide. All four were sentenced to six months in prison, with a suspended sentence and three years of probation. It is said that the exorcisms caused the girl bodily harm. The ligaments in her knees ruptured because of 600 times of falling onto her knees. During the last rite of exorcism, she was too weak to do these exercises herself, and her parents assisted her in them.

In the movie, there was a doctor present during the exorcisms. In fact, there was not. As a matter of fact, around Easter, the year that she died, she began to refuse to eat or drink at all. She believed that by fasting, she could get rid of the demons she was sure were possessing her body. Due to her fasting, her seizures returned with a vengeance. Still, no doctors were called upon to help her. At the time of her death, Anneliese only weighed 68 pounds. Before she died, this young girl spoke of dying to atone for sins. The official cause of her death was severe dehydration and malnutrition. She was also suffering from pneumonia and had a high fever. Her last words to the priests were, "Beg for absolution", and to her mother, she said, "Mother, I'm afraid.

As to whether or not this young girl was truly possessed or schizophrenic was never clearly figured out. This young girl, and her family, obviously believed her to be possessed. The courts say she was a sick and neglected girl who would have lived had her parents sought medical and psychiatric care for her. Only Anneliese knows the truth, and she is no longer alive to tell it.

Horror movies entertain and scare many of us each day. We enjoy watching the terror unfold before our eyes on the screen. No horror movie could possibly compare to actually living those horrors. Even though the movies I have written about are fact based, we still only see them on a screen. Once the movie is over, we may forget about it, and move on to the next thriller. Those who lived through the horrors must face them day after day until they too die.