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The Greatest Ten Films Based on Actual Unsolved Mysteries

These movies’ unresolved mysteries will keep you up at night. We’ll be examining a variety of films on this list that are based on unresolved real crime stories or paranormal mysteries. “The Strangers,” “The Black Dahlia,” “The Irishman,” and more titles are on our list!

#10: From 2008, “The Strangers”

Bryan Bertino, the writer and director of “Strangers,” was greatly impacted by the Manson crimes and the related true crime novel “Helter Skelter.” Scholars and critics alike have pointed up striking parallels between this case and a 1981 triple killing. Glenna Sharp, her two children, and a family friend were slain in Keddie, California, in April of that year. The remote location, the breaking into of a private home, and the savagery of the murders are just a few of the parallels between the historical incident and “The Strangers.” The primary suspects in the case are Martin Smartt and his buddy John Boubede; however, due to a terribly botched investigation, neither of them was prosecuted.

#9: The 2002 film “The Mothman Prophecies”

One of the longest-lasting stories in contemporary American mythology is the Mothman. There were a ton of reports of Mothman sightings at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, between November 1966 and December 1967. The Mothman, who is renowned for being a huge man-bird hybrid, gained widespread attention when UFOlogist John Keel released his investigative book “The Mothman Prophecies.” He maintained that the Mothman was a paranormal entity connected to the fall of the Silver Bridge, which claimed 46 lives in December 1967. In 2002, Richard Gere played a journalist who becomes engaged in the mystery of Keel’s well-known book. How much you believe in the Mothman mythology will determine how much fun you have with this one.

#8: 1986’s “Mesmerized”

“Mesmerized,” starring Jodie Foster and John Lithgow, is partially based on the unsolved Pimlico poisoning case. This occurrence, which has the name of the London neighborhood where it took place, is related to Edwin Bartlett’s strange demise. Chloroform had been discovered in the stomach of the deceased, Bartlett. Nobody could, however, figure out how it got there since he had no burns on his larynx or neck. Adelaide, Bartlett’s wife, was taken into custody and accused of the murder. However, she was found not guilty due to a substantial lack of evidence. Nobody was sure how Edwin got the chloroform in his stomach, but some people think he swallowed it fast in an attempt to kill himself. Afterwards, Adelaide Bartlett vanished from the public eye, taking any possible explanations with her.

#7: In 1976, “The Town That Dreaded Sundown”

In the summer of 1946, Texarkana residents were not relishing ice cream and sunsets. Rather, they were keeping themselves cooped up inside their houses as they saw the cops policing about. Because the Phantom Killer was at large, sunset was something the people feared. Over the course of the previous spring, the elusive perpetrator had murdered five and assaulted eight others, all of the incidents taking place on weekend evenings. Although many analysts think the killer was career criminal Youell Swinney, the murderer was never apprehended or identified. The cult horror film, which used locals as extras and was shot in the actual location, was heavily influenced by the narrative. The killer’s face is never seen in order to reflect reality.

#6: (2013) “Willow Creek”

“Willow Creek,” like “The Mothman Prophecies,” aims to instill a sense of legendary grandeur in you. Bigfoot, perhaps the most fabled figure in contemporary American mythology, has sparked a never-ending debate throughout the years. With the release of the Patterson–Gimlin movie in the late 1960s, which supposedly depicts Bigfoot strolling through the northern California forests, the cryptid’s notoriety took off. The short clip is a microcosm of the Bigfoot controversy, with some people insisting it’s real and others calling it a fraud. The discovered footage film “Willow Creek,” which follows a couple who go into the forest to record their own Bigfoot footage, has clear allusions to the Patterson-Gimlin movie. Many people have undertaken this endeavor in the hopes of seeing America’s greatest legend.

#5 : 1982’s “The Entity”

“The Entity,” a cult film, tells the story of Carla Moran, a single mother who experiences sexual abuse and fear from a poltergeist. Doris Bither, a lady who supposedly had paranormal experiences in the middle of the 1970s, is the primary inspiration for Moran. Bither said that she had been harassed and attacked by an evil force to parapsychologist Barry Taff. Despite her disbelief in the assault allegations, Taff consented to look into Bither’s residence. Taff classified the intense poltergeist activity he and his aide Kerry Gaynor recorded as an official haunting. Some, on the other hand, are more dubious, contending that Taff was a subpar investigator who mistakenly took incidental happenings for supernatural proof.

#4: The 2006 film “The Black Dahlia”

“The Black Dahlia,” which is helmed by Brian De Palma and has an A-list ensemble, is based on the same-titled semi-fiction book by James Ellroy. The renowned Black Dahlia case served as the inspiration for the tale. The Dahlia, whose real name was Elizabeth Short, was notoriously murdered in 1947, and her disappearance is still one of the most intriguing unanswered mysteries in contemporary history. Ellroy’s book is a combination of truth and fiction, with many of the story’s fictional components created while the rest is based on historical events. Ellroy created a figure by the name of Ramona, who turns out to be the murderer. Fiona Shaw played the killer in De Palma’s film, which used this theme. In reality, not a single person is even close to knowing who murdered Elizabeth Short.

Unsolved crimes are connected with Jack the Ripper’s name. At least five sex workers were killed when an unidentified assailant stalked the squalid Whitechapel neighborhood of London back in 1888. Because of the brutality of the deaths and the media frenzy it generated, this quickly rose to prominence as the greatest true crime tale of its day. Because it hasn’t been solved, it has become mythology. The film derives its title from the well-known letter “From Hell,” which was purportedly written by the murderer. Half of a human kidney was sent with the letter. Numerous movies, such as this horror thriller starring Johnny Depp as investigator Frederick Abberline, were inspired by the case.

Secondly, “The Irishman” (2019)

Since the middle of the 1970s, one of the most pressing issues in America has been, “What the heck happened to Jimmy Hoffa?” Hoffa was a well-known labor union leader who vanished in the summer of 1975 after becoming entangled with organized crime. His remains have never been located. The nonfiction book “I Heard You Paint Houses,” written by investigator Charles Brandt, concerning labor union leader Frank Sheeran was released in 2004. The Bufalino criminal family is said to have ordered Sheeran to assassinate Hoffa, and this assertion is presented as gospel in Martin Scorsese’s film adaption. It’s crucial to remember that nothing has been verified, and many people don’t think Sheeran’s claim is real. Hoffa’s disappearance is still a mystery to this day.

#1: The 2007 film “Zodiac”

This is not your typical real crime movie. The whole two and a half hours of the film are devoted to the investigation, not the murders. The fact that the Zodiac Killer was never apprehended adds to the frustration. One of the most infamous serial murderers in American history, the Zodiac killed at least five people in California while sending gloating letters to the media and the authorities. After one last letter, they abruptly stopped talking to the media in 1974, and the trail went completely dead. In October 2021, a group going under the name of the Case Breakers said that they had solved the case; however, experts soon questioned this claim. In actuality, the case was not closed, and it is still active.

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