9 Horror Movies So Scary That the Authorities Got Involved

A number of horror films have been made that were inspired by real-life events, whether it be The Texas Chain Saw Massacre reflecting the horrendous crimes of Ed Gein or The Conjuring films being based on the paranormal investigations of Ed and Lorraine Warren. With these films, art has definitively imitated life, but there are also occurrences in which life imitated art. Part of what makes the realm of horror so thrilling is that filmmakers can push artistic boundaries in ways that are more ambitious than traditional, “safer” fare, but in testing the limits of creativity, some of these filmmakers have suffered real-life consequences.

As any horror fan can tell you, there is no direct correlation between consumption of such experiences and violent tendencies in a viewer, despite Billy Loomis proclaiming in Scream, “Movies don’t create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.” Still, the impact of many of these movies on the uninitiated can be so jarring that authorities have jumped to investigate what really happened in the development of these projects, only to draw even more attention to these titles.



From the Hays Code to the Video Nasties, censorship laws have either prevented the creation or distribution of certain titles in select countries, but the following nine films are specific instances of the line between fact and fiction being almost entirely blurred.Cannibal HolocaustArguably the most famous horror movie to create real-life repercussions, Ruggero Deodato’s 1980 found-footage movie follows a group of researchers exploring a remote tribe of purported cannibals in the Amazon. When one group discovers the footage left behind by another group, that footage depicts heinous crimes, including brutal violence, sexual assault, and animal death.

The violent deaths depicted in the film were so convincing, due to the nature of the found-footage style, that authorities in certain markets where the film was shown thought Deodato was presenting a snuff film. Deodato himself claimed that he had the actors in the film sign contracts to avoid public appearances to lean into the claims that the characters in the films were real people (though some cast members refute this claim), resulting in Deodato inviting the stars of the movie to appear on a talk show to confirm they weren’t dead.The validity of claims that Deodato and his collaborators faced actual charges has been disputed, and although the human violence is entirely fictional, Cannibal Holocaust did include the actual deaths of seven animals (a pig, two squirrel monkeys, a turtle, a tarantula, a boa constrictor, and a coati).

Due to the on-screen animal cruelty, the movie has been chastised by countless animal rights groups, with Deodato himself criticizing his past decisions.A Serbian FilmWhile Cannibal Holocaust might arguably be the most controversial horror movie of all time, Srđan Spasojević’s A Serbian Film would likely come in as a close second.The movie follows a retired adult film star (Srđan Todorović) who, when desperate for money, accepts an offer to star in an “art film,” requiring him to take part in a variety of lewd sexual acts.

As the film progresses, the actor is pumped with a variety of drugs and participates in a growing list of repulsive, sexually violent acts. Spasojević used the violent acts in the film to serve as an allegory for the state of Serbian politics in the late 2000s as opposed to merely being an excursion in violence and depravity. A Serbian Film has been banned in dozens of countries, including Spain, so when the Sitges Film Festival screened the uncut version of the film, Spanish authorities charged festival director Angel Sala for screening “child pronography,” though these charges were ultimately dropped.

A Lizard in a Woman’s SkinAnother Italian movie, Lucio Fulci’s 1971 film similarly faced pushback from authorities due to seeming depictions of animal cruelty. A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin saw a woman having drug-induced hallucinations about violently killing her neighbor, only to wake up and discover that her neighbor had actually been killed, which ties her up in the investigation.One scene of the movie featured a group of dogs being experimented on, with the special effects being so convincing that Fulci faced a two-year prison sentence for animal cruelty.

Special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi would go on to show the dissected dog props to authorities to clear Fulci’s name, with Rambaldi deservedly going on to earn three Oscars for his work, including for his work on Alien and E.T.Hostel: Part IIDirector Eli Roth didn’t hold back with the gore of his debut feature film Cabin Fever, making it a hit with horror fans, especially when it landed on home video.

His next feature, Hostel, took his terror even further, delivering audiences a harrowing and grisly experience.His follow-up, Hostel: Part II, continued to explore the premise of American tourists getting kidnapped and tortured while visiting Europe, and while both Hostel films have their fair share of disturbing visuals, it was the sequel’s poster that landed it in hot water.While one of the more provocative posters featured sequel star Bijou Phillips nude and holding her own prosthetic head, it was a poster that was merely a close-up photo of meat that caught the attention of the MPA.

Given that some elements of the movie involved cannibalism, some members of the organization thought the flesh on the poster might have actually belonged to a human. Luckily, Lionsgate’s Tim Palen had the receipts to prove that he bought the meat at a butcher shop and that it came from a boar to avoid more severe punishment from the organization.NosferatuThe original Nosferatu might not have faced legal repercussions due to the graphic elements it explored, it’s still surprising that the movie has survived over the past century, as a legal issue nearly caused all copies of the movie to be destroyed.

Nosferatu is famously an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with director F.W. Murnau making a few small tweaks to the project in hopes of skirting any legal issues.

After release, Stoker’s widow Florence saw the film being promoted as an adaptation of Dracula, even though she knew the filmmakers hadn’t secured the rights to the story, causing her to pursue legal action. Authorities reportedly ordered that all prints of Nosferatu be destroyed, and while it’s unknown how many prints were officially destroyed, a few remaining, incomplete prints were pieced together and restored into the version that exists today.Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and BloodFilmmaker Hideshi Hino’s 1985 film is based on his own manga and depicts a man kidnapping a woman to torture through various gruesome methods.

The lo-fi nature of Guinea Pig 2 caused it to be banned in many markets, and when actor Charlie Sheen initially saw it, he was so convinced by the effects, he contacted authorities to investigate the project. Like A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, special effects were demonstrated to confirm what was contained in the movie was fictional. The real tragedy is that Tsutomu Miyazaki murdered four girls in Japan in the late ’80s through brutal means and desecrated their corpses.

The nature of these crimes resembled elements of Guinea Pig 2, leading authorities to investigate the film series. When Miyazaki was arrested, a number of horror films were found in his apartment, and despite the similarities between the crimes and the events of Guinea Pig 2, it was actually Guinea Pig 4 that was found in Miyazaki’s home, a movie Hino wasn’t involved with. Still, authorities attribute elements of Miyazaki’s inspiration to commit his crimes to the violence perpetrated in Guinea Pig 2.

Do Not DisturbOriginally filmed under the title “New Terminal Hotel,” Do Not Disturb has an unexpected connection to a real-life investigation.When the George Washington Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania caught fire, responders discovered a room in the hotel that appeared to be the site of a horrendous crime. Police Chief J.

R. Blyth, described the room as “the most grisly murder scene in his 35 years in law enforcement,” per Daily Mail in 2010, only for hotel owner Kyrk Pyros to confirm this was a fake crime scene used to film New Terminal Hotel. Even though the production wrapped up two years earlier, Pyros left the blood-spattered room intact in case the filmmakers needed it for reshoots.

House of CardsIn the short film House of Cards, a male killer poses as a woman on a dating website, luring a victim to their garage, and the victim is killed after providing the murderer with banking account information and computer passwords. The short film was made by Mark Twitchell, who actually committed these crimes and killed John Brian Altinger in the garage where the short was made.An investigation into Twitchell also resulted in the discovery of a 40-page script entitled “SK Confessions,” in which Twitchell essentially recounted what he did to Altinger.

While SK Confessions corroborated some of the elements of what happened to Altinger, it also provided clues to how the serial killer in the story attempted to destroy the remains of the victim, eventually allowing authorities to connect Twitchell to the crimes.Prior to making House of Cards, Twitchell had made the full-length fan film Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion, which even featured a cameo by original Boba Fett actor Jeremy Bulloch. Twitchell was also dubbed “The Dexter Killer,” as he was seemingly obsessed with the TV series Dexter, even having changed his profile photo on social media services to the titular character played by Michael C.

Hall. Twitchell’s crimes were chronicled in the book The Devil’s Cinema from author Steve Lillebuen.The ABCs of DeathThe anthology movie The ABCs of Death featured 26 short films from international filmmakers, with each segment featuring wildly gruesome manners of demise for each letter of the alphabet.

The movie brought together a variety of filmmakers from across the globe, with segments being told in English, Spanish, Thai, and Japanese.In 2016, substitute teacher Sheila Kearns in Columbus, Ohio showed the movie to multiple Spanish classes she was tasked with that day, thinking the multi-lingual movie would be appropriate for the students. Due to the grisly nature of the films, which was shown to students as young as 14, Kearns was convicted of “disseminating matter harmful to juveniles,” resulting in 30 days of jail time and three years of probation.

What do you think are the most controversial horror movies? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!The post 9 Horror Movies So Scary That the Authorities Got Involved appeared first on ComicBook.com..