There is no doubt that sometimes reality is better than fiction even though you might not believe it, there are some classic Oscar-nominated movies and famous novels that were not inspired by true events but ended up inspiring people to commit horrible crimes.
For example, the character Hannibal Lecter was inspired by a real Mexican doctor, killers like Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, or the terrible Son of Sam were the key to a lot of terrifying films, and that the 2021 Oscars were fulled of nominated movies that were inspired based on true events that go from tragic to inspiring.
Taxi Driver, 1976
Martin Scorsese
In this film, we got introduced to Robert De Niro. A disturbed taxi driver on a mission to save a teenager trapped in a prostitution ring. Let’s not forget he won four Oscar nominations, but his story inspired John Hinckley Jr to attempt to murder President Ronald Reagan in his effort to get Jodie Foster’s attention.
Interview with the Vampire, 1994
Neil Jordan
This is a movie that has nothing to do with real murders. This is a story about a vampire who is being interviewed by a reporter and narrates how he was able to get away with all the murders he committed in order to feed himself.
In 1994, when the film premiered, a young man named Daniel Sterling went to see this movie with his girlfriend, and after the movie ended he told her he was going to kill her and suck her blood. He then attacked her and drank her blood for some minutes, but fortunately, she survived. Even though Sterling said that the movie led him to do what he did, he can’t blame it for his actions.
Manchester By the Sea, 2016
Kenneth Lonergan
This film took home 6 Oscar nominations, and one of them was given to Casey Affleck for best actor, but not everything was a celebration, there was an event that gave the movie a bad reputation. Allegedly, some reporters informed that a couple had murdered their adopted son after watching, Manchester By the Sea.
In one of the scenes, the main character loses his family due to an incidental fire and was told that one couldn’t be pleaded guilty due to the accident. For this reason, the parents of Jeffrey Franklyn, a sixteen-year-old, were led to burn the house down with their son inside so it could seem like it had been an accident.
In some cases, the roles are switched, and the “monsters” of a movie are played by real people who got inspired by them to cause horror and death in real life. It’s not the intention to blame movies, but some films have inspired true real crimes.
