"Based on a True Story" How to guarantee your movie makes money

We've all seen the taglines for horror movies that say it. "Based on a true story" or "Inspired by Actual Events", and normally we go in the theater believing it. But how true are these true stories?

Some movies that have used this box office ploy before:

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Hostel
• The Strangers
• The Amityville Horror
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose
  

Chances are if you've seen these movies and kept the idea in your head you might have believed it. Let's try and settle these stories for those of you that are confused.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - TCM is loosely based on the serial murderer Ed Gein, who also served as inspiration for the films Psycho's Norman Bates and Silence of the Lambs' Buffalo Bill. In truth the only similarities in TCM to Mr. Gein are that Ed Gein made a suit out of skin, and Leatherface does the same but with a mask. Also canabalism is a shared theme.

Hostel - Director Eli Roth has said the idea for this came from a website he saw where you could "pay $10,000 and go into a room and shoot someone in the head". He still says he doesn't know if the website was real, and it has since disapeared.

The Strangers - This movie is based on actually a few different events molded into one. One of which is a murder case which has never (and sadly may never) be solved. The other involves an experiance had by writer/director Bryan Bertino, in which a stranger (huhu) came to his and asked for someone that wasn't there.

The Amityville Horror- TAH is based on a book, which is based on supposed hauntings in a house where a mass murder occured. This case is one of the most debated.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose - This film is based on the story of Anneliese Michel, a girl who died after several unsuccesful attempts to cure her from "demonic possesion".

After reading this you should think twice about how truthful a horror movie is being to its basis after you see it.