Halloween: Many horror movies are based on pre-existing stories. Whether in literature or oral tradition, these narratives are quite popular and have remained eternalized in the social imagination, mainly because of their outlandish ideas. With that in mind, and with Halloween in vogue, we made a list with some unmissable horror movies that used unforgettable plots as central elements. Check out!
10. Urban Legend
Many urban legends have been cited at some point in various productions. This is the case of Bloody Mary, who, in addition to naming a super famous drink, was also in some episodes of Supernatural. However, the 1998 film features college students trying to survive a serial killer who would have been inspired by the killer in the backseat and the hook-handed man.
9. The Raven
Throughout his years of life, Edgar Allan Poe has produced incredible short stories and poems. His writings have been adapted several times for television and film — including the 2019 feature The Lighthouse, based on an unfinished short story. In this way, this film tells the last days of Poe, who would have died of mysterious causes. The common thread is his most famous poem, which also gives the title to the production.
8. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Covering several bizarre stories, this movie, released in 2019, features a good variety of supernatural creatures and other very interesting questions. The narrative develops from the discovery of Sarah Bellows’ book by a group of teenagers. The work contains several horror tales. Gradually, all the plot elements start to emerge in real life.
7. The Legend of Candyman
Recently, a new adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story hit theaters. In turn, the writer used elements of oral tradition to compose the narrative, which tells the story of an impossible love and bizarre tortures that occurred after the slavery period. In this sense, it is worth noting that both productions approach the case in a disturbing way.
6. On the Edge of Madness
Serial killer Jack the Ripper has never had his identity revealed since his first murders took place. Mixing fiction with what is known about this fact, Gérard Kikoïne created a film full of frightening nuances. The screenplay was even based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson.
5. The Enlightened
Stephen King has many engaging books with controversial characters. This is the case with this novel, set in a hotel practically adrift during a dark winter.
Jack Torrance is the protagonist, a writer who takes his family to take care of the place in question during the frost. A lot of strange things happen there during this period, which yielded a lot of scary scenes for Stanley Kubrick’s audience in the 1980s.
4. The Mummy
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, also wrote macabre stories during his career. And when Universal Pictures began its adventure in filming terrifying masterpieces, The Mummy emerged in the 1930s.
The plot deals with the saga of Imhotep, a mummified priest from Ancient Egypt, who returned from the dead to meet again with his beloved, whose soul had been reincarnated in another woman.
3. The Legend of the Headless Knight
With his dark style, Tim Burton has reinvented the Washington Irving classic in an interesting way. Bringing in several elements from the original work, the filmmaker also managed to restructure some passages to add even more tension to the plot.
In the story, investigator Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) analyzes the mysteries of the village of Sleepy Hollow, a place haunted by a headless knight.
2. Frankenstein
Mary Shelley, considered one of the greatest writers of the genre, created a work full of symbolism in 1818. Her classic was very successful and was adapted several times in the cinema.
One of the most iconic versions was produced in the early 1930s, featuring Colin Clive and Boris Karloff in the lead roles. According to reports at the time, Karloff took about six hours to character. Look like the monster created by Henry Frankenstein.
1. Dracula
Closing the list, another classic that has also been adapted several times features the most famous vampire in literature. Throughout history, the infamous Count Dracula has been played by Béla Lugosi, Gary Oldman, Jack Palance, Frank Langella, Gerard Butler, Leslie Nielsen and even Luke Evans. Bram Stoker’s story became so famous that it yielded variations such as Nosferatu (1922) and Van Helsing (2004).
