Who doesn’t love a good horror film? Let’s explore three more of the creepiest movies based on true stories.
Verónica (2017)
Verónica is a pretty spooky Spanish film released in 2017. Not to be confused with the Mexican film of the same name, released in the same year, this Verónica sees its titular character haunted and subsequently possessed after playing with a Ouija board during a solar eclipse which (spoiler alert) results in her eventual death.
Unfortunately, the crux of the story is inspired by a real life death of 18 year old Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro, who passed away in 1991. Prior to her death, Estefanía used a Ouija board with her friends in order to contact a recently deceased boyfriend.
After the Ouija session, Estefanía began to act strangely. According to this article, she became violent and reported seeing shadows moving around her room. This escalated into seizure-like episodes and odd behaviour including barking and scratching walls.
Obviously alarmed, Estefanía’s parents took her to doctors who apparently, found nothing wrong with her, although her symptoms may have resembled epilepsy. Despite her parents reaching out to different doctors, specialists and even priests, nothing seemed to help poor Estefanía, who passed away in hospital about six months after the Ouija board incident. Her cause of death was an apparent heart attack.
This isn’t the end of the story however. Estefanía’s family began to report paranormal activity after her death. This included moving objects, slamming doors and windows, electrical problems, and seeing shadow like figures. The paranormal activity culminated in a photo of Estefanía inexplicably burning and a crucifix flipping upside down.
Unable to cope with the activity, the family eventually called the police, who also witnessed the activity. According to this article from ghostwatch.net, Officer José Negri reported:
“It was a small bedroom with twin beds. The father told us that sometimes when he and his little son were sitting on the bed, his son was picked up and thrown on to the other bed in a flying move. I sat down in the same bedroom to see if anything would happen. We heard a terrible scream behind us which came from a small balcony. I quickly opened the door and ran out to see if I could see anything. But there was nothing. No fallen stones. Nothing. It was 2.30 in the morning and the noise was dreadful. When I’d first entered the room, I noticed they had a large wooden crucifix on the wall and hanging off it was a smaller pearly crucifix like the one children get at their first holy communions. There was also a poster. But a few moments later, the crucifix had been turned upside down, the little crucifix was on the floor and the poster and the door had three or four deep scratches in them as if someone had clawed through the poster and deep into the door.”
The paranormal activity only stopped when the family moved away.
Whether or not Estefanía’s death had anything to do with the Ouija board can not be proven. Although her subsequent difficulties were more likely to be the result of an illness that was still undiagnosed at the time of her death, the story, known as the Vallecas Case, is certainly a creepy little rabbit hole to explore.
Open Water (2003)
This horrible little survival film features a couple who find themselves stranded in shark infested waters after their scuba boat accidentally departs without them. Although the film itself is fictional, it’s premise is all too real, with the exact event happening in January 1998 to couple Thomas and Eileen Lonergan.
The Lonergan’s joined a scuba-diving trip in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Australia. Unfortunately, due to an incorrect head count, the boat returned home without them. Neither the crew nor the passengers noticed their absence and their belongings were not found onboard until two days later.
Once finally alerted to the missing couple, an air and sea search took place over the next three days, but the pair were never found.
Alternate theories emerged, including the claim that the Lonergan’s planned their disseverance or that their abandonment was a bizarre suicide attempt, but these proved to be false and fuelled by an overactive media.
About a month after the disappearances, a woman’s wet suit, the same size as Eileen’s, washed ashore with barnacle growth suggesting it had been in the water since January. Later, in June, diving gear belonging to the couple was discovered on a beach in Port Douglas. This included dive jackets marked with the Lonergan’s names, a single fin and, eerily, a diver’s slate reading :
“Monday Jan 26; 1998 08am. To anyone who can help us: We have been abandoned on A[gin]court Reef by MV Outer Edge 25 Jan 1998 3pm. Please help to rescue us before we die. Help!!!”
The boat’s skipper was charged with unlawful killing and eventually found not guilty, but the diving company was fined for negligence and closed. The Queensland Government also brought in regulations to tighten the counting of passengers on scuba trips.
Cocaine Bear (2023)
Cocaine Bear is a delightful comedy horror about an American black bear that gobbles up some lost cocaine and goes on a murderous rampage.
The true story behind this film is comparatively underwhelming. Although how the cocaine made its way into the wilderness is more or less faithful: It was dropped from an overloaded airplane by drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II. When he later jumped from the plane, he was met with a faulty parachute and died on impact with the ground.
The remainder of the film features a number of creative liberties, but a 175 pond female black bear did indeed ingest the cocaine filled duffle bag. Alas, she was found dead with 40 opened cocaine containers.
Cocaine Bear herself lives on in taxidermy form and is currently on display in Lexington, Kentucky, where due to a legal loophole, she has the authority to officiate legally binding weddings.
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