5 Horror Movies Based on Urban Legends

Urban legends have been around forever, and even though the modes of communicating them have evolved over the years and centuries, they continue to be a source of fear and fascination, especially among young people. Whether shared through whispered rumors or around campfires or through internet forums, urban legends will always be around to remind us to always check under the bed before going to sleep. Many urban legends are just stories that were created to explain a bizarre event or to be used as cautionary tales, although some of them were based on real events. We don’t always know for sure what the origins are of many urban legends, making them all the more enticing.

Urban legends have become so pervasive in our culture that they’ve even served as the basis for numerous horror films. Here, we take a look at several of those movies below:

The Mothman Prophecies

Richard Gere is John Klein, a journalist who’s mourning the death of his wife in a car accident that may have involved an appearance from the fabled Mothman, a red-eyed winged creature that appears whenever something terrible is about to occur. He investigates the local legend further involving this entity, believing that these stories may be hinting at an upcoming disaster.

The Mothman Prophecies is heavily inspired by the real urban legend in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which originates in 1966 when numerous people claimed to have seen the mysterious otherworldly creature. Some have even speculated that the entity’s appearances were foretelling the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, resulting in 46 deaths.

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

When a Stranger Calls follows a babysitter named Jill who’s watching a neighbor’s children one night. However, someone keeps calling asking if she’s checked on the children. Fed up, Jill calls the police who tell her to keep the strange caller on the phone for as long as she can to give them a chance to trace the call. When the stranger calls again, the police discover that they’re calling from inside the house.

The urban legend that this film was based on had been circulating for years, although there seems to be little basis for it. It may have mostly evolved from parental fears around leaving children alone with inexperienced babysitters. Also, most households up through the 1970s couldn’t afford more than one phone line.

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Candyman

Helen Lyle is a graduate student who’s working on a project involving local urban legends and chooses Candyman as her main subject. Candyman is said to be the vengeful spirit of a slave who was tortured and killed for his relationship with a White woman. While Helen is initially dismissive of the urban legend, her mind is changed after multiple encounters with the hooked figure covered in bees.

While this film is based on a short story by Clive Barker called “The Forbidden,” Candyman takes much of its inspiration from the legend of Bloody Mary who’s said to appear behind you when you say her name five times in a mirror. Funnily enough, the popularity of Candyman has become a bit of an urban legend on its own as any ’90s kid will tell you.

The Burning

This cult-classic slasher film from the 1980s tells the story of Cropsey, an abusive caretaker who, after a prank went wrong from some mischievous campers, was severely burned. And now, years later, he’s back to slice and dice his way through the latest batch of campers with an arsenal of sharp gardening tools.

The legend of Cropsey originated in New York City, and was said to be a deranged escaped mental patient who kidnapped and murdered children. While it was merely to scare kids, the urban legend became a little too real when Andre Rand, who worked at the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island and lived in nearby campsites, was convicted for kidnapping multiple children.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

I Know What You Did Last Summer tells the story of a group of young teen friends who go out for a joyride and accidentally hit and kill a man. Instead of going to the authorities, they dump the man’s body in the water, hoping no one will find out about their crime. A year later, they are terrorized by a man dressed as a fisherman and equipped with a large hook.

The film is based on the 1973 Lois Duncan novel of the same name but borrows heavily from the urban legend involving a hooked killer chasing young lovers who park their car in a secluded area, only to have a terrifying encounter with said killer. Like many other urban legends, there’s very little historical evidence behind it, but it may have been created as a cautionary tale to scare teenagers to get home early.

Which is your favorite horror movie based on an urban legend? Let us know in the comments below!