These horror movies drew inspiration from some seriously creepy tales. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most notable scary movies that were inspired by equally scary folklore.
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00:00 -Javi? -Have you checked the children?
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most notable scary movies that were inspired by equally scary folklore.
00:12 So if this is an urban legend, at what point do we get to the twist?
00:17 Number 10, Candyman.
00:20 Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman.
00:28 Candyman.
00:30 Bloody Mary who?
00:32 The only person we're scared of summoning in a mirror is Candyman.
00:35 But oddly enough, that wasn't actually a part of the original legend.
00:39 Candyman's first appearance dates all the way back to 1985, where he starred in a spine-tingling short story by horror legend Clive Barker.
00:48 The film adaptation retained his hook hand and love of bees, but added a few other folktales to the mix too.
00:55 Your death will be a tale to frighten children, to make lovers cling closer in their rapture.
01:02 Come with me and be immortal.
01:07 Now, Candyman is the victim of a hate crime, and once summoned through a mirror, must kill to keep his vengeful legacy alive.
01:14 Since his movie spawned multiple sequels across decades, we'd say he succeeded.
01:19 Tell everyone.
01:23 Number 9, The Mothman Prophecies
01:26 Part moth, part man, and part horror legend, the so-called Mothman is more than mere fulcrum.
01:33 No, at this point, he's practically a piece of history itself.
01:37 There were a hundred sightings in Chernobyl the year the nuclear plant went down.
01:41 Galveston, 1969, just before the hurricane. They saw it.
01:46 That seeing isn't always believing.
01:50 The first reported sighting happened in West Virginia in 1966, and he's been giving locals nightmares ever since.
01:57 We're talking about scores of sightings, a mysterious bridge collapse, and even an investigative book.
02:04 Then, in 2002, the legend was immortalised in film with The Mothman Prophecies.
02:10 "The great tragedy of the River Ohio."
02:20 The flick interpreted the legend with a more supernatural edge, but otherwise faithfully adapted all that we know about Mothman,
02:27 which admittedly isn't very much.
02:29 That doesn't make it any less terrifying, though.
02:32 "What do you look like?"
02:34 "It depends on who's looking."
02:37 Number 8, Slender Man
02:39 In 2009, an innocuous Photoshop contest led to the creation of one of the most notorious creepypastas of its generation.
02:47 Its name was Slender Man.
02:50 The photos sparked a bonafide online phenomenon, complete with all sorts of lore discussion and fan participation.
02:57 Some might say, too much.
02:59 A few real-world tragedies turned Slender Man from a creepy fable into a genuine cautionary tale.
03:07 But that bad press didn't stop the making of the 2018 feature film.
03:11 No, they brought the character to life, for better or for worse.
03:15 "He went back on that website?"
03:17 "She told me everything. He gets in your head like a virus."
03:21 "What kind of virus?"
03:22 "Like a computer virus that infects your hard drive, but instead of your hard drive, it's your brain."
03:26 "Wren, you're gonna need to stop."
03:27 "No, listen to me."
03:28 On release, the movie was rightfully called out for endorsing a kind of horror that had become all too real,
03:34 and the toxic reviews couldn't have helped.
03:36 [Screaming]
03:44 7. Willow Creek
03:46 "Hi, I'm Jim Kessel. I'm here at the Trinity National Forest along Route 96, also known as the Bigfoot Byway."
03:55 The tales of Bigfoot have entertained campfire gatherings for decades.
03:59 Is he real? Is it all a hoax?
04:02 The discussion created enough fanfare to make Willow Creek, and one of the most effective found-footage horror films of the 2010s.
04:11 And there were a lot of them.
04:13 [Screaming]
04:17 Taken its name from one of the self-proclaimed Bigfoot capitals of the world,
04:21 the movie follows a couple trying to get a glimpse of the famed beast.
04:25 Outside of a few sprinkles of lore, the narrative remains a refreshingly straightforward thrill ride from start to end.
04:31 Suffice it to say, whether you're a Bigfoot believer or not, this will keep you off camping for a while.
04:37 [Screaming]
04:42 6. The Hitcher
04:44 If you want to learn about urban legends, this is the movie for you.
04:48 "My mother told me never to do this."
04:50 The vanishing hitchhiker, the haunted highway, the not-so-friendly stranger? Take your pick.
04:57 The Hitcher is an amalgamation of them all.
04:59 "I'm gonna sit here. You're gonna drive."
05:06 While the nexus of the idea came from a 70s rock song, the theatrical release wears plenty of other influences on its sleeve,
05:13 particularly the idea that no good deed goes unpunished.
05:17 From the moment the unsuspecting Jim lets Ryder into his car, anyone who's ever heard a scary story will know how this movie is going to end.
05:25 Spoiler alert, it's with a lot of blood, bodies, and mayhem. No wonder hitchhikers get such a bad rap.
05:31 "Why didn't they kill us?"
05:33 "Let's go."
05:35 "Why didn't he kill us?"
05:39 5. Ju-On - The Grudge
05:42 At its core, this classic horror film is about love, betrayal, and vengeance.
05:47 Coincidentally, those same ideas show up in Yotsuya Kaidan, one of the most influential Japanese ghost stories ever told.
05:54 "I'm gonna kill you."
05:57 The tale has reportedly inspired over 30 different films, including, you guessed it, Ju-On - The Grudge.
06:09 The feature is far from a straight remake, though. Instead, it takes the general message of the legend and presents it through a modern lens.
06:16 Combine that with a brilliant non-linear structure, and The Grudge easily stands on its own two feet.
06:22 And yet, there's still no denying that Yotsuya Kaidan scared audiences so that The Grudge could terrify them.
06:30 4. The Hills Have Eyes
06:38 "Babies there. You there. And you see..."
06:44 Inspiration can come from the strangest of places. Just ask Wes Craven.
06:49 The seminal horror director was developing a twisted version of Hansel and Gretel when he discovered the story of Sawney Bean,
06:56 a rumoured cult leader from 16th century Scotland. Bean and his cannibalistic clan were persecuted in exceedingly bloody fashion,
07:05 and Craven found their fate too ironic to pass up.
07:09 So he sprinkled in some breadcrumbs from Hansel and Gretel, and voila - The Hills Have Eyes was born.
07:16 "I'll see the wind blow your dried up seeds away. I'll eat the heart of your stinking memory."
07:27 The folklore mashup has all the gory goodness of Craven's past work, with just enough sophistication to bring in new fans too.
07:35 Nowadays, you could say this one puts the "cult" in "cult classic".
07:39 "We caught us a young Thanksgiving turkey."
07:44 3. Urban Legend
07:46 With a name like that, you can probably guess how this slasher film gets its body count.
07:51 "Please, I don't want to die. I don't want to die."
07:57 "No!"
07:58 Sometimes there's a killer in the back seat, sometimes a date ends with a hanging, and sometimes the maniac slashes ankles from under a car.
08:07 No matter what, you can bet that Urban Legend brings it to life with utter bloody abandon.
08:12 "She traces him back. They're coming from inside the house, right? But ask the lady, aren't you forgetting something? I'm not babysitting any kids."
08:21 "Wrong legend. This is the one about the old lady who dries her wet dog in the microwave."
08:27 Let's just say that this killer doesn't shirk on quantity, that's for sure.
08:31 In fact, the bodies pile up so fast, it's probably quicker to name all the tall tales they don't borrow from.
08:37 Funnily enough, the film's so-so reception in theatres ensured that Urban Legend became one itself.
08:44 "Don't you want to be an urban legend? All your friends are now."
08:49 2. I Know What You Did Last Summer
08:51 "Look, you're all wrong. They get back to the girl's house and they find the lunatic's bloody hook in the car door. Now that's the original story. That's the way it really happened."
09:04 Michael Myers uses a knife. Jason Voorhees uses a machete. This guy, though, he uses a hook.
09:12 But you probably don't need to hear that from us. The hook-handed killer is one of the most prolific urban legends ever told.
09:18 And that's what made it perfect for I Know What You Did Last Summer.
09:22 While the overall mystery was inspired by Lois Duncan's novel of the same name,
09:30 the slasher elements came directly from accounts of The Hook. Or so it seems.
09:35 Instead of resting on its laurels, the film toys with audience expectations to deliver some jaw-dropping plot twists.
09:42 As it turns out, a curve-handed killer makes for a pretty memorable slasher film.
09:47 "And let me give you some advice. When you leave a man for dead, make sure he's really dead."
09:52 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
09:56 This movie fully commits to the idea of a girl with chompers in an unexpected place.
10:01 "Vagina dentata. It's what's inside me."
10:07 Boogeyman. Childhood nightmares much?
10:09 "One, two, three, four, five."
10:20 Alligator. Here, an alligator does actually live in the sewer. And he isn't too happy about it.
10:27 Trick or Treat. A feature-length reminder to always, always check your candy before eating it.
10:37 "Wait. That's right. There's another tradition. Very important. Always check your candy."
10:48 Christine. This is pretty much the quintessential haunted car story ever told.
10:54 "You ain't mad, are ya?"
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11:16 Number 1. When a Stranger Calls
11:19 "Hello?"
11:22 "Why haven't you checked the children?"
11:26 Ah, the babysitter and the killer upstairs. It's a tale as old as time, and for good reason.
11:33 The story is simple, spooky, and features one hell of a twist ending.
11:37 "Jill, this is Sergeant Sackler. Listen to me. We've traced the call. It's coming from inside the house."
11:43 The original When a Stranger Calls stretched the ingenious premise into a nail-biter of an opening sequence,
11:49 especially for those who don't know how it ends.
11:52 But this isn't the only horror movie that's done the story justice.
11:55 As a matter of fact, you can thank this folktale for a whole sub-genre of legendary slashes.
12:01 Black Christmas, anyone?
12:03 "I'm going to kill you."
12:06 Clearly, it's always a good idea to get on a call with this killer, at least assuming he isn't already in the house.
12:13 "He says the calls are coming from number 6 Belmont Street."
12:17 "For Christ's sake, Nash, you got it wrong. That's where the calls are going into."
12:22 "That's where they're coming from too, sir."
12:24 Which urban legend do you want to see turned into a movie? Let us know in the comments below.
12:29 "Okay, listen up guys. Because this is how the story really goes."
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12:42 [music]