After becoming inspired by countless horror films, including Scream, two deranged teenagers terrorize and brutally stab to death a female classmate using iconic horror movie tropes.
Two troubled lovers watch Natural Born Killers and decide to transform themselves into the film’s lead characters. Together, they go on a cross-country killing spree.
Known as the real life Fatal Attraction case, one man’s infidelity results in obsession, stalking, and ultimately murder.
In a scenario similar to the movie Heathers, three best friends turn into mortal enemies within the hallways of high school.
A Gulf War Veteran turns his Rambo-like fantasy into reality when he declares war on the entire Los Angeles Police Department.
Like the fictional character Patrick Bateman in the film American Psycho, a real life egoistical murderER is hiding behind designer clothing and expensive sunglasses.
Obsessed with the film Taxi Driver, one man takes a page out of the film's script as he attempts to assassinate the President in hopes to impress the film's star.
A real life Hannibal Lecter sets out to find human victims as his appetite for human flesh increases.
A pizza deliveryman finds himself a player in a Jigsaw-like killer¹s twisted game designed to torture and test it's victim¹s will to live.
Inspired by Freddy Krueger, a young man tries to transform himself into the famous movie monster. He stalks, taunts, and stabs his victims with no remorse.
Directly inspired by his favorite serial killer, Dexter, one man hunts his potential victims through the Internet, lures them to a kill room, and then methodically dismembers the body.
Like the film Talented Mr. Ripley, a young working class man creates multiple identities in order to become part of the wealthy elite – and kills to keep his lies a secret.
A man becomes so obsessed with the film Queen of the Damned that he murders his friend, eats part of his body, and drinks his blood in an effort to achieve immortality.
On a warm summer evening in Aurora, Colorado, an excited audience sits down for the opening midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. But little do they know, this will be a night to remember, and not because of the film. For sitting among them is James Holmes, and he’s taken a little too much inspiration from one of Batman’s most recognizable supervillains, The Joker. Intent on causing chaos and destruction, this Joker-like villain is using the latest Batman release as his location for murder, and his deadly rampage won’t stop at the theater…. for back at his modest apartment, a clock is ticking, and hundreds more are in danger. Before the night is over, a killer with a disgusting joke will commit one of the most infamous copycat crimes in American history.
Most people remember the DC snipers terrorizing the Washington, DC area as the world watched for three weeks in October 2002. But what many do not realize is that it all stemmed from a movie. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo watched The Matrix before every shooting to remember their mission. They must create chaos to shake up and change the world that has been over taken by an oppressed system. No matter what race, age, gender if you are a part of the system than you are the enemy and therefore must be eliminated for the greater good.
For Regan Jolley, life seems too good to be true when she meets a charming young war veteran, Jason Hart, in rehab and starts a whirlwind romance. But when the relationship turns sour, Reagan doesn’t know that Hart’s desire to copy his Breaking Bad hero Jesse Pinkman includes more than drugs and violence. This story will include the show’s most devious plot point, a tub full of acid and a dead body.
1995’s movie, The Basketball Diaries, tells the story of a star student’s decent into the seedy underground world of heroin and violence on the streets of New York… not exactly a story you would expect to see in small town Paducah, Kentucky. But 14-year old Michael Carneal horrifies the nation when he reenacts the movie’s most violent scene with an unsuspecting group of students in a prayer circle. For while the theme of the movie is dark and disturbing, the Paducah high school freshman is on a quest for attention, seeking notoriety like the film’s star, Leonardo DiCaprio. He dreams of recreating the movie’s most violent scene, and before long, decides to act on his bloody fantasy. It’s a copycat killing that forever leaves a small town shaken to its core.
The "Robocop" movie franchise becomes more than just entertainment for Nathaniel White, whose appetite for the brutal on-screen violence potentially plays a role in him becoming a serial killer.
In an upscale, gated community in Texas, evil lurked from within as 17-year-old Jake Evans invoked Rob Zombie's revamped classic Hollywood slasher flick, "Halloween," in his homicidal quest to destroy his family.
Tony Soprano was a man who could seemingly get away with anything, even murder. But for 20 year-old Jason Bautista and his 15 year-old half-brother Michael Montejo, one particular Sopranos episode of manslaughter and dismemberment will inspire an even more sinister and tragic act. Just like Tony, Jason and Michael will attempt to bring an end to the source of all their troubles: their own mother.
The gruesome kidnap and torture of 16 year-old Suzanne Capper ends in murder. But the story proves even more twisted upon the revelation that the character Chuckie from the movie “Child’s Play” played a dark and sinister role in inspiring her killers.
The perfect heist quickly becomes more than airman Dale Pierre and his friends ever bargained for. Inspired by a scene from the Clint Eastwood classic Dirty Harry series, they rob a local electronics store. Just like the movie, things quickly turn deadly.
Quentin Tarantino is affectionately known as “The Master of Suspense” due to his love for excessive violence and cutthroat retaliations. One fan, 16-year-old Allan Bentley, drew inspiration from Tarantino’s first film Reservoir Dogs after finding out that a friend was dating his ex-girlfriend. Allan decides to recreate the film’s bloodiest scene, roping in two friends as his accomplices in a bloodcurdling series of events.
On May 23, 2015, a triple murder shook the town of Didcot in Oxfordshire, England when 21-year-old Jed Allen reaches his boiling point. Jed is furious about his mother’s spiraling relapse with drugs and alcohol, caused by a boyfriend that Jed does not approve of. Worried for his mother and his younger half-sister Derin, he kills the three in a blind rage. His misguided and intense need to protect his family stems from his idealization of X-Men’s Wolverine. Jed Allen identifies with the character known for being a loner with a kind heart, but he allows his good intentions to morph him into a killer instead.
In Deliverance, a group of friends from the city take a seemingly innocent weekend trip to canoe in rural Georgia. However, the weekend takes an unimaginable turn for the worse. The same drastic demise happens to Poughkeepsie, New York history teacher Albert Fentress one night when a young man happens to run onto his lawn. Watching Deliverance seems to have disturbed deeply rooted and hidden urges Albert had, all of which he acted upon after entering a psychotic state.
Troubled teenager Jonathan Cruz obsessed over the premise behind the movie "The Purge," a dystopian horror film that explores the ruthless nature of humans who are given the freedom to do whatever they want during a 12-hour period once per year.
Troubled teenager Jonathan Cruz obsessed over the premise behind the movie "The Purge," a dystopian horror film that explores the ruthless nature of humans who are given the freedom to do whatever they want during a 12-hour period once per year.
Lyle and Erik Menendez lived a comfortable life, but when their self-made father finally cuts them off, the boys are outraged and they start to compare themselves to the characters in the popular TV movie "Billionaire Boys Club."
Leonard Lake sought attention from countless women, many of which rejected him; his partner-in-crime, Charles Ng, assisted him in building a bunker in which many women would pass through leaving their fates in his hands.
Erin Caffey's life starts resembling that of Nicole Walker, a character in James Foley's 1996 film, "Fear," and like Nicole, when Erin begins dating the town bad boy, her parents disapprove and forbid her from seeing him again.
George Hennard searches all his life for love, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't find it; after years of constant rejection, his resentment and hatred of women grows and he turns to murder in 1991.
George Hennard searches all his life for love, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't find it; after years of constant rejection, his resentment and hatred of women grows and he turns to murder in 1991.
Janice Orndoff kills her husband in a supposed act of self-defense. Despite the couple’s recent troubles, no one can believe this sweet woman can commit such a grisly murder unless it is absolutely necessary. However, much like in the movie Primal Fear, her court case unravels the truth, proving that Janice has plenty of hidden secrets.
Kim Edwards and Lucas Markham are a pair of teenage lovers convinced that the only way they can truly be together is to end the life of Kim’s mother Elizabeth. Elizabeth believes Lucas’ bad boy tendencies are going to set her daughter down the wrong path, and has attempted to break up the couple numerous times. Kim and Lucas, however, are not dissuaded. Inspired by Twilight, where not even death can stand in the way of true love, the two decide to kill Kim’s mother so they can finally be together. Dubbed the “Twilight Killers” by the media, the two make headlines as Britain’s youngest double murderers.
Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. This childhood rhyme was based off a real-life murder that was turned into a great movie, The Legend of Lizzie Borden. So great that when one fan, James Cushing, finds an axe, he thinks it is destiny to follow Elizabeth Montgomery’s portrayal and become Lizzie. Walking the streets of a Seattle suburb at night, no one is safe as he searches for the perfect victim.
The film, Casino, takes us back to a time when Las Vegas was still the “wild west” and the mob ran everything. Living near sin city, Matt Baker watches the movie over and over again, trying to mimic the gangsters. He forms a small clique of other high school students known as “The Crew”, a group of rebellious teens who start their own drug enterprise. But when one member, Jared Whaley, decides he no longer wants to sell, Matt feels betrayed. That’s when he remembers a famous line in the movie, “a lot of holes in the desert and a lot of problems are buried in those holes.”
Token clerk Harry Kaufman went to work at a Brooklyn subway station like any other day; having no idea his life was in danger. That day, two men named Vincent Ellerbe and James Irons created a fatal fire in the token clerk’s booth. Like the brothers in Money Train, when trying to rob the train station, Vincent and James end up killing an innocent man in the flames.
Two middle school girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, decide to sacrifice their friend Payton Leutner for the infamous online horror villain Slender Man. After reading stories about Slender Man, the two 12-year-old girls attempt to murder their classmate, but they soon discover that committing a cold-blooded murder is much easier said than done.
Luka Magnotta confesses to a grotesque murder online, setting off an international manhunt; after Magnotta is found and brought to trial, prosecutors reveal that he was inspired by the erotic thriller "Basic Instinct."
Few serial killers are more infamous than Jeffrey Dahmer; few people know that Dahmer had a bizarre obsession with "The Exorcist III."
At a young age, Michael Hernandez develops a dark obsession with serial killers—specifically, Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. In an attempt to mirror these horror villains, Hernandez decides to start his very own killing spree. He lures classmates Jamie Gough and Andre Martin into his school bathroom, and only one of them lives to tell the tale.
When Gypsy Rose Blanchard tires of her mother's overbearing love, she creates a sinister plot with her boyfriend to leave her behind.
Inspired by an episode of Forensic Files, disgraced businessman Ari Squire attempts to start a new life by faking his own death. To collect his $5 million life insurance policy, Squire plans to murder an innocent man named Justin Newman and take on his identity. Little does Ari know, his plan is far from airtight, and Newman is not the only one who will end up dead.
Jason Moore, an unemployed stonemason, becomes obsessed with Freddy Krueger; after creating his very own knife glove, Jason summons his only friend, John Paul-Skamarski, to his death.
A look at real-life murder cases inspired by those in film and television with interviews of family members and investigators.
In an attempt to become just like his favorite fictitious criminals, New Jersey man Joe Post joins the “Pit Bulls,” a small gang of local drug addicts who terrorize the neighborhood. While the Pit Bulls’ crimes start off small, when Joe becomes convinced fellow gang member Andrew may have ratted them out to the authorities, Joe takes no mercy in a brutal Goodfellas–inspired copycat crime.
In London, England, a drug addict mimics one of the most gruesome torture scenes in the "Saw" horror movie franchise to murder his roommate.
In Moscow, a woman obsessed with the horror film "Bride of Chucky" goes on a stabbing rampage with a gang of male accomplices, leading to the deaths of 15 people.
Cousins Tony Bagnato and Diego Carbone joined a real life Fight Club hoping to have some fun sparring with like-minded men and, in Tony’s case, further his boxing career. But when Tony starts pushing drugs for some money on the side, he quickly turns from an up-and-coming fighter to a wannabe crime boss. And when Tony fears a conflict within the club could come back to bite him later, the cousins decide one member needs to pay the ultimate price.
A group of teenagers, led by 14-year-old Chelsea, are leaving a trail of victims in their wake; proving that anyone can commit the most serious crimes.
Less than 30 days after the famous movie aired, a crime mirroring the film occurred; a look at who the sociopath was and was he inspired by the cult classic.
Brittany, a teenager with an alcohol and drug problem, binge watches `American Horror Story', and in an act of desperation she ends up murdering her grandfather.
After watching the cult classic, a couple were inspired to mimic the actions in the movie in their fight for love; a look at what made these killers commit such an atrocious crime.
